Johns-Manville Health Staff to C. W. Hite, Reply to Joe Goldfield's Turner Brothers Letter (1966)

An unsigned, confidential three-page memo of May 11, 1966, to C. W. Hite, copied to H. M. Jackson, answering point by point the recommendations in Joe Goldfield's letter of March 21, 1966 about Turner Brothers. The writer listed the companies and bodies J-M was studying health problems with and the industrial hygiene program run by "CLS" (C. L. Sheckler). On Goldfield's concern about asbestos, he wrote: "Let's first determine how 'dangerous' asbestos really is. Since we have controlled dust to within the required standards of 5.0 MPPCF, we have not seen new cases of pulmonary changes. Where will we be, employee relation-wise, if the 'panic button' is pressed unnecessarily?"

What it shows

The writer saw "no need or benefit from a separate committee" on health. He wrote that a company doctor's role should be "a passive one," and that when firm action was needed it was done "quietly and with as little publicity as possible. Battles are won by strategy not loud noises." He closed by asking that anyone speaking for J-M on health "consult us prior to outside discussions," which was "especially important in view of the critical situation created by recent adverse cancer publicity." That same year Sheckler's own surveys were finding Manville workers with lung changes (Sheckler's survey letters, 1965–1966).

About this copy

The memo is unsigned. It speaks of "we" and of the writer's own health work since about 1952, and mentions "CLS" (C. L. Sheckler) in the third person, so it probably came from Sheckler's office, but who wrote it is a guess.

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

Letter from unknown author (CLS?) to C.W. Hite and H.M. Jackson, 5/11/66, responding to Joe Goldfield's memorandum of 3/21/66, in which Goldfield makes certain recommendations and observations concerning J-M's asbestos-health and safety program.

The author lists the superior features of J-M's asbestos-health and safety program: excellent communication at the GHQ and plant levels, participation in major research projects, establishment of a first-class industrial hygiene program, etc. The author states that since J-M has controlled dust within the required standards of 5 mppcf, there have not been any "new cases of pulmonary changes."

The author is critical of Goldfield for writing such a letter without researching the subject and for not discussing the subject with the author and others at J-M before having discussions with companies in Europe. The author strongly recommends that in the future, persons speaking for and representing J-M concerning health matters consult "us prior to outside discussions. This is especially important in view of the critical situation created by recent adverse cancer publicity."

Related documents

• Joe Goldfield to A. C. Smith, Observations and Recommendations from a Trip to Turner Brothers (1966)