Document ykVaOvG6pkp5jKaZYba2N6Xbn

F e b r u ar y 2, 1954 D r. Kieffer D avis M edical D irector P h illip s P etroleu m Com pany B a r t le sv ille , O klah om a D ear Kieffer: I sh ou ld lik e to sit dow n an d t alk w ith you ab ou t a n u m b er of m at t e r s t h at r e la t e to th e su b je c t of y o u r le t t e r of Ja n u a r y 25, an d p e r h ap s t h is can. b e don e w h en you co m e to th e La b o r a t o r y to giv e a Sat u r d ay m or n in g se m in ar . I h ope so. M ean w h ile I sh all un dertake to rep ly a s w ell a s I can to you r sp ecific qu estion s. Th e st an d ar d s w h ich w e ap p ly to th e se le ct io n of m en who en gage in the o p e r at io n s fo r m ixin g an itk n ock com pou n ds w ith gaso lin e a r e not cap ab le of st at e m e n t a s sp e c ific a t io n s, sin ce th ey a r e le ft to th e ju d gm en t of th e m e m b e r s of th e m e d ic a l st aff of Eth yl C o r p o r at io n who do th e w ork in th e fie ld . T h ese a r e sou n d an d e xp e r ie n ce d m en , who u n d ertak e to ach iev e the ge n e r a l p u r p o se s of th e M e d ic al D e p ar t m e n t of th e C o r p o r at io n with th e le a st in t e r fe r e n c e w ith th e p o lic ie s o f th e e m p lo y e r of t h e se m axi, an d a lso w ith the le a st p o ssib le d islocatio n of the w orkin g relation sh ip s of the m en th em selves. F o r a t im e , in th e e a r ly p e r io d o f t h is ..rath er u n iqu e p r o g r a m of m e d ical su p e r v isio n , we w er e fa ir ly r igid in ou r r e q u ir e m e n t s, sin ce an yth in g th at d evelop ed in a m an w as alt o ge t h e r too lik e ly to be b lam ed upon t etr aeth y l lead . A s the y e ar s p asse d an d we w ere ab le to d em on strate the com plete ad eq u acy c f th e m eth od s of p r o tect in g th e m en aga in st th e h az ar d s e the w ork, w e r e laxe d som ew h at, in o r d e r to con form to th e b e st can on s of good in d u st r ial m e d ical p r a c t ic e , in th at we exclu d ed few p eop le, an d th en on ly fo r th e m o st o b viou s r e a so n s. In so m e p la c e s few m en a r e av ailab le fo r th e jo b , an d in o t h e r s t h er e a r e good r e a so n s, in t e r m s of th e p e r so n al r eliab ility an d r esp o n sib ility of a m an , fo r overlookin g p h ysical h an dicaps c c e r t a i n t y p e s. On th e sid e of age , we p r e fe r in a ll in st an ce s to avoid m in o r s, b e cau se of th e st r o n g fla v o r o f p r e ju d ice r e lat in g to ju ven ile su sce p t ib ilit y to le ad , a s w ell a s th e ge n e r a l fe e lin g t h at m in o r s sh ou ld n ot b e en gaged in un duly h azard ou s occu p ation s. We p r e fe r not to u se old m en , fo r a n um ber of r e a so n s, bu t so m e t im e s an o ld e r m an is th e b e st m an av ailab le in t e r m s of h is in telligen ce, r eliab ility an d resp o n siv en ess to ou r in stru ction s.