Document gv648zrmL0QVak0yw0Ybg5V9

FILE NAME: Asbestos Sacks and Bags (ASB) DATE: 1966 Oct 30 DOC#: ASB041 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Newspaper Article - Dockers Fear Health Peril from Asbestos  o o c ro g -a >` fc t> in f ir a * v . - j ^ - .J J-/ J * , ,I . j q ' D O C T O R S and d o c k e r employed: by the Port of Lon^ori; Authority are in sharp disagree ment over the health hafard in volved In ; the unloading, of asbestos cargoes at London Docks. Tlie dockers believe 'that pre- | scnti working conditions are un- affrj--a view upheld by reports ln;tlie Sunday-Times that a "new" and .deadly tumour of the pleura can .result many years after apparently . brief exposure to i asbestos dust., ' 1 Dr A. M. Lawrence-Smlth, P rin cipal Medical Officer, of the P L A, has however madeja controversial: attem pt to .assuage: their fears.; Ini a signed statement . circujated| among the men lie says that the ,gt. , Ministry of ' Labour arranged ' fl sci'entifle investigations which ex- eluded the. lung disease; i of " asbestosls " as a nsk to. dock labour; that the development! of the tumour ;associated with a'sbestwoiaT--jj-kn .nuoy ri yynw wao gs-mesothelioma!: quires similar circumstances j to '.those causing iasbestbsi's, and Qiat ' ; the jtUmoUr occurs only where * particular variety and grade of dust, not found in commerpial ' cargo, is released into tlie air; mi L" S|ll He has, He Isays, an ,assurance 1 Special masks protect dockers uploading baga of asbestos i' i . from H I M edial Inspectorate ii mtlieasdotthheeliogmaangsorrunnsbneostorsisisk!UonL' i.avppur_ri_B_m_,_ on several' critical dpekers said they ijvere " really, handling such cargoes. , points. EVen ep^en-eral exposure frightened " \ over tile risk from, appears capable of causing meso- the dubt, and would much :ooner. tA\JJ-.spokesman of the Mini try thelio-m---a. ^ o p le have got it feel safe than get extra money.; of] Labour, howover, 'referred nie many years after! playing . on They complained--and. probably to a letter on:the findings of the asbestos tips iri childhood. As fairly-pthat when a cargo s disInsfjectora'te, which- has ,bj.\e.n ,'King -Edward VII said1of tuber- charged the dust 'scatters and IsTet n.|-rt-;e-p-ta-p-r-stestsviethraalt itnht.ee..r..ea..se.tnedc. e!. .nptarratt'.ii..eo.s.i..i.'.I..c.p.Urelovselns:t?-`'If preventable Grocidolite why not (blue, may with involve men not,concerned the unloading. | It mas of|;air-borne dust was found! to asbestos) seems-to be mainly res- settle on packages of foods going exceed the upper limits, of safety l.ponsible and jt may be feasible--to grocers' shops, j | ;i ivhep unlined hesiian bags ; of ;to! dispense with It entirely." What the;' unloaded was blue asbestos'are, unloaded at the nor- - "When. asked to comment on his asbestos in jnlined hessian bags . malj rate of working, and agt]ees report, Dr LaSvrence-Smith inti- labelled " G E PG o] Cenbestos; suc^ cas.^s respirators nested that he did not wish to One bag had burst and its con-1 should.be worn. ; t 'iV debate the m atter on the phone, tents were distributed oveb the1 ['The R L A ' 'has in; fact, b'ben': !TThhrrmoumgbh .it>tsi!1areas officers, the others. Asbestos g iping1 supplyink -the men with mjsks ,Transport; and General, Workers through holes in many mor, and. overalls for qse when tun- -ffhion has advised'members not made by the books which some loading asbestos and ---- -u ... -an extra 2s. an hb trouble. : j ;Ance that policy has been en- A!- world, authority , on meso- greed a t Southampton, safer bags thelioma, questioned byvpHorie! in ] ave become the rule. One ship Tokyo, where he was attending a -sks turned away unloaded from .Cancer congress, ednsi'dered ( h a t, bridn Docks because the men more than one of the P L A's fro- fused to handle the asbestos nouncements on this s u b je c te d ; oard, arid I understand,that a not! accord with the published moflighterm eii will not handle facts. .. ` | j ; estos at all. : |-'t Dr Robert Murray, . medical |O n .the West Ir^dla Docks, last adviser, to the Trades Union Con- ' Wednesday, -waiting- `to!1 unload gress, said: " This isj a misleading theC ity of Exeter,out o-f'Durban; others did io initenhi-ttentli'. A| scientist who has: | tested the masks.personally says 'it is hardly practicable to work; jin them for Store tlian lialf-an-haur. The soluti:-ion is not mer ;ly :a m atter of masks but safer methods of packing and loading, .That aspeef of the problem is now exercising the ngenui.ty of doctors, --sci!ejntists, an i indui ists throtmbnut-' th iu>nrin