Dr. Paul Kotin, Executive Bulletin No. 776-2 on Industrial Hygiene Surveys (1976)

A one-page Johns-Manville Executive Bulletin, No. 776-2, dated November 19, 1976, issued by Dr. Paul Kotin as senior vice president of the Health, Safety and Environment Department and marked effective immediately. Headed "Industrial Hygiene Surveys, Special Policy Statement," it made two existing practices company policy. An industrial hygienist who found "a condition of imminent danger" at any J-M location was to report it promptly to the plant manager, and corrective measures were to be started at once. Surveys were to be "representative of the maximum exposure levels realized in normal operations," so production was to be scheduled during a survey to produce the highest normal levels of hazardous materials.

What it shows

The bulletin answers a problem raised earlier that year at the Toronto plant, where a manager noted that critics questioned surveys listing many machines as "did not operate" (B. C. Machin on the Toronto hygiene survey). It also lists equipment malfunctions, poor work practices, excessive airborne concentrations and failure to guard hazardous equipment as causes of imminent danger.

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

Executive Bulletin No. 776-2, 11/19/76, regarding industrial hygiene surveys. Whenever an industrial hygienist finds a condition of imminent danger (poor work practices, excessive dust levels, etc.) at any J-M location, he is to promptly report it to the plant manager. Industrial hygiene surveys are to be representative of the maximum exposure levels realized in normal operations.