Document wrGkM81bbn5N0RbBqwJdnEXK3

FILE NAME Quebec Asbestos Mining Association QAMA DATE 1978 Mar DOC QAMA154 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION QAMA Bulletin Vol 2 No. 3 Matters of fact Various assertions made in the course of the debate in the National Assembly on the Bill to set up the Soci^'t^'nationale de l'amiante are indicative of the persistence of a number of misapprehensions concerning the asbestos'situation which are making it very difficult to arrive at an informed opinion on the subject Thus the affirmation that the asbestos mined in Qu^'bec helps to create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the United States Europe and elsewhere in the manufacturing industry whereas in Qu^'becthe manufacturing sector employs only about 200 people represents a considerable distortion of the facts Indiscriminate addition These astronomical figures result from the indiscriminate addition of all direct and indirect activities permanent or irregular related not only to manufacture but also to handling installation transportation and sale of asbestos containing products For example using this method of calculation any American tile- layer who handles asbestos tiles even if no more than once a year is counted as an asbestos worker Similarly included in these figures are the total numbers of employees working in companies for which the manufacture of asbestos products is only one of many sectors of activity If the same method of calculation were applied to Qu^'bec the 1 200 asbestos workers would swell to more than 20 000 not counting the 6 500 persons involved in mining activity In fact the number of jobs directly related to transformation and to the manufacture of asbestos prod- ucts in the United States is less than 10 000 and in the whole of the western world the figure does not exceed 35 000 including 3 000 for Canada Assurance of supplies Furthermore the observations concerning fibre deliveries to the plants of the companies of the Qu^'bec producers create the false impression that a very substantial proportion if not the major part of the Qu^'becproduction is directed to this market In reality the total sales made to the enterprises with which the mining companies are affiliated have never really exceeded 15 per cent and in 1977 they amounted to no more than 12.6 per cent of fibre deliveries Thus Canadian Manville sold 19,4 per cent of its production to the Manville group Lake Asbestos sold 2,2 per cent of its production to the Asarco group Carey Canadian Mines sold 5 per cent of its production to the Jim Walter Corp. group and the Bell Asbestos Mines company sold 22,7 per cent of its production to the Turner & Newall group part of which went to its Montr^'almanufac- turing subsidiary Atlas Asbestos The remaining 87,4 per cent of deliveries went to hundreds of man- ufacturers spread around the world It should therefore be quite clear that the idea of a circuit net- work capable of endangering the supply to independent manufacturers and in particular to manufacturers in Canada and Qu^'bechas no basis in reality Economic benefits On another level the assertion that Qu^'becis not the principal ben- eficiary of asbestos mining activity is absolutely unfounde Nodt only does the asbestos industry reinvest 95 per cent of its net income in Qu^'bec it actually contributes more to the Qu^'bececonomy than all other min- ing sectors put together Thus 60 per cent of the total income of the Qu^'bec Treasury from the mining industry comes from asbestos prod- uction Finally as regards the supposed feelings of the population which are so often invoked the only scientific assessment of opinion which has been made on the subject is that which was carried out by CROP shortly before the government announced its policy The results of this survey showed that 88.7 per cent of those consulted in the whole of Qu^'bec and 91.2 per cent of the respondents in the asbestos producing region did not favour the path which the government subsquently chose |Bulletin| New group dedicated to industrial hygiene An industrial hygiene association has recently been formed in Qu^'bec by a group of specialists working in the industrial trade union guvernment and university sectors The association which will be The association also wants to en- courage research in all specialties related to industrial hygiene The founding committee includes 25 people among whom are the interim president Paul B^'langer holding its founding convention an Regional Director Montreal May 27th at Mont Hilaire in- for industrial hygiene control En| lends to foster development of knowledge regarding industrial hygiene through the exchange and vironment Protection Service government of Qu^'becand the interim secretary Marc Trudeau Re- popularization of information on all. search Consultant for the Qu^'becAs- questions concerning occupational bestos Mining Association hygiene Promotion of the study and control of factors affecting the health and being of workers is one of the association's main objectives In addition it intends to establish an information exchange program between all specialists interested in the various aspects of industrial hy- giene Quality of life According to Mr B^'langer the necessity for an industrial hygiene association has been felt for several years in Quebec where for exam- ple courses in the specialty do not exist at the university level Among Research other things we propose to instigate specialized courses and to offer all workers in this field the opportunity Members