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\ AIA/NA Responds To OSHA's Proposal To Revise Asbestos Standard As reported (N&N Apr.), the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published a proposal to revise the stan dard for occupational exposure to asbestos in the Federal Reg ister of Apr. 10. Comments concerning the proposed revisions to the standard, including changes proposed by the emergency temporary standard issued Nov. 4, 1983 and subsequently"inval idated by U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Mar. 7, were due by May 25. In addition, parties requesting more than 10 minutes for their presentation at the hearing, and parties sub mitting documentary evidence at the hearing, were required'Ao submit the text of their testimony and all documentary evidence by May 25. :j The informal hearing will begin at 10:00 AM, June 19, in the Auditorium, U.S. Department of Labor; Third St. and Constitu tion Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. A wide range of organiza tions have expressed their intention of presenting testimony at the hearing. Present indications are that the hearing could approximate a 30-day period and include some 100 witnesses. AIA/NA filed advance testimony and documentary evidence with OSHA on May 25. Testimony will be submitted by about 20 witnesses, the majority coming from member companies. It is estimated that three to four days will be required for the Association's presentations. AIA/NA's comments primarily cover two major issues; the first is permissible exposure limit (PEL) and the second is a stan dard governing asbestos exposure in construction and other nonfixed operations. As to a revised PEL for primary manufactur ing and secondary fabrication activities, AIA/NA commented that: "The revised eight-hour TWA permissible exposure limit for as bestos should be set at the lowest level that is feasible (i,e. , the lowest level routinely achievable through available and cost-effective measures) through engineering and work practice controls. For most sectors, a 1.0 fiber/cc PEL can be achieved in a matter of months and many work stations could attain even lower limits in a similar period. Widespread compliance with a PEL at or approaching 0.5 fibers/cc could be achieved within a reasonable additional period, although up to four years may be needed for a few especially troublesome work stations." ASBESTOS INFORMATION ASSOCIATION 1745 Jefferson Davis Highway. Crystal Square 4. Suite 509 Arlington. Virginia 22202 (703) 979-1150 CAPCO JEN 0013193 Page 2 Second, the Association stated that OSHA should dispense with many of the customary ancillary requirements of its standards and instead prescribe specific work practice and respirator controls tailored to the type of exposures that are likely to occur in the various operations. Apart from the above major issues, AIA/NA observed that the hearing" should provide a forum for examining other measures for providing an additional margin of health protection for workers exposed regularly and for extended periods in pri mary and secondary industries. Among other things, the Association urged OSHA to consider the effectiveness and practicability of three such supplemental worker protection programs: (1) a requirement that feasible engineering and work practice controls that are shown to yield significant exposure reduction benefits be implemented even in workplaces that are achieving the new PEL; (2) a program to reduce sub stantially or eliminate smoking among asbestos workers; and (3) a program to achieve respirator use even where the PEL has been achieved through feasible engineering and work prac tice controls. An overview of AIA/NA's submission to OSHA was characterized, in the following statement: "-j The comprehensive evidence that the harmful ef- fects of asbestos are dose-related, the great progress that has been made to reduce asbestos exposures, and the predictions from the medical evidence that de minimis, if any, risk exists at the low levels that can be achieved in most asbestos applications, establish the major guidelines for developing a policy for future asbestos use. Consistent with these general principles, AIA/NA believes improvements can be made in the existing OSHA asbestos standard that both will be feasible and will establish an even greater margin of worker health protection than the current OSHA standard provides. r| - As a related matter, the regular second quarter meeting of the Association's directors will be held Wednesday, June 13, at the Old Town Holiday Inn, 480 King St., Alexandria, VA. Obviously, AIA/NA*s comments to OSHA and hearing participation will be a principal agenda item. In the meantime, inquiries to the Exe cutive Director are welcome. Ontario Commission Issues Report On Asbestos The