Document e5aNyzrZ5YYLgvVymk2ZRkLmM

SUMMARY OF SECOND ADMINISTRATIVE MEDICAL MEETING, CENTRAL OPERATIONS - STEEL Pittsburgh, Pa. D*c*mbtr 3 and 4, 1957 On December 3 and 4, 1957, there was hsld in Pittsburgh the saeond of a sarias of samiannual meetings of the doctors responsible for administration of the medical departments of Central Operations-'Steel. Appendix I lists the par ticipants. Appendix II is the program. Fif st. Dr. O'Connor outlined the format of the two days' sessions, emphasising that the entire first day was to be devoted to furnishing the doctors a broad orientation to the Corporation as a whole. Next, Mr. John A Stephens offered a brief word of greeting. He stated the intentions of the company to develop a oneness within the Corporation, to im prove the integration of the various segments and functions, to improve communi cations, and to keep our management people, including the doctors, abreast of developments in the Corporation. He stressed the importance of the doctor in com pany relations, and again emphasized that it was the responsibility of each of us to make our contribution to the general objectives of the Corporation. Then Mr. E. C, Myers described the "Search for a Better Way, " the Task Force studies, and the conclusions and recommendations that had bef reached by the Task Force on Personnel Practices. 1 v '*-*''* Two and one-half years ago Mr. Hood instituted the "Search for a Better Way" to improve human relations within the company. A Creed of Human Relations was suggested and adopted to help management to do a better job in this area. Twenty-five thousand questionnaires were distributed to USS management, and the replies were sent directly from each individual to Western Reserve for compilation and analysis. A significant minority expressed certain dissatisfactions. To pursue this further, the Operations Policy Committee appointed four Task Forces, each to study one of the four major subjects of Compensation, Working Conditions, Com munications, and Personnel Practices. Such study included visits oi the Task Forces to all Divisions and Subsidiaries, as well as Central Operations. The Task Force on Personnel Practices was composed of George Nations, Jim Collins, and Ed Myers, with George Thursby as chairman and representative on the Coordinating Committee. Out of their study has come a series of pamphlets proposing a coordinated plan for management personnel practices within the Corpo ration. The plan-begins with a forecasting of management manpower needs for three-year periods, taking into consideration needs for management replacements due to turnover and other causes. Sources for meeting such needs are promotions of present employees, colleges, employment agencies, and the like, but with specific emphasis placed on promotions from within the company. USEI000130 - 5- methods used, to distill requests down to appropriate levels. He presented a chart of capacity md production from the inception of the company in 1901, and a chart that showed-taai steel capacity, that of our competitors and that of U. S. Steel for the same periad, indicating that our percentage of the total production of steel is eonsiderably&ss now than in 1901. St pointed out that a major consideration in determining long-range expenditures was the number of years needed to recover the original investment. Other eonsfcfitrations were the effect on U. S. Steel's participation pattern, the likelihood of satisfying a local market deficiency, and the effect on future potential for expansion. Then Dr. W. H. Turner presented a brief review of corporate giving and some of its attendant problems. He first distinguished between those contri butions that are given directly by the Corporation (usually having some direct relation or benefit to the Corporation) and those that are.given by the U. S. Steel Foundation fuually benefiting people' in general). He indicated that each of these representedspproxiznately 6 million dollars a year, or a total of 12 million. He described these contributions of the Foundation that had a bearing on medical and health matters. Ha-pointed out some of the many problems involved; e. g., how judge the significance of requests, how meet requests that totalled many times the amount available for giving, etc. He indicated that while the government allows corporate giving up to 5% of profits before taxes, U. S. Steel ran about 1%, whereas a number of ether large corporations ran about 2%, showing that U. S. Steel was not overlooking stockholder interest in its philanthropies. The meeting was adjourned at 5 P. M, and dinner was held at the Duquesne Club. At 9 A. M. Wednesday, December 4, the meeting reconvened. Mr. K. M. Morse presented "Environmental Health in the Steel Indus try - II, " covering the newer knowledge of the effect of industrial dusts on employees* lungs. He stressed the fact that free silica was no longer the only dust to be concerned about, but that any dust in sufficient amounts over sufficient time could impair lung function. Especially a combination of irritant gases, heat, and dust is cause for concern. He cited a recent ease in which a very reputable chest consultant in Pittsburgh, who has in the past examined many eases at Com pany request, considered that the pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema he found in a soaking-pit crane operator was caused by the combination of dust, heat, and sulfur-dioxide fumes to which he had long been exposed. He described the old and new concepts of the term "pneumoconiosis, " and indicated that while silica and asbestos were considered the sole causes in the past, now talc and diatomaceous earth had been added, and Shaver's Disease from the fusion of artificial abrasives, and more xecently coal miners' pneumo coniosis. USEI000131