will pay particular attention to legislation on occupational hygiene and intend to make a cribcal study of its content and to pre- to exchange their knowledge and experience We hope that the final result of our initiatives and work will be to contribute to improving the sent recommendations If necessary quality of life at work The Tyndallometer allows the laking of instantaneous samples to check the clean Jiness of the air in specific environments The Q.A.M.A. board of directors M J Messel President of Lake Asbestos of Black Lake Qu^'bec was elected for a second consecutive term as President of the Qu^'becAsbestos Mining Association at the Association's general annual meeting The other officers of the Association are the President Marcel Dorais President of Bell Asbestos Mines of Thetford Mines the Treasurer W King Controller of Canadian Mines of East Broughton Qu^'becand the Secretary and Executive President Paul A Filteau The other directors are M Prus President and General Man- ager of Canadian Mines of East Broughton and JR Hutcheson Chairman of the Board of Canadian Manville and General Manager of the Asbestos Fibre Division Asbestos Qu^'bec The APM continuous monitoring instruments The environment at Manville The Department of Environmental Control of Canadian Manville is carrying on an accelerated indus- Inal hygiene program in order to lower the dust emission level to cc 5...in all its installations and to ultimately reduce it If possible to an average of 1 cc The cur- rent government standards impose a 5...maximum Further faster We would like to go further faster points out Ray Woods Environment Coordinator for the company whose plants process some 900 tons of crude ore per hour However continues Mr Woods we have to consider several factors Thus all the while stressing hygiene and air cleanliness we must also concentrate on energy conservation from the ecological viewpoint The company recently conducted a detailed and exhaustive analysis of the 580 sampling stations spread throughout its plants The dust level registered in 431 stations was cc or even less The dust level average of all the stations in no 5 and 6 mills the open pit mine and related departments was 1 79f The readings were cc or less in 107 stations Temporary problems were discovered in 42 stations and have since been solved in 11 of these stations The few areas where dust conditions are not yet satisfactory are the ones being paid particular attention to by the Department of Environmental Control An additional team of 18 men is gradually being assigned to the permanent staff of the department The team will supervise maintenance of equipment from the strict point of view of hygiene and cleanliness of the air Research and innovation The Engineering Department is responsible for carrying out constant research to find new solutions to the dust emission problems Efforts are being applied as much as possible namely in automatizing all oper- ations felt to be critical in several cases the solution to problems of hygiene requires creation and development of new equipment which allows a given operation of the mining process to be carried out effectively while reducing dust emission and the exposure of workers Thus drilling which precedes blasting and the separation of boulders following blasting are two operations which have captured the particular attention of the company's engineers In order to improve working conditions the cabins of workers assigned to primary drilling are gradually being replaced by conditioned environmental cabs In addition the replacement of bag filters of the rotary drills is now carried out a modular basis In order to eliminate secondary drilling of boulders the Engineering Department has developed a mobile type of tandem rockbraker to be installed on a 35 ton truck fitted for that purpose If the equipment operates as well as expected secondary drilling will disappear Tailings Another sector included in the hygiene program deals with the transportation of tailings which is currently being performed by railway cars Mill rejects are water sprayed at the loading point to prevent dust emission The proposed new system would permit water spraying to be carried out at five different points The wet suppression procedure for mill rejects proves to be quite effective in terms of hygiene but it leads lo other problems during the winter The rejects under the action of water and cold stick to the insides of the rail cars thus making their unloading almost impossible More than ten new adherence materials for the lining of the rail cars were tested during the winter months The Department of Environmental Control has selected one which it feels should solve the problems caused by freezing Air filter bags Due to the replacement of almost all of the 95 000 air filter bags at mill no 5. the filtration system has now altained a capacity of 5 million cubic leet of air per minute Since January 1 the rates of penetration and resistance to dust of the bags have been the object of constant checking by teams who alternate day and night when the plant is in operation Samples of the air are taken at hour intervals using an APM measuring instrument which was recommended for continuous moni- toring by the design subcommittee of the Quebec Asbestos Mining Association following six months of testing carried out by technicians of the Association's member companies Another measuring instru ment the Tyndallometer allows instant samples to be taken in the bag house The conveyors sifters and dryers of Canadian