long-awaited report of the Royal Commission on Matters of Health and Safety Arising from the Use of Asbestos in Ontario was released on May 7. The three-member commission included J. Stefan Dupre, professor of political science at the Univer sity of Toronto, who acted as chairman; Dr. J. Fraser Mustard, CAP CO JEN 0013194 Page 3 professor of pathology at McMaster University; and Robert J. Uffen, professor of engineering and geophysics at Queen's University. The Commission's three-volume report runs over 900 pages and includes an exhaustive analysis of the health effects of as bestos. The report reflects the results in part on scienti fic literature and in part on sworn testimony given by a large number of international experts on asbestos which was presen ted during more than 50 days of formal Commission hearings. The expert witnesses underwent examination and cross-examina tion by representatives of industry, labor and government. There were a number of conclusions reached by the Commission. Some of the more significant are listed below; . Crocidolite asbestos and amosite asbestos are more hazardous than chrysotile asbestos because fibers of crodidolite and amosite are more likely to con form to the most hazardous dimensions. The Com mission, therefore, recommended that the use of crocidolite and amosite be prohibited in Ontario. . Endorsed Ontario's present 1 f/cc control limit in chrysotile manufacturing except that textile manu facturing should be prohibited. . There is no evidence of significant health risks to the general public from exposure to asbestos in the ambient air and in buildings unless the person is breathing in the immediate vicinity of loose asbestos that is being disturbed. The mere presence of friable asbestos in a building does not present a health hazard to the building occu pants. -`I '-I if . There is no health risk from ingestion of asbestos. Concern about asbestos in drinking water, beverages and food is not justified. The Commission concluded that regulation of asbestos in drinking water, bev erages and food is unnecessary and unproductive. In introducing the Commission's report to the Legislative As sembly, the Honorable Russell Ramsay, Ontario Minister of Labor, emphasized that current adverse health effects in workers re sulted primarily from exposure to large quantities of asbestos many years ago, and that, as the Commission concluded, "The health' risk posed by asbestos, therefore, is a workplace health risk rather than a general public health risk." Copies of the complete report may be obtained from: Ontario Ministry of Government Services Publications Services Branch 5th Floor 880 Bay Street Toronto, Ontario, Canada M7A 1N8 CAPCO JEN 0013195 Page 4 The cost is $25.00 (U.S.) which covers mailing; checks should be made out to Treasurer of Ontario. Manufacturers, Insurers Reach Agreement To Establish Claims Resolution Facility Asbestos manufacturers and insurance companies announced plans May 18 to establish a claims resolution facility which would administer, settle, and pay asbestos related claims filed against all members. The negotiators met under the auspices of the Center for Public Resources Legal Program and have been known as the Wellington Group after the moderator, Harry Well ington , the dean of Yale Law School. The agreement would signal an end to the more than 30 major coverage cases which are currently before the courts for a de termination of the insurer's liability, according to E. Judge Elderkin of San Francisco's Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, who represented Fibreboard Corporation. He stated that the pro posal would give the producers comprehensive insurance cover age, while the insurers would be rid of litigation and puni-. tive damage claims and the cost of defending the cases would} be greately reduced. The healthclaimants, Elderkin said, would be likely to have their claims adjusted without waiting four to five years. However, he noted, the proposed system-/ would not take away any of their benefits, including retention of legal counsel, and the ability to go into the court system. There would be one claims facility set up on the West Coast and one on the East Coast at locations not yet determined, with the headquarters located at one of those regional locations. The facility would be governed by a 12-member board of directors, with an equal number of representatives from the insurers and producers. The start-up costs will be paid by the subscribing primary insurers, with the operating costs being paid by the insurers and the subscribing producers after their insurance coverage is exhausted. Liability payments and allocated ex penses will be allocated to each producer member in accordance with an agreed schedule. Claimants will file a claim, whether or not there is a