Thermal Insulation Contractors Association and Health and Safety Executive Letters on the 1945 Ships Circular (1945, 1973)

Two one-page letters, each certified as a true copy from the files of Britain's Health and Safety Executive. In the first, of September 14, 1945, C. W. Dawe of the Thermal Insulation Contractors Association (London and Southern Section) thanked the Chief Inspector of Factories for his circular on "Asbestos Insulation Aboard Ships" and asked for seventy more copies "so that I may distribute same to the Members of the above Association." In the second, of December 14, 1973, J. M. Henry of the Health and Safety Executive told L. Bingham & Company of London that copies of the Chief Inspector's August 1945 letter had been sent to the Association, which had confirmed receipt in that 1945 reply.

What it shows

The two letters establish that the British government's 1945 warning about asbestosis among shipboard insulation workers (Garrett's circular) reached the insulation contractors' trade association, which asked for enough copies to send to its members. The 1973 letter answered an inquiry about where the circular had gone, and the certified copies were later used in American asbestos litigation.

In Johns-Manville's index

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

C.W. Dawe (Thermal Insulation Contractors Association) letter to the Chief Inspector of Factories, 9/14/45, entitled "Asbestos Insulation Aboard Ships." Dawe thanks the Chief Inspector for his letter of the 13th enclosing a circular dealing with asbestos insulation aboard ships. Dawe requests a further 70 copies of the circular so that he may distribute it to the members of his association. - J. M. Henry letter to L. Bingham & Co., London, 12/14/73, entitled "Asbestos Installation Aboard Ships." Henry acknowledges L. Bingham & Co.'s letter of Nov. 10, 1973 concerning the organizations to which the Chief Inspector's letter of Aug. 1945 was sent. Henry confirms that copies of the Aug. 1945 letter were sent to the Thermal Insulation Contractors Association and that receipt of this letter was confirmed in a reply from the Association on letterhead notepaper on 9/14/45.

Related documents

• A. W. Garrett, British Chief Inspector of Factories, on Asbestos Insulation Aboard Ships (1945)

About this copy

This is document 335 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-001684 to CRMC-Motley1000-Subj-001685.