John H. Marsh on Small-Business Workers and Third-Party Suits (1975)

A one-page Raybestos-Manhattan memo of May 5, 1975, from John H. Marsh, the company's director of environmental affairs, to F. D. Bauce, W. S. Simpson and six other managers, sending an Associated Press story on disease among small-business workers. Marsh wrote that it "points to an area where industry is especially vulnerable to third party suits because of lack of knowledge on the part of workers of hazards associated with the materials they are handling." He added that "The Borel Case established beyond question the duty of manufacturers to warn of hazards."

What it shows

Marsh questioned "whether a caution label such as that required by the OSHA Asbestos Standard is sufficient warning in cases where a significant hazard can exist," noting that the company's own field tests and those of Mount Sinai showed "high dust levels can exist in brake service shops." Instruction sheets had gone to Grey-Rock and Raybestos friction distributors, but he urged that they "get down to the small shops where they are most needed." Written after the Borel decision, the memo shows the company weighing its duty to warn the mechanics and small-shop workers who used its products.

In Johns-Manville's index

Johns-Manville's legal department indexed the Motley 1,000 in 1984. Its index describes this document as follows:

J.H. Marsh memo to F.D. Bauce, et al. (R-M), 5/5/75, commenting on Motley Document #872. Marsh states that the article should be given special attention because "it points to an area where industry is especially vulnerable to third party suits because of lack of knowledge on the part of workers of hazards associated with the materials they are handling." Marsh states that workers in small businesses are more likely to engage in poor work practices because of their lack of knowledge of occupational hazards. Also the likelihood of the occurrence of injury or disease is greater there than "in larger and more sophisticated operations." Marsh states that the "Borel case established beyond question the duty of manufacturers to warn of hazards," but Marsh wonders whether the caution label required by OSHA is a "sufficient warning in cases where a significant hazard can exist." In addition to the caution label, Marsh recommends the distribution of instruction sheets on safe handling methods.

Related documents

• Associated Press, "Disease Found in 25% of Small-Business Workers" (1975)

About this copy

This is document 873 of the Motley 1,000, from the set the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust's records facility certified as true copies, pages CRMC-Motley1000-Subj-004580 to CRMC-Motley1000-Subj-004580.