Ingalls Shipbuilding Safety Department Survey of Asbestos Materials in the Shipyard (1969)

A two-page memo of September 12, 1969, from G. M. Bryan, manager of safety at the Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of Litton Systems in Pascagoula, Mississippi, to Floyd Schultz, copied to M. A. Weeks, with an eight-page table surveying the insulation and other asbestos-containing materials used in the shipyard. J. W. Webb, a senior safety representative, made the survey in June 1969 by talking to the yard's users of the materials. It was Ingalls' answer to the Navy's April 1969 questions about shipyard asbestos hazards. The memo is marked plaintiff's exhibit P-882.

What it shows

Bryan reported that a dust survey by the industrial hygienist of the yard's compensation carrier found results "favorable in all but two locations" (that survey is not attached), that the medical and compensation department had "no known treatment or payment of cases diagnosed as those caused by asbestos dust," that most insulation work was done by subcontractors, and that "few, if any, written instructions" covered shop and ship practices for insulation workers. His recommendations were headed