Manville are now completely covered and mill no 6 built in 1973-74 is entirely auto- matized The production capacity of the company which employs 2 500 per- sons is 700 000 tons per year LBC ulletin| | Asbestos and many USTS Asbestos a combination which proved itself throughout the world A small amount of asbestos is sufficient to make fibrocement a product with high resistance to ten- sion corrosion and numerous ero- sive agents Asbestos prod- ucts contain on average only about 12 asbestos dispersed in all directions and throughout the thickness of materials thereby reinforcing them uniformly Numerous assets Due to the characteristics arising from its asbestos content fibroce- ment is particularly suited for manufacturing several products such as pipes acoustic tiles finished sheets shingles corrugated and flat sheets window panels and curtain walls When these products are made of asbestos and cement alloy they do not crack and are incombustible and resistant to freezing and thawing as well as humidity Another important feature of ascement is that it prevents rainwater penetration while still allowing water evaporation This is a considerable advantage for exterior coverings It explains why asbestoscement material has been preferred to other materials for quite some time now in construction projects where there is a high level of humidity as for example in pulp and paper plants tobacco faclories industrial laundries On the other hand with regard to resistance ratio fibrocement is very effective The impact of a pound steel ball with a diameter of more than two inches dropped from a height of eight feet does not leave a mark on a inch thick asbestos sheet New uses Formerly used almost exclusively in the construction of industrial buildings fibrocement and materials are now found more and more in commercial buildings office towers and community and business cen- tres in the United States and elsewhere Today with new casting techniques it is possible to create a multitude of forms and textures to meet the requirements of architects and builders shells decorative fins ribbed and profiled sheets fascias etc. Consequently from aesthetic and variety standpoints there is absolutely no reason to limit the use of asbestos materials to in- dustrial construction especially as fibrocement is also very econom- ical its light weight 10 per cent of the weight of prefabricated concrete in fact allows substantial savings to be realized in infrastructures and structures Pipes flower pots and textured sheets this is part of the covering of the new O'Keefe build- ing in Montr^'alare some of the asbestos products made by Atlas Asbestos which also manufactures parts below for the tobogganruns presently very in popular several resorts sare, In Canada However in Canada and particularly in Qu^'bec the asbestoscement product market has always remained marginal whether it be for pipes or construction material The demand for this type of prod- ucls has also been much less than for competitive products while this is not the case in Europe one of the largest consumers and manufacturers of asbestos products in the world Whereas 70 per cent of Quebec's annual production of chrysotile fibre is used in the manufacture of fibrocement products Qu^'becconsumption represents barely 05 per cent or a little more than 7 000 tons out of 902 000 tons used in fibrocement In Europe Western Europe in contrast uses some 000 tons of fibre in the manufacturing of pipes regular and polished sheets and shingles where- as the United States uses more than 150 000 tons for its overall fibroce- ment production Qu^'becproduction The production of the only manufacturer of asbestos products in Qu^'bec Atlas Asbestos of Montr^'al represents about 35 per cent of the Canadian production The other manufacturers are Canadian Manville and Turner Building Products whose fibrocement plants are located in Ontario and British Columbia respectively The Atlas Asbestos pipe man- ufacturing plant operates at 90 per cent of its capacity while the construction material section operates at barely 50 per cent of its potential The company exports 71 per cent of its asbestos pipes outside of Qu^'becmainly to western Cana- da due to the preferential rates which Canadian railway companies are able to offer because they receive government subsidies for the transportation of goods As for construction materials only 35 per cent are sold in Qu^'bec The plant's capacity would allow 135 per cent more fibres to be used than are currently being utilized Export market The market for Quebec fibre to be used in librocement therefore remains essentially an export market the main users being in Europe the United States Japan and the Middle East where the demand is increas- ing In Canada the use of profiled and molded asbestos products is recent phenomenon However with the current development of new products architects and engineers who want special shapes and forms which are exceptionally resistant and durable are likely to turn increasingly to asbestos For In addition to being perfectly safe the fibres are sealed in the cement during the fabrication asbestos cannot be replaced by any substitute product for reinforcing such high performance products 4 | Isulletimi Comprehensive study on asbestos and health around the world The Asbestos International Association whose head office is in London has asked a panel of experts to gather all the available information on the incidence of asbestos- related diseases In all countries which use the fibre and to make a critical