Document vBbJY0wNoGQneDn8YoaV6envR

FILE NAME: Asbestos Sacks and Bags (ASB) DATE: 0000 DOC#: ASB090 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Unpublished Report - The U.K. Docks Problem fHE U.K. DOCKS PROBLEM: /O' \ wa Th* continuing adverae publicity fro 39^5 described m 4 r the heeding "The 9ov&lopzz&a% of the Problem' r*n parallel wit} the difficult!* being experienced &% tb w i o u i docks. Tha U.K. Union concerned vlth the porta bar* baan for SMUiy years trying to clean up their M at ara * working cenditloos. i... .J5j* repeated appaila by tha Union to tha Port ftsployare Aeeeciatien andd to IftSSSjCrt-^Packard werk - w t la al 1 weather* and increase* their susceptibility to chest and throat oompdalbta. tha `packing of asbestos originally In span waar Juta hag, craatad a lot of duat and tha altuation was navar halpad by tha fact that tb* shipping Companies raraly gara Asbestos bulk stowage in tha bolds, but all too frequently uaad it aa dunnage around othr caroo and for packing in any available cornar of tha hold. This treatwant naturally tandad to dapa tha baga and aran aora duat was ral a*sad into tha hold or shad. Tha adverse publicity about dusty cargoaa and "Aabaatoa ae a health hazard" provided thaw with just tha wd|>mi thay naadad to again prasa tha shipowner* and Port kaployars to clan up working conditions. Tlia original difficulties arose in connection with tha Russian ship "MkiK* which arrivad at the Surrey Coeoorcial Docks with a cargo of short Russian Asbestos in open weave jut sacks. Tha vary duaty condition of tha cargo resulted in tha Union Local Branch Secretary asking a Dr Donald Hunter of tba Middlesex Hospital to udvisa than. Dr Hunter viaited the ship and afterwards aada it very clour that he felt Asbeetoa duat was dangerous for th san'a health. Ha advised the use of respirator and vacuus c 1Saner* erven if it took tha pwi longer to unload tha Cargo and said" that if tha ir haalth is staged by Asbsstoa, tna process is irravsrsibla". These comments, together with tha article in the :outn London Prasa, under tha headline "A cargo with a risk of Cancer brings threat of strike" was sufficient for th* men to refue* to handle aabaatoa normally. London ia served mainly by two Unions - Tha Transport and &*snral Workers Union, and the National Ama 1ga.auted St vadore* and Dockers Union - although thay work independently, one usually supports the other In any dispute. In this ease, while the normal unloading rate for asbestos was about 35 tons per hour the T.G.W.U. unloaded at an average of iS tons per hour vhila the N.A.S.D.U. varied between t to I) tons pr hour. As the different Unione work different sect ion of the London Dock, the unloading rate for ahi pe wes relatad to E.12/96 1.1/ 137 "wfcieh M u i they u**4i C*Mdi*n Pacific, for n u p l t , -rltTTt ifelyt wtri uoloa^od fcy K.A.S.D.U. labour, decided that they could not afford a auffor the long delay* and refus#d to accept any further consignments of Aaboatos fibre from Canada, Thia action subsequently revealed tha lack of a knovtl Kuifceratlve voica for tha Asbestos industry, for the Canadian Asbestos Producers had for ac tlaa baan experimenting with an impervious bag, Tha Importers tke*M*aiive*, ; ; net; feeivg happy with- tha raaulta _of shipments iu ,ordiaJV/|fa#*Jh*^>v.'^a.J,i^tv... s .,. their liability to taar or burst thua releasing tha Aabaatoa, had agitatad for a linad jute bag and experiments had alraady begun in using a laminated jute-paper bag. If Canadian Pacific hud buon able to consult such a body aa tha Aabaatoa Information Coow.uttee or tha Aabaatoa fibre Iiapartara Committee, tiiay could hara baan informed of thaaa new bija and arranges anta with tha Unions could hara procaadad ieuuaJiute!y fur trial shipoents to coat forward, Approachaa war u d t to the inipioyero Association sold to tha Ministry of labour in an attempt to resolve the initial diIficult1aa. It waa at this tlaa that tha first vesting of tha Heprasantativas of the' Aabaatoa Producara and Ivporlars was held (this ti.rnie was chan gad in Hay 19 6 7 to tha Aabaatoa fibre laportara Cessitt*) to discuss tha problss. In rasponaa to agitation to tha Ministry of Labour for < action to rafuta tha dangaroua and misleading atstaesnti that wara circulating, or to put the nora into parapactiva, a vary non cossital letter was received in October l')65* This dealt swlnly with Aabaatoaia "and tha long exposure rejuired to contact it and also mentioned that thair dust tasta liad a.iown that vhara inparvious baga wara used, Aabaatoa dust was wall balow tha published upper licit of safety. H asoth sH oaa waa sectioned whan fh* latter carried on to say that the risk of vasothelloma did not appear to ba more cotcruju U! thus exp-osad to Aabaatoa and that tha problem was under urgent raviaw. The risk of waaothalioma ia no greater for dockera than for other workers exposed to Aabaatoa, Hosevsr, it waa nearly six months before Canadian Pacific agraad to taka a trial ahlpvent of 200 tons in impervious baga, but aran despite rsquosts for block stowage, aone of this hod been packed aa dunnage around 1a_rga rolls of kraft paper and in the unloading a number of baga ware davaged. One Canadian company unfortunately hud not accepted tha instructions that only jute lined b*Q* ware