Document pB45XeBB8pNkE0wXo0j1eNYvw

NEWS 2:4:74 zene or the benzene - based materials from the free mar ketplace, utilizing them inter nally or bartering them away for items that may be [otherwise] unavailable.... "The regulations as written provide the oil companies with relief in securing their feed stocks," Mr. Fass continues, i "The theory goes that if these | feedstocks are secured, then they will take care of the down stream market." But to Mr. Fass, the situation "is somewhat akin to the lamb in the lion's den." awareness that this was the third death of its kind "war ranted a thorough investiga tion. . . ." Goodrich, under the law, was duty-bound to notify Kentucky health officials. But the firm was not required to notify NIOSH or to release notice of the deaths to the press. And the fact that they did is somewhat unusual. NIOSH in formation officer Dick Wilson says the voluntary report was "unique. "In our experience--and this dates back to June 1971, when the institute was first set up-- The Goodrich report "gives us a head start on finding if there is work-relatedness in these deaths, and in finding suitable standards if there is." Operation candor--"We were required by law to notify Ken tucky officials," says John Bell, Goodrich's director of external communications and public af fairs. "But those reports are privileged. Not a matter of pub lic record. "So our decision to notify NIOSH and to make a public an nouncement was based not on legal considerations but on prac Goodrich's warning could save lives j ! MEDICAL EXPERTS at the Na; tional Institute for Occupational I Safety & Health (NIOSH) are < running computer checks of ! medical records and autopsy re! ports from a number of vinyl this is the first voluntary alert we've received." Because the petrochemical in dustry has been with us for about 20 years--and the three who died worked around vinyl chloride an average of 20 years --Mr. Wilson is concerned that the industry might soon see more such cases. tical matters. "The evidence was complex, fragmentary, and inconclusive. Nonetheless, we wanted to tell our employees what is going on and not make them rely on hear ing everything second-hand, or getting fragmentary information from unreliable sources," he says. chloride plants across the U. S. Spurring the investigations was a report in January that HMO: a health care optionsince 1971 three employees of B. F. Goodrich Co.'s polyvinyl chloride plant in Louisville have your firm will have to offerdied of angiosarcoma of the liver. Angiosarcoma, Goodrich doc tors explain, is a fairly rare form of cancer. And a determination that the Goodrich illnesses were indeed caused Jiy the work en vironment would no doubt lead to a revision of federal stand ards for working with vinyl chlorides. BUSINESSMEN may soon find HMOs are an old idea whose time has come. Starting next year, many employers will have to offer their workers the option of health maintenance organiza tion (HMO) enrollment instead of traditional health .insurance. The reason: a little-noticed HMO option need not be offered until the contract expires. Another condition on the offer: an employer won't have to pay more for the HMO al ternative than he already does for current health insurance plans or Blue Cross/Blue Shield. "If HMO benefits cost more, and the employee wants it, then it is Who told?--Although the last employee died in December, Goodrich did not receive an au section of the Health Main tenance Organization Act that President Nixon signed Dec. 29. topsy report until mid-January. The legislation applies to And although all five of the firms covered by the minimum firm's vinyl chloride plants were wage law and which have an ! operating well below levels pre- average of 25 or more employees | scribed by the government--the in a calendar quarter. For some ! Louisville plant at only 10% of companies, however, the effec j those levels--Dr. Maurice N. tive date could fall after January | Johnson, Goodrich's director of !i 1975. If a firm has a multiyear I environmental health, said j| health contract in force then, the up to him to pay for it," Wil liam McHenry, the U. S. Cham ber of Commerce's economic security manager, advised na tional and state chamber person nel this month. Further, the option will apply only if there's a qualified HMO in the area where employees live. It's up to the secretary of the Dept, of Health, Education & Welfare (HEW) to determine j 20 February 4. 1074 / Industry 24314001 r! ti ( iI l v