analysis of this information The Asbestos International Asso- ciation comprising all the European manufacturers of asbestos products also includes the Qu^'becasbestos producers among its members The mandate The Association's mandate to the experts centres on the following points collection of all available data on the biological effects of asbestos in all countries where the mineral is used making as much differentiation as possible between the types of activities and products textile insulation friction products asbes- cement elc critical analysis of the criteria used for diagnosis in each of the countries in question collation of all available information on the incidence of cancer and lung cancer in particular having no link with asbeslos a summary and commentary In a preliminary note addressed to the directors of the Association Dr Robert Murray Secretary of the Permanent Commission and As- socration of International Occupational Medecine stressed some of the problems that the panel of experts is having to face in carrying out its mandate Thus when trying to determine clearly the progression of the effects of asbestos on health during the last thirty years according to country type of industry and type of fibre the difficulty arises from the fact that the cases being studied today are the result of exposures going back several years A further complication comes from the fact that the diagnosis are of differing validity according to the time when they were made since medical science in this area as in the area of epidemiological techniques has developed enormously The other major difficulty facing experts who try to determine the re- lative incidence of asbestos diseases is due to the fact that not all the countries under consideration started using asbestos at the same time and that the development of the industry and the length of time that it has been operating vary considerably from one country to the other Varying statistics Statistics also reflect diagnostic criteria which are different from one country to the next with working standards which are no less variable A further characteristic of these statistics is that they tend to be directed towards justifying a parti- cular interest rather than establishing objective facts It is significant in this connection that there has been no literature on the incidence of diseases related to a good wet spinning process when it is known that in Great Britain the asbestos textile industry has been under statutory control since 1931 These problems would be met by any expert wishing to tackle the kind of work which the Asbestos Interna- tional Association is undertaking and they make it difficult to present a full and balanced picture of the situation with a view to analysis by the medical pane But in spite of these restrictions Dr. Murray considers that a survey of this kind should produce useful results an The Association before the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources Applying pressure to world asbestos buyers for them to invest in Qu^'bec processing and conditionning fibre suppliers to such investments could only speed up research and development of substitute products and favour competitive producers on the international market This was the opinion expressed by representatives of the Qu^'bec As- bestos Mining Association appearing before the Parliamentary Committee during its hearings In Qu^'bec City to study Bill 70 aimed at setting up the Soci^'tenationale de l'a- miante Yves Berub~ Minister of Natural Resources had suggested to M.A. representatives the possibility that fibre producers might only sell on condition that the buyers make certain investments in Qu^'becprocessing Sor^sstatement The Minister received a similar reaction before the Committee from the Sor~ s Group representatives authors of the study dealing with asbestos product processing in Qu^'bec Spokesmen for Sor~ srecalling the importance of current research to discover asbestos substitutes attributed the situation to two main causes propaganda concerning health and the fact that manufactur- ers of asbestos products do not like being dependent on exclusive supply sources for primary re- sources According to the represent- atives of Sores the negotiating strength that goes with holding a certain degree of control over a primary resource is offset by the risk of encouraging the users to look for substitute products In reply to a question about the perception of asbestos by European buyers Paul Filteau Executive ViPresident of the QA QA M.A. who led the Association's delegation appearing before the Committee remarked that the situation concern- ing health problems related to the use of asbestos results more from bad publicity than from = scientific studres and that it is even being encouraged to a certain extent by manufacturers of substitute products Markets Discussing world markets Mr. Filteau stressed that there is no shortage of asbestos at this time and there will not be any for many years to come Qu^'bec industry is only producing at 85 of its capacity and in 1977 accumulated stock exceeding 130 000 tons a which had never occurred before This drop in demand he said can be attributed to the economic silua- tion in the United States and in Ev- rope but may also be due to the effects of adverse publicity in its report presented at the start of the meeting the Quebec Asbestos Mining Association stressed that the industry reinvst more than 95 of its net revenues in Que- bec and contributes more to the economy than all other mining