C. L. Sheckler to T. P. Williams on Respirators for Construction Job Sites and Fabrication Shops (1970)

A one-page Johns-Manville memo of October 28, 1970, from C. L. Sheckler to T. P. Williams on "Personal Protective Equipment - Respirators," with copies to M. W. Burleson, R. A. Stapleton and R. R. Standel, and a received stamp of J-M's Office of the General Counsel. Sheckler recommended "that respiratory equipment be provided and used on construction job sites, and in fabrication shops, where Asbestos and silica dust concentrations exceed the allowable threshold limit values," and listed three U.S. Bureau of Mines approved respirators. For construction work he thought the American Optical R9100 disposable mask "might be the most suitable of the three," since the others needed daily collection, cleaning and filter changes.

What it shows

In May 1970 Sheckler had kept the same American Optical disposable mask off J-M's approved list for its own plants because it could not be cleaned (Sheckler to Hutcheson). By October he was recommending it for construction sites, where no daily maintenance program was possible. He expected new disposable respirators from three makers by the new year.