to be used and had shipped in 5-pljf paper. It waa ironical that it was a number uf thaaa baga that had been used for dunnage E. 12/97 1.1/ 138 * round the rolls of paper, with th l h w i U f c U m u lt ef W t bay * Union's representatives who had bean inritad to inspect this trial shipeent, fait they had bes*> aisled whan they w tha daaaped par bays txab apraad eventually that tba laminated bags looked a praai ej*f type *f pantril far Asbestos. '' ' .Canadian Pacific than agreed to accept conai^ '"-- rK"3saas ,i. _ par vessel, Despite tha fact that nearly all Asbestos vti now packed ia iapervioua bags, difficulties war till being expariancad, particularly la certain actions of tha London Dock*. At on Dock, in Nova^bar, 1 , the docker* refused to unload a conaijrmont of Cyprus Aabastos. A 'Tactory Inspector, Dock Manager, tha Shipping CoujeRy, tha Importer and tha Unian were all present to discuss tha atoppaga. The Factory Inapactor pointed out that tha bags wars iapervioua to tha escape of duat and In good condition and there was virtually DO danger to health, hut >a an additional precaution, Busks could ba wor n . The dockars still refused to handle the conslgiwsent and wren suggested that ''dirty" eonay should ba paid to those handling tha cargo underneath the Aabaatoa in cas* it was c ntaieinated by '.abeatos dust. They were only prepared to handle future shipments of Asbestos if it was losded onto pallets and wrapped in'a protective covering. A eating batwaan the Principal Hedical Officer for the Port of London Authority, the Medical Adviser to th* Trades Union Coogreas end Consulting Physician, lad to the publication of a Report on tha Hedical Aapeecte of Working Ctroooa of As'.eatoa by .>ocker of the Port of London which stated that "v* sr* fully satisfisd, so far us the Docks Industry is concerned, that no ' unacceptable risk at present exists and that provided tha currently approved requireants and esthods of work arc followed, Dockers *y proceed with confidence in the handling of Asbestos cargoes.n Soon sftarwarda (l~th April, ) tha Ministry of Labour pad a statement in the House of Coamon* sunsarising tha present knowledge abeut aabastos as a ' cancer rlak. E. 12/98 1 - J / 139 Qsfts of &so Report* tr* reprinted in a yeag&iot c e t i t l M " A l H c t M and your baalth" prepared by tha A.I.C. for iamuance to the Deakera. TVia par.phlat 1m included a -jueation and u i m r action dealing with r t r l M i >pact< of the problem. Ihi* p u h l t t a* i r i k 4 to the., iwilwi Q n b a r through tb Union* and was mad* available to ato* -v' if. l U>A' Tt>b Tto 12th ia is* o f "Tha 'Port"' i' now ' London 'ost dtofcjfrig ' * '-" - ' : : ` :&-.*': :- --*r-'*CC*f-^. tha pamphlet together with other articles on Asbeato*. Tb following iaaue r e p o r t e d on th a fo r m a tio n o f th a A s b e s t o s In fo rm a tio n C o a m itta an d oarriai v ' / * . .............. \ c* ` -- * #.*:. / - v ; _ ;* * * ' - / . J - . r . y ' i V ' i - - . *.* . I c t t a r s from d o c k e r* on th a s u b je c t . Tha amphaalo k m on th a c o n t a in e r !a * t io n of Aabaatoa. In tha ant il, tha dockara in other port* around tha U.K. were making thair own decisions about tha handling of Aabeatos. i o M would only bondi* 1 palletised c a ^ i s , to would handle crocidollta on pallet* but athar typaa of Aabaatoa in tha impervious bag*. Soma would only handla praaaura packod i bag*, aoma required additional payment* and orne continu ad to work Aabaatoa normally. Thare wa no sut pattam of action by tha man at tha diffrant port*. Fortunately tha U r gor orts aarvad by tha etemmahip lin* from tha Aabaatoa producing countries ware those that continued to bandla Aabaatoa normally. Tha Aabastoa car.jowa normally hipped to London {approximately <*0,000 - $0,000 ton* per annum) ware awitchad to other port a and although thara vaa occasionally sum difficulty in obtaining hipping tpaca because of tha bigger demand, on the whole Aabastoa continued to more Into the U.K. fairly aatiaafctorily. One probleo. which atill occasionally re-occurs la whan tha dockara want to know what type of aabaatoa they are handling - I it crocidollta 7 Perhaps tha re-telling of an incident at ona point will illustrate the .difficulties. Tha dockara at this particular port stopped work because thay thought thay eight ba handling crocidolita (it was fact amoalta). The local Secretary called in a local Consultant who advised thacs that it was impossible to tall tha difference visually and that he would aubsit a sample of tha Aabaatoa for analysis. The U.h. Agents for tha producers,immediately thay beard of tha incident, sent ample of amoalta and crocidolit*| pointing out tha colour difference. This satisfied th* men and they restarted work on unloading tha Aabaatoa '12/99 1 . 1 / 140 I t v a s f e l t fcy the X .F .I .C . and c u U r a tiaf*' A^WlN M till Vleg Impert<8, thara va alfaya Iha considerarla rlak that any fttrther adrarse publicity could affect dtxtars till working Aebeetoe. Thara m * ala the riak that dockara wtvo had refuaed & handle ikattci, realising tha toma ga they vara loeileg to other portae alf^t Uktaeilaa ' ........ - : i'. -T*" . Aaber.taa racked, in containora. In vim* of this the A.7.I.C* her*, r- V-s?. . -'- - 4 ^. fj yy^c'i? E. 12/100 ! ! / 141