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GENERAL TALK OH SAFETY POLICIES lesionai Meetings of Ethyl'Corporation Field Staff
I . Background
First full development of policy in relation to tank-cleaning in Meetings of this general type in 19Vi
1. Situation of that time - poisonings, fatalities, anxiety of Corporation and of customers companies, especially those whose employees had been involved
2. Statement of Principles
Existence of serious hazard - nature - method of control
Responsitality of Ethyl to (a) educate and (b) control
35 Obliterate hazard by concentrated attack of all or nearly all field personnel
a. Interviews with executives and authority - to promote full understanding
b. Issuance of instructions, placards, signs on tanks..
c. Presence at site of tank-cleaning operations
4. Organization of program (various procedures tried - pattern established finally,,
a. Advisory relationship of Medical Department to
Top management
)
} Sales Department executives;
Safety management
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as the center of
primary information based upon
(1) Medical responsibility for prevention of illness
fox- care of ill,
for medico-legal activities.
(2) Research activities in medical and toxicologic
matter's
b . Authority in line organization
Sales Department Executives
(l) Safety Manager - Direction and coordination
Transmission of advice
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(2) Field Executives
(3) Field Staff
5 . Results of Program
II. Present need for Restatement and Clarification of Policy
1. Factors responsible for this need
a. Lapse of years since formal meetings dealing pri marily with safety
b. Dislocations of war - modified tank-cleaning program and question of reverting to earlier program, continue modification or change still further
c. Changes in top management
d. Economic and organizational stresses associated with competition
e . Reorganization of field activities - decentralization -
customer account policy
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2. Effects of foregoing factors
a.
Personal appeal for
:cnest acceptance of
i-itieisms not intended,
t o he presonal but
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lerely illustrative.
Attention concentrated on minor rather than primary issues of policy - on details rather than principles of day's work
The safety of x^erscnnel engaged in hazardous jobs as being jeopardised over
(l) fear of inconveniences to customers and loss of their good will and business
(2) uncertainty as to where top management of
Ethyl in putting its emphasis - on economy of operating or on safety of personnel
3 . Hew facts and factors which argue in favor of reexamination
of position
a. Field experience which has pr-oved our operations to be faulty - Record not wholly good even when tank cleaning procedure has been observed by our people
b . Experience with leaded gasoline during war
c. Experiences with TEL and unorthodox practices in
areas in which hygienic control is non-existent or
inadequate - Russia, Germany, Italy - earlier
representations of this In U.S.A., accidents to
children and adults who drank "Ethyl11 fluid, stored
in unauthorized and unsupervised places, Bootleg manufacturing plants
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d . Hew technical developments - Vitane
e. Hew or old problems now under investigation
(1) Hazards of cleaning small tanks Field and clinical investigation
(2) Hazards of buried sludge
(3 } Hazards of aeronautical origin - Airports
and plants
(4) Lead contamination of air of cities
I I I . Authority for Restatement of Fundamental Policy
1. Policies, procedure and organization reexamined by Hew Management, as have all other policies and operations
a. hat are they and vbat do they cost?
b . Are they necessary now or can they be reduced or eliminated?
c. Are the hazards all understood by customer personnel and can advice and educational efforts be substituted for the work now done directly by personnel of Ethyl Corporation
2. -The fundamental principles of the original policy, based on experience - not on theory or empire building - have been reaffirmed, as follows:
a. Ethyl Corporation is engaged as its primary activity in the manufacture and sale of a useful but highly dangerous product;
b. The risks to human life and health entailed in the
distribution and use of this product are such a3 to
constitute the chief threat to the continued existence of the business of Ethyl Corporation, the economic threat of competition being slight by comparison;
c. The Corporation must maintain in its own liands, not in those of Governmental agencies or others, the control of its own activities, in accordance with its pledge to the United States Public Health Service;
d. The responsibility for the maintenance of public safety necessitates research and alertness to the appearance of new hazards or the recrudescence of old;
e. It entails the ability and authority to meet conditient as they arise and to adapt hygienic practice accordingly, uninhibited by self-inflicted obstacles
. of organization, and unrestricted by formal legi3la-
_tion imposed because of default on the part of the Corporation, in its responsibility to the community;
4.
f. There are privileges and also moral, social and economic responsibilities in a system of free enterprise. The latter is free to contribute to the welfare and prosperity of the community, it may not impose undue hazard nor inflict obvious injury upon the community without inviting regulatory mechanisms;
g. The Medical Department, in its advisory relationship
to the Corporation, mu3t explore and find the means
of exercising its responsibility for the public health
in matters related to the products made and sold by
the Corporation. So long a3 it can'do, so successfully
and in good faith, it will do so to the best of its
ability as a professional duty, and also as an
obligation to federal and local health authorities.
VJhen it cannot do so, it will not only relinquish
its task, but will inform the authorities of the
essential facts.
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p. These principles have been approved by President Shea and the Hew York Staff and confirmed by Board of Directors of Corporation
IV. Concluding Remarks
'
The safety of personnel subjected to various hazards which arise
from the sale a n d .distribution of "E t h y l " antiknock compound is in .
danger of being jeopardized by uncertainties on the part of sales and.
safety 3taff of the Corporation as to where the management and stock
holders of the Corporation are putting their emphasis, whether on
maintaining the maximum degreeof safety, or on the maximum degree of
economy in the operations relating to safety. The answer has been
given. There can be no business opei'ations, in any enduring sense,
unless tho safety of personnel is secured by every reasonable effort
on the part of the Corporation and its sales organization.
A further question relates to fears which have been entertained
and also expressed as to the loss of commercial advantage to a
competitor, in inflicting, regulation and inconvenience upon customers
of the Corporation in the Interests of safety. Tills fear need not be
taken seriously if an effective and honest job is done. Representatives
of customers may express irritation, at times, because of some
inconvenience to which they say be compelled to suffer for their cvn safety, and also they may find some amusement in the problems which they can see (and augment) as between the competitors, never theless, they must not be dealt with in matters of safety so as to seek their immediate favor but rather to advance their ultimate advantage, a3 far as the latter can be foreseen. The only good advice is wise, not self-seeking, advice. The safety representatives of Sthyl Corporation have achieved an enviable position by their expertness and honesty. They have been accepted at their face value ' by the petroleum industry. They will keep that position, not by cunning or by stealth, but by knowing their business and by maintaining their record of ability and honesty over the long pull. They have the position of good will that is being sought by a competitor. They can lose it only by their failure to employ the tactics by which they gained their present position. Their only concern should be to be right in their judgments and fair in their dealings, seeking the ultimate good of the customer, and not iris immediate favor.
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