Canadian Johns-Manville Mine Division Industrial Hygiene Committee Minutes on Mill Dust Control (1948)

Two pages of minutes of the Industrial Hygiene Committee of Canadian Johns-Manville's Mine Division at Asbestos, Quebec, for July 10, 1948, kept by C. M. McGaw and copied to J. P. Woodard and H. M. Jackson at J-M headquarters, George K. Foster and J. E. Morrison. Dr. Kenneth W. Smith attended. On dust control in the mills, the committee wrote: "Failure of General Headquarters to approve this appropriation is difficult to understand, in view of the fact that it would reduce dust within the mill about 50%." The committee went on record about "the necessity and the urgency of action."

What it shows

The minutes record other dust problems as well: air locks for the mill machines, still not approved by headquarters, were "urgently required"; the bags in the bag sorting department were not being properly cleaned, exposing workers to "an excessive amount of dust"; and the previous year's X-rays showed more change among men in that department than in the mill. A trial of a new respirator had been unsatisfactory. Two months later J-M's President's Bulletin No. 59 limited spending on working conditions to "the most urgent needs."

In Johns-Manville's chronology

Johns-Manville's own chronology of what the company knew describes this document as follows:

Minutes of Industrial Hygiene Meeting, Mine Division 7/10/48. "Failure of General Headquarters to approve this appropriation is difficult to understand, in view of the fact that it would reduce dust within the mill about 50%. The Industrial Hygiene Committee wishes to go on record as having brought to the attention of the proper Company authorities the necessity and the urgency of action being taken on dust control in our milling department."