sectors combined alone supplying 60 of the overall revenue which the Quebec Treasury draws from the entire mining industry Asbestos employment and employment employment Mr Filteau also recalled that dur- ing a period when the unemployment rate in Canada and in Quebec reaches record highs and when industrial production is undergoing a general decline causing repercus- sions on the economic health of the entire country the asbestos industry is succeeding in maintaining a stable employment level even if in certain cases the production work week has been reduced from six to five days Thus the salaries and wages paid out in 1977 to the 6 600 workers em- ployed by the five Eastern Township mining companies reached more than 110 million not counting the companies outlay in contributions to the various social benefit schemes which totalled some 30 million The Asociation's Association's delegatitono the Committee also took the opportunity to clarify the situation con- cerning fibre consumption within the market comprised of the manufacturing companies which are affiliated to the Qu^'becasbestos producers The Association's representatives armed with exact figures were able to show that 1977 sales made with- in the network of companies affiliated to the producing companies accounted at most for only 12 6 per cent of the Qu^'becasbestos production The remaining 874 of the production is bought by hundreds of manufacturers around the world Similarly the Association was able to show the Committee that the sup- ply of asbestos at preferential rates to Qu^'becand Canadian manufac- turers was common practice and that there was no problem in guaranteeing this supply Research When members of the Committee raised the subject of research the Association's spokesmen pointed out that the asbestos industry was well aware of the importance of stepping up research into new products and new applications They stressed that the industry was therefore very receptive to any serious applied research project - whether in the private or in the public sector provided that it can have a full say in the matter Mr Filteau added that on several occasions the Association offered to give public authorities access 10 constantly dated data and to a team of experts whose knowledge experience and expertise in asbestos are probably unequalled any- where in the world Mr Filteau continued Urtil now this offer has very rarely been taken up Apart from a few exchanges of information with civil servants the dialogue and consultation that we have been hoping for have not really material- ized Health hygiene environment iv Canada Post = Postes Canada Postage paid = Port paye Third Troisi^me class classe 683 Montreal P.Q. Exemplary measures of cooperation The terms drawn up as part of the renewal of the collective agreements between the producing companies in the Thetford Mines region and the unions representing the asbestos workers mark an im- portant step forward in the field of hygiene and safety at work These are garde measures according to several specialists from the point of view of occupational health and safety which open up a new era of cooperation between employers and employees in the area of industrial security and health pro- tection Bipartite meetings In addition to the existing guarantee concerning the means and equipment necessary for preventive ac- tion mechanisms have been set up for the holding of regular meetings between union and management representatives at which a continuous assessment with amendments if ne- cessary will be made of the hygiene and safety conditions on the work sites Collaboration between both parties will thus be called for to remedy any situation which might present a health hazard Apart from the pro- visions aimed at securing a joint effort in maintaining hygienic and safe working conditions concerted action is envisaged in order to foster be- haviour and attitudes conducive to prevention Management and trade union delegates are to carry out regular inspections in the various departments ak In certain cases the companies undertake to provide the special training of employees to be designated by the unions who will act as industrial hygiene technicians during measurements and surveys of noise and dust levels throughout the plants Provisions are also made for the carrying out at the request of the unions of spot checks in the plant Guidelines The guiding principles underlying these various arrangements are likely to have an impact not only in the mining sectors but also in all industrial areas where hygiene is a matter of particular importance Se- veral items could even be taken up by the Qu^'bec government in its forthcoming project for global reform of the health and safety at work Among the monetary items salary increases have to be submitted for approval to the inflation Board The provisions concerning social benefits include numerous improvements as regards holidays life surance and pension plans Workers whose salaries are sub- ject to revision at regular intervals are protected against rises in the cost of living as calculated according to the Consumer Price Index and the cost of living allowance is fully integrated annually The asbestos producing companies in the greater Thetford Mines region employ some 4 000 people Bulletin This BULLETIN is published by the Qu^'becAsbestos Mining Association 1130 Sherbrooke Street West Suite 410 Montr^'alH3A 2M8 The Post Office Department in Ottawa has authorized postage paid in cash and forwarding of the publication by third class mail