Dr. Paul Kotin's Bulletin on the "Before You Begin" Booklet for New Asbestos Workers (1976)

A two-page Johns-Manville Health, Safety & Environment Department bulletin, "New Employee Booklet," signed by Dr. Paul Kotin, the department's senior vice president, and undated but issued late in 1976 for a program beginning January 1, 1977. It sends plants copies of "Before You Begin," a booklet to be given to "every prospective employee, before he or she is hired, who may during the course of their employment be exposed to asbestos," who was to read it and sign a form at the end. Any prospective employee who "refuses to sign the form in this new booklet should not be hired" without approval from the division and the Health, Safety and Environment Department.

What it shows

Kotin explains that giving the booklet to all present employees "would be desirable" but "would present a variety of problems," so current workers were to rely on the booklet "What You Should Know About Asbestos and Health" and the "Working With Asbestos" slide program and film, with records kept of who had received them. Signed forms were to go in each employee's permanent record. On smoking, he writes that "because of a recent arbitration case ruling" J-M could not ban smoking in asbestos-using operations, so the booklet says workers "will be requested not to smoke" and urged to quit. The education program it adds to is described in Walter Cooper's 1977 history.

About this copy

The "Before You Begin" booklet itself is not attached. The bulletin is printed on form HSE-23F-575 and stamped "Produced JM-83."