lawsuit pending, and submit data in order that the claim may be evalu ated. Once eligibility is determined and an evaluation is made, the facility will attempt to negotiate a settlement. If such a settlement cannot be reached, the facility will make available mediation aimed at resolving the dispute. Reportedly, education sessions would be held in June with signatures from the partici pants coming in July, the closing being slated for Sept. 13, and the facility being in operation by the end of the year. The ar rangement, he said, would go forward with or without the parti cipation of the Manville Corporation or Travelers Insurance Com pany, neither of which were part of the negotiations. The insurance negotiators involved represented Aetna Life and Casualty Company, Hartford Insurance Group, CIGNA Corporation, CAP CO JEN 0013196 Page 5 Continental Insurance Company, Fireman's Fund Insurance Com panies, and Lloyd's of London. In addition to Fibreboard Corporation, the other manufacturers included Pittsburgh Corning Corporation, Armstrong World Industries, OwensCorning Fiberglas Corporation, Owens-Illinois, Inc., and Celotex Corporation. James Vermeulen, executive director of Asbestos Victims of America, stated that, although he was not involved in the negotiations relating to the establishment of the claims facility, he was "highly suspicious of the entire situation, because this was put together by the industry and its insur ance companies for their benefit." However, one good thing which came out of the plan, he added, was that claimants' ability to resort to the tort system was not affected. OSHA Extends Experimental Program For Asbestos Inspections In Construction An experimental program in which Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors visit construction sites which are conducting asbestos demolition or removal activi^ ties has been extended by the agency until Sept. 30, 1984."l OSHA Notice CPL 2, issued Apr. 1, stated that the procedures which have been in effect for handling referrals from the 5 Environmental Protection Agency in asbestos construction or demolition projects are being continued. Under the continuing program, which has been in effect since Oct. 1983, EPA informs OSHA of all firms engaged in such as bestos activities. All EPA referrals result in OSHA inspec tions. OSHA was to review the experimental program after six months and decide whether it should be extended. The notice specified that lines of communication should be continued be tween EPA representatives and OSHA regional and area office staff to ensure that asbestos demolition/removal notices from EPA to OSHA are transmitted as quickly as possible. EPA was requested to give particular attention to contractors with which the agency had experienced difficulties in the past. This would include contractors with a history of ignoring the EPA reporting requirements and/or which may not be using safe and healthful work practices for asbestos demolition and re moval-. Further, OSHA instructed its area directors to evaluate all EPA notifications as thoroughly as possible, paying particu lar attention to the starting and ending times of the project referred. Once it is determined that a contractor is follow ing safe and healthful work practices and procedures, contin ued OSHA inspections of the same contractor normally will not be necessary, according to the notice. At the end of six months, the area director must evaluate the program and submit the results to the director of field oper ations by July 13, 1984. At the end of this experimental CAP CO JEN 0013197 Page 6 program, the area director must evaluate the overall project and submit the results to the director of field operations by Oct. 12, 1984. CAL/OSHA Standards Board Closes File On Previously Approved Asbestos Rule A rulemaking proceeding to revise California's asbestos stan dard to conform to the Occupational Safety and Health Admini stration's emergency temporary asbestos rule was closed Apr. 19 by the state Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board. The board, which adopted revisions to the state asbestos stan-dard at its Nov. 1983 meeting, never filed the amended standard with the secretary of state, so it never went into effect. The revisions to California's standard paralleled those in OSHA's emergency temporary rule, including a reduction in the permissible exposure limit from 2 f/cc of air to 0.5 f/cc. However, OSHA's emergency temporary standard was invalidated Mar. 7 by a federal appeals court (N&N Mar.). The board agreed to a suggestion from its executive officer, Steve Jablonskvr, that the rulemaking file should be closed. Senate Action On Asbestos Disease Compensation Continues Hearings before the Labor subcommittee of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee on the issue of compensation for as bestos-related diseases which began last month (N&N Apr.), con tinued on May 21. Testimony was presented to the subcommittee, chaired by Sen. Don Nickles (R-OK), by the U.S. Justice Dept., Manville Corp., the APL-CIO, and the National Association of Manufacturers. B. Wayne Vance, Justice Dept.'s Civil Division deputy assis tant attorney general, stated a compensation program would be "difficult to control and the total cost may have no rational relationship to expectations." He also noted that problems in other compensation systems, such as that for black lung, left the administration "reluctant to endorse" compensation programs in other areas. In response to repeated questioning from Sen. Donald W. Riegle (D-MI) on when the administration would develop its own recommendations or take a position on legislation al ready being proposed, Vance replied that while it was "intensely studying the problem," the administration had no set schedule for formulating a proposal. G. Earl Parker, senior vice president of Manville Corp., stres sed the importance of developing some sort of compensation sy stem, pointing out that asbestos tort litigation "benefits only the few," with lawyers and not victims being the "only consis tent" winners. CAPCO JEN 0013198 Page 6 program, the area director must evaluate the overall project and submit the results to the director of field operations by Oct. 12, 1984. CAL/OSHA Standards Board Closes File On Previously Approved Asbestos Rule A rulemaking proceeding to revise California's asbestos stan dard to conform to the Occupational Safety and Health Admini stration's emergency temporary asbestos rule was closed Apr. 19 by the state Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board. The board, which adopted revisions to the state asbestos stan-dard at its Nov. 1983 meeting, never filed the amended standard with the secretary of state, so it never went into effect. The revisions to California's standard paralleled those in OSHA's emergency temporary rule, including a reduction in the permissible exposure limit from 2 f/cc of air to 0.5 f/cc. However, OSHA's emergency temporary standard was invalidated Mar. 7 by a federal appeals court (N&N Mar.). The board agreed to a suggestion from its executive officer, Steve Jablonskyjij that the rulemaking file should be closed. Senate Action On Asbestos Disease Compensation Continues Hearings before the Labor subcommittee of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee on the issue of compensation for as bestos-related diseases which began last month (N&N Apr.), con tinued on May 21. Testimony was presented to the subcommittee, chaired by Sen. Don Nickles (R-OK), by the U.S. Justice Dept., Manville Corp., the AFL-CIO, and the National Association of Manufacturers. B. Wayne Vance, Justice Dept.'s Civil Division deputy assis tant attorney general, stated a compensation program would be "difficult to control and the total cost may have no rational relationship to expectations." He also noted that problems in other compensation systems, such as that for black lung, left the administration "reluctant to endorse" compensation programs in other areas. In response to repeated questioning from Sen. Donald W. Riegle (D-MI) on when the administration would develop its own recommendations or take a position on legislation al ready being proposed, Vance replied that while it was "intensely studying the problem," the administration had no set schedule for formulating a proposal. G. Earl Parker, senior vice president of Manville Corp., stres sed the importance of developing some sort of compensation sy stem, pointing out that asbestos tort litigation "benefits only the few," with lawyers and not victims being the "only consis tent" winners. CAPCO JEN 0013198 Page 6 f program, the area director must evaluate the overall project and submit the results to the director of field operations by Oct. 12, 1984. CAL/OSHA Standards Board Closes File On Previously Approved Asbestos Rule A rulemaking proceeding to revise California's asbestos stan dard to conform to the Occupational Safety and Health Admini stration's emergency temporary asbestos rule was closed Apr. 19 by the state Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board. The board, which adopted revisions to the state asbestos stan-' dard at its Nov. 1983 meeting, never filed the amended standard with the secretary of state, so it never went into effect. The revisions to California's standard paralleled those in OSHA's emergency temporary rule, including a reduction in the permissible exposure limit from 2 f/cc of air to 0.5 f/cc. However, OSHA's emergency temporary standard was invalidated Mar. 7 by a federal appeals court (N&N Mar.). The board agreed to a suggestion from its executive