T. H. Eaton to R. B. Davies on Wearing Respirators with Silica Flour at the Toronto Plant (1949)

A one-page letter of October 11, 1949, from T. H. Eaton at Canadian Johns-Manville's Toronto plant at Highland Creek, Ontario, to R. B. Davies of the same plant. Told that employees receiving Silex were not wearing goggles, Eaton wrote that everyone handling silica flour must be given a respirator and must wear it "at all times while either handling or in the vicinity of Silica dust." Violations were to be written up on violation slips and anyone who failed to comply discharged; Eaton called it "a very serious matter."

What it shows

In 1935 J-M's Factory Department had resisted a rule making failure to wear a respirator grounds for dismissal (Vandiver Brown on respirator rules). This letter concerns silica flour, not asbestos.

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

In a letter to Davies of the Toronto plant, 10/11/49, Eaton insists that respirators be worn when handling or in the vicinity of silica flour. If there are any violations of these instructions, he asks that violation slips be made up and that those who do not comply be discharged.