Johns-Manville Bulletin to Home Insulation Contractors on Respirators (1935)

A two-page Johns-Manville Bulletin of June 10, 1935, signed by N. B. Sherrill, Jr., sent to all J-M Home Insulation sub-licensees in the United States and Canada, district managers and special representatives. It repeats an earlier bulletin (of June 1933 and January 1934) on dust masks for the crews who blew rock wool insulation into houses. That bulletin noted that former workers had sued, through "shyster" lawyers, over "alleged injuries sometimes described as silicosis," and that "in order to escape the charge of negligence in possible future cases" contractors should immediately issue numbered masks against signed receipts, keep windows open indoors, and post "Safety First - Wear Your Masks" notices on each machine.

What it shows

The bulletin frames the masks mainly as a defense against lawsuits: the precautions were to be taken "so as not to have any precedent established in court," and J-M said it assumed no responsibility "for possible claims that may be made, whether meritorious or otherwise." Two weeks later J-M's Officers Board noted these Home Insulation instructions and told Vandiver Brown, the company's attorney, to see that they were reissued and amended where needed (Officers Board minutes, June 27).

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

J-M Bulletin dated 6/10/35 mentions the two actions brought against Home Insulation Company by former employees and that now in order to escape the charge of negligence in possible future cases of similar character, respirators should be worn.