officer, Steve Jablonsky^j that the rulemaking file should be closed. Senate Action On Asbestos Disease Compensation Continues Hearings before the Labor subcommittee of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee on the issue of compensation for as bestos-related diseases which began last month (N&N Apr.), con tinued on May 21. Testimony was presented to the subcommittee, chaired by Sen. Don Nickles (R-OK), by the U.S. Justice Dept., Manville Corp., the AFL-CIO, and the National Association of Manufacturers. B. Wayne Vance, Justice Dept.'s Civil Division deputy assis tant attorney general, stated a compensation program would be "difficult to control and the total cost may have no rational relationship to expectations." He also noted that problems in other compensation systems, such as that for black lung, left the administration "reluctant to endorse" compensation programs in other areas. In response to repeated questioning from Sen. Donald W. Riegle (D-MI) on when the administration would develop its own recommendations or take a position on legislation al ready being proposed, Vance replied that while it was "intensely studying the problem," the administration had no set schedule for formulating a proposal. G. Earl Parker, senior vice president of Manville Corp., stres sed the importance of developing some sort of compensation sy stem, pointing out that asbestos tort litigation "benefits only the few," with lawyers and not victims being the "only consis tent" winners. CAP CO JEN 0013198 $E I! nvjronment r. ^Ts>^<r^^gggs8ggjg ent standard requires employers to control asbestos by vacuuming or wetting it ASBESTOS PRODUCERS FACEri-.A HEW REGULATORY BLITZ -down;'but-the new rules would allow employers'to equqi workers with respi rators. The cost of compliance for indus try is estimated at more than $60 million to kick the program off and then more INDUSTRY IS BATHING ATTEMPTS BY THE EPA AND OSHA than $50 million annually.' ' TO LIMIT WORKER EXPOSURE AND BAN MANY PRODUCTS *-N1 a yfSuot ban. The epa plans to call for a ban on the import, manufacture, and wo decades have passed since as will certainly damage .world markets,"' processing of four major asbestos prod Tbestos was first implicated as a se maintains B. J. Pigg, executive, director rious health threat, capable of of the Asbestos Information Assn, a causing cancer and respiratory diseastrea.de group of U.S. and Canadian min ucts: asbestos-cement pipe and fittings, roofing felt, sheet flooring, and vinylasbestos tile. Those products consume During those years, the mineral hearss and makenrof asbestos products.' -- nearly half the $80 million of asbestos been studied far more thoroughly than The .battle to tighten regulations gov consumed annually in the U.S. The any other industrial carcinogen. But de erning the exposure.to asbestos has agency may also propose a 10-year ef spite overwhelming evidence that expo raged for more'than a decade. In 1975 fort to find substitutes for asbestos in sure to asbestos has caused thousands the Occupational Safety & Health.Ad other products. of deaths, the material is still widely ministration proposed cutting the expo cumw. The epa has scheduled hear used. And critics, especially organised sure level from the present 2 fibers per ings in May to determine what can be labor, charge that efforts to protect cubic centimeter of air to 0.5 fiber. The done to remove asbestos from the ap workers and the public from the dangers Environmental Protection Agency want proximately 14,000 schools in which stu of asbestos are still woefully inadequate. ed in 1979 to ban several products that dents are still exposed to the insulating Now the fight against asbestos is contain asbestos. But those proposals material The Service Employees Inter heating up again. Three separate federal bogged down in a bitter fight between national Union on Apr. 23 filed suit agencies are launching a.regulatory blitz industry and labor. And that dispute against the agency to force action in that has panicked the already reeling as was overshadowed by the argument be cleaning up the schools. The Education bestos industry and is drawing fire from tween government and industry, over Dept estimates that getting [rid of that Canada. That country is the world's No. who should compensate employees for asbestos will cost about $U4|billion. 2 producer of asbestos (after the Soviet illnesses contracted from working with HimihoM level*. The Conahmer Prod- .uct Safety Commission haa_tarted test ing household products, including pipe wrapping, gloves, and cement to deter mine whether they release asbestos fi bers. The commission is also about to embark on a study to sample asbestos levels in homes. When that survey is completed, the commission could recom mend regulatory action if its survey un covers significant hazards. The renewed regulatory activity has put the asbestos industry on the defen sive. Industry officials privately charge that Washington politics are playing a major role in the dispute. They maintain that the current regulatory activity is an attempt by the Administration to polish its tarnished regulatory record. `There's a pent-up demand for regulation, and what better time to do it than in an REMOVING ASBESTOS FROM 14.000 U. a SCHOOLS IS EXPECTED TO COST S1.4 BILLION election year," says one industry rfffiriaL Another suggests that former osha Union) and accounts for more than 90% high levels of asbestos in the past The du'ef Thome G. Auditor, who left for of current imports to the U. S. At issue row over who should pay peaked in 1982 private industry on Mar. 31, "saw a pic are tighter controls fpr worker exposure when Manville Corp. filed for Chapter 11 ture of [former epa chief] Anne Bur- to asbestos and an outright ban on many protection under the federal bankruptcy ford's head rolling across the Mall and of the key end products that use the act The company said it could not sur dedded he wasn't going to be next" material. vive under the mountain of compensa Government officials, however, deny bslkaoukmb. Those regulatory propos tion claims. those charges. Says Auditor: "What I als will be debated this summer in what Now, under mounting pressure from saw and what I see was a picture of are expected to be acrimonious hearings. labor, tighter rules are likely: workers getting cancer." And officials And they most likely will lead to a new worktr x)wwn. osha will hold hear contend that the evidence is clear that round of lawsuits from the angry labor ings in June on an Apr. 10 proposal to stiller controls are justified, osha says unions and the beleaguered asbestos in reduce current allowable exposure limits that its studies indicate that dropping dustry. The proposals represent "the for workers by at least 75%, from 2 fi the worker-exposure limit to 0.5 fiber most serious threat yet to the survivabil bers per cubic centimeter to either 0.5 or per cubic centimeter would prevent 5,725 ity of the U.S. asbestos indusby and 02 fiber per cubic centimeter. The pres cancer deaths among the 48,000 U.S. 186 P BUSINESSWEEK/MAY 14.1964 dnouoauruaa/! CAPCO JEN 0013199 workers whoare curtly than that lerel of asbertoTS .if^-J^to.tto ^ of^as^prodne-/ - " the level were dropped to`"0.2 fib*r;van3^*-AIlsn " estimated 6.060 deaths could be avoidei^-fc .^ ^.S-^ eo^i^med 1 In OSHA's drive to Emit worker exp.y.^^tnnmtnLtor Wnham D. Hackmans " sure, however, it may have run into .* "" * nnwartsatoo- Canarfian technological walL OSHA officala admit^'C-V repmentatwes have also that ft is difficult to accurately measure ;; /: A *t*" emhs; tany fibers below the 0.5-8ber leveLTbe lack" EPA expert met with 30 members of Out?* of a reliable test could make monitoringasbestos in the air--and enforcing the ada's Parliament to expl............................ behind a possible produi rule--very difficult As a result, OSHA Canadian Asbestos Information Center, issued its proposal with two different a group of employers and unions based lewrita--45 fiber and 02. fiber^and ex "mostly in Quebec, has hired Gray ft Co, pects to taffies*the Jure hearings. "Sure, ward the lower limit standpoint, but we have dard that's feasible,'* explains ..acting OSHA head Patrick R. Tyson, suauc saimsiutoss. The agency's fail ure to propose a specific limit has en already ahaping up in the U. S. The EPA claims that its actions are'nutified under th-e--T-o--x-ic--S-u-bstances C-ontro.l.A..c.t.,.w..h..ic.h Si; 'r ^ raged organized labor. Unions have been pushing for an even more stringent standard--0.1 fiber per cubic centimeter. . And tiie current proposal is "noncommit tal,'' charges Scott P. Schneider, an in dustrial hygienist for the Carpenters' Union. The construction industry and the building-trades unions are both up set that OSHA has yet to propose a stan dard designed to protect demolition and . Even if OSHA followed labor's rncommen-? dation and set a more stringent 0.1 fiher-;-r;;.>''i^7. .......... rule, the agency says that there would V^liSr. still be an unacceptable risk of cancer.;1. amoniLBoricera. '; renovation workers who are exposed to the highest asbestos levels of any group of workers. "In construction, the prob lems are so difficult that OSHA seems to avoid them," says Schneider. Even more threatening to the asbestos industry is the EPA proposal to ban fu ture use of asbestos altogether. U. S. as bestos consumption has already dropped significantly, partly as a result of the recession but also because public skit- intended.for the EPA to -be V ircpe^ OSHA," declares Muth of Lac D'Amiante - *ir ^>-1.5 "" 'jOsts)|- 8.3 I I M < (SC g i 11 oils! ie"B3SVfi 1 'What I saw.. .was a picture ofworkers getting cancer,' says a former. OSHA chief tishness about asbestos has caused! many processors to switch to substitute! matogiilg. In 1979, U.S. consumption! amounted to 560,000 metric tons, but by 1 1983 the annual total plummeted to 217,000 tons. An EPA ban wot; ' fight any proposals to ban asbestos; it is - clearly ready to take a more conciliatory position in the latest fight than it has m'.r. V'-''- .. the past `This time it's different in the r. sense that [we all know] there is going; ^to be some new regulation," says Ed- .: ward W. Warren, counsel for the.Asbes-V- . ' toe Information Asan.. '-The question - 'over the next few months wffl be by- whom, and what the regulations are go ing to say." - STepa proposals have alarmed the Canadians, who fear that other countries might follow the lead of the U.S. in banning asbestos. "The U.S. does tend to- have a prominent role in setting atti tudes uo esKsnramental issues," com ments Robert J. Muth, a director of Lac I D'Amiante Du Quebec, an Asarco Inc. subsidiary that is the leading Canadian producer. Proposals in the European Community for bans on some asbestos uses have met with little interest so far. ... ,, ' i eo_ 0i . 1 1___' i g S' '3g-ei.s-crs -- pEh i!> S '8! -Rc IS .B1- 2 I a |i g| S5 s K " a- >." i 8" 2-S-s g>* J= a- J= n -c ~.H 2 8 13 --32^S31-.2s3p !<--Q. iOU S&J SSlS'-^-g a.; 1^1 8` "otsf l. 9e 52. %> 1"3-o 5 < J51 .: Oc .rSn i_s_ S&. ' " S o c8 lai-cL. suii3uJemSS * ' " 8-S J rs -- f|c a I-2 "-3 AVQo-'8O3 S8O "3 3P7 S Q dg g" Q. 5O o gg U Kg.-Qi.CO gJ CAPCO JEN 0013200 ^fp/lany Factors331heRThanllnjuixPIay^igniflcant^^S ^Role rn The Outcome df Asbestos-Related Claims " ^ fWwAhSeHnINyoGuTmOaNk,e"; .DicclaTi--mHfocnr rmuubche'aybtou^:r*> .'LL,'. ~ '-J related inmiy dependt on nany other frctore bendoi die mjury jueif.. a U.S. Senate-^ .aubconunutee wax told here April 24:James S. Kakalik, a researcher for TLhe* . Rand Corporation's Institute for Civil Jus ticc, said that while the.' more severely., iinnjjuurreeda ggeenneerraallllyy rreecceeiivvee-' hmigghneerr aawrrearrodss,, , KKs"kaffu*k listed these additional rfi^nddinSgsTM:^* ^ The average compensation paid on all claims, whether tried in court or settled... earlier, was $64,000. Defendants* total pay outs averaged'(101,000, including $37,000 m defense litigation expenses plus the compen- .other factors are also statistically significant .. Mtion.- Sr --. - in influencing what plaintiff gets. They are: . v . On average, for ^very $1.59 paid by - The number of defendants in a smgle . -.. . - . - r claim. Claims with more defendants hn the defendants and' insurers, 95 cents went to average--fifteen--resulted in a maximum pay their litigation expenses, 64 cents went estimated increase in compensation of about to pay plaintiff's litigation expenses, and a ; 15%. dollar was netted by the plaintiff in compen- * The number of plaintiffs in a single claim. The largest multiple-plaintiff lawsuits 'resulted in an estimated average compensa tion pet claim that was about 70% of the compeniasioat for a single-plaintiff lawsuit. sation. j -et .--; - ' ' ' .. People run little risk of harmful ex| While more than ,300 defendants have j been have named altogether, been targeted in' at 16 corporations least half of the - . sure to asbestos in buildings, drinki water, beverages or food, a royal co claims: ' mission has reported. . ... ' Whether the claim is taken to trial. In the sample analyzed by the institute re search team, cases that litigants took to court yielded verdicts 1.28 times greater The new study, `.'Variation in Asbestos Litigation Compensation and Expenses^-- was prepared by Kakalik. Patricia A. Ebe- . But workers in asbestos-related indi tries are in grave danger and more u ner, William L.F. Felstiner, Gus W. Hagg-..., die in the next few years because of p< than amounts received in comparable cases settled before trial--and that is exclusive of any punitive damages. "However," Kakalik pointed out, "claims that went to trial may differ from those Strom and Michael G. Shanley. The Institute . exposure, the commission said yesterd for Civil Justice is a separate research organization within Rand supported by . in a report tabled by Ontario Lab pooled grants from more than 200 corpora Minister Russell Ramsay in the Legis tions, foundations and professional organi ture. settled earlier on characteristics that were not measured." The age of the plaintiff, the type of employment in which - he contracted the disease, and whether he was alive when the compensation was awarded also weighed heavily in the outcome. Kakalik said. Noting that severity of injury is an important consideration, Kakalik pointed out zations. ' . In a sweeping study of the health danger The report is based on a survey of 513 claims closed between January 1980 and August, 1982. which includes all 132 claims tried and a nationally representative, ran- . asbestos, the commission tried to allay pub ]' . concerns that the presence of crumbly asbes ;in buildings is by itself hazardous -- a fear tl dom sample of 381 claims closed before trial . . in part led to the establishment of the comm with all or neatly all defendants-- -; sion four years ago. "The system is in transition," the report ` The commission said the^526 million spe says, noting that the study does not project , since 1979 to .remove asbestos from scho that claimants with lung cancer and meso from 1982 to now or into the future. "Future ; was a waste of money. The health risk posed thelioma. for example, receive substantially costs and compensation will depend heavily asbestos is a workplace health risk rather th more than those with asbestosis. on the outcomes of...bankruptcy reorganize- ,^ a general public health risk, it said. . (Asbestosis is a clogging and scarring of the lungs that may produce a disabling loss tions, and on the details of any of the' proposed changes in the system of proces Recommends ban of lung capacity. Mesothelioma is a rare, sing these claims that may be imple- ' There's no danger when asbestos is sw rapidly fatal cancer of the lining of the chest mented." lowed, the report said. The danger comes frt and abdomen.) In a foreword, institute director Shubert inhaling it, especially longer fibres known Kakalik's testimony before the Subcom points out that until its first study was crocidolite and amosite. mittee on Labor of the Senate Committee on published, even the most rudimentary facts The commission recommended the imme Labor and Human Resources was based on two reports by the civil justice institute on the costs and compensation in asbestos-rela ted cases closed prior to August 1982. In the latest study, of cases closed between January 1980 and August 1982, about asbestos litigation were fragmentary, ate. banning of these substances, although anecdotal or altogether unknown......... noted that, since 1980, neither type has be Now, for the first time, he writes, "an independent, objective and comprehensive assessment of the costs of resolution of such claims hat been conducted and the results -. used in manufacturing in Ontario or has be mined in Canada..' . The only type used or mined in Ontario plaintiffs were found to have received an made available to all parties." shorter-Iengtn chrysotile, which poses f . average of 39% of total payout by defend- .. The institute's report was based on fewer risks to the public and is used in t dants. after deducting plaintiffs' and defen- aggregate information provided by defen ' production of car brakes. dams' litigation expenses. Using aggregate dants and their insurers from the thousands '. '`There is no evidence of significant hea data over a longer time span in the first ofsuits filed since the floodgates of asbestos rjsks to the general public from exposure study last year, the figure came to 37%.. litigation were opened in 1973. Defendants .asbestos in the ambient air and in buildings t The new study, drawing a sharper focus and insurance companies poured out an .less the person is breathing in the immedfc on a more detailed data base, "not only . estimated $1 billion over the decade. vicinity of loose asbestos that is being dtettn reaffirms the earlier findings, but pinpoints ed," the report said.- widely varying patterns of costs and com* ... pensation," said Gustave H. Shubert. Rand senior vice president and director of the J". Of the $26 million asbestos-removal progre - the commission, headed by Stefan Dupre, institute. -1 University of Toronto professor, said: "Neith All other factors being equal, Kakalik said 43A-12 tllSURAKCE ADVOCATE . the. scale nor the pace of the school progra that: The peak compensation went to people WEEKLY 6,000 .was warranted by the risk posed by me asbestos-containing schools to occupants 54 years old. Those over 70 are estimated to .. workers. If anything, the scale and pace... have received only 71 percent'of what the ' significantly increased the risk to .. . ' average age claimant, 57, received. Insulation workers suffering from as bestosis averaged higher compensation in cases settled before trial ($106,000) than shipyard workers ($75,000), who were paid more than factory workers, ($55,000). Claimants with lung cancer received an average of $119,000 in settlement, and those APR 28 1984 ' some workers directly engaged in control projects." .''.The $1.7 million commission said Ontario's asbestos regulations are among the most stringent any ` where. But the death of 68 people who once worked at a now-closed -OVc. with mesothelioma, $319,000. Toronto asbestos-materials plant CAPCO JEN 0013201