Document jy65aQJz9a2gJwKOrLQa9kQ15

FILE NAME Colonial Sugar Refinery CSR DATE 1960 Mar 17 DOC CSR122 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION Letter to State Govt Insurance Office from District Hospital Kalgoorlie RE Asbestosis DISTRICT HOSPITAL 76 JMCN Mar 17th c Mah rch The General Manager State Government Insurance Office 184 St. George's Terrace PERTH Dear Sir Asbestosis Too few cases of Asbestosis have been diagnosed and the time of observation has been too short to reply conclusions adequately references to your request for information There are many to the problem in the World literatubruet the drawn are often vague and occasionally contra- dictory - Insofar as the cases diagnosed in this State six workers are concerned the main difference between Asbestosis and Silicosis lies in the length of exposure to dust It is rare nowadays to diagnose Silicosis in a gold miner with less than ten years mining new cases diagnosed have an average of 15 to 20 years Asbestosis has been diagnosed in at Wittenoom and their average exposure to asbestos dust was approximately four years All of these workers appear to have contracted the disease in the old mill which is not now in use and it is too early to assess the effect of the improved conditions of the new mill However a few underground workers have contracted a chest disease which appears to be a mixture of Silicosis and Asbestosis The amendment to the Mine Workers Relief Act was necessary because otherwise workers disabled from Asbestosis would have been excluded from benefits Since the broad term Pneumoconiosis in the Workers Compensation Act includes Asbestosis there does not seem to be any need to specifically mention it unless benefit was to be effected in a different way It is hoped that further investigation at Wittenoom will reduce the dust hazard to at least par with that existing in the goldmining industry If this cannot be assured then the brief exposure to asbestos dust required and the extent of disease so far noted might make it necessary to compensate and presumably insure workers exposed to this dust on a different scale to gold miners PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT 1103280.0 328.0 Certain experts claim that there is little if any progression in Asbestosis when exposure to dust ceases in contrast to Silicosis which undoubtedly can progress It is hard to believe that the disease process is arrested if no further dust is inhaled but once again it is too early to draw any conclusion for the cases diagnosed in this State There is statistical evidence to suggest that exposure to asbestos dust may cause lung cancer The matter is controversial but lung cancer certainly appears to be more common in workers exposed to asbestos dust than comparably employed workers in other industries I forwarded a detailed report on the health of workers at Wittenoom to the Public Health Department in January 1960. Dr. Letham Physician Public Health Department has a copy and it would be worthwhile discussing it with him He is also familiar with the general problem Finally I a assurebdy your last sentence that your enquiry is purely exploratory and you have no definite purpose in mind In the event of my being consulted prior to amending the Workers Compensation Act I would inquire into the subject more closely Yours faithfully CHEST PHYSICIAN and MINES MEDICAL OFFICER P.S. The delay in answering your letter My absence on leave was caused by Dr. D.D. Letham