W. B. Reitze to J. R. M. Hutcheson on Respirators in the Toronto Plant's Mill 6 Trench (1976)

A one-page memo of February 3, 1976, from W. B. Reitze at J-M's Denver headquarters to J. R. M. Hutcheson in Toronto, copied to Dr. Paul Kotin. Sending an industrial hygiene survey of Mill 6, Reitze wrote that there appeared to be "a rather significant problem" in getting men to wear respirators. The survey showed that many maintenance men working in the trench, where fiber levels reached "into the 30's, 40's and 50's," were not wearing them. A program to correct conditions in the trench and dry rock storage areas was under way, but "in the interim, we must insist that respiratory protective devices be worn."

What it shows

In 1976 the federal limit in the United States was falling to 2 fibers per cubic centimeter (f/cc), so levels of 30 to 50 in the Toronto trench were many times that figure. Reitze compared the plant unfavorably with "other parts of the Jeffrey operations," where he had seen the respirator program working, and asked Hutcheson what steps were planned.

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

W.B. Reitze in a memorandum to J.R.M. Hutcheson (Toronto), 2/3/76, states that there is a significant problem at Toronto in the enforcement of wearing respirators. He states that the attached industrial hygiene report indicates many of the maintenance men who work in the trench where fiber levels reach into the 30's and 40's, and 50's (per cubic centimeter) are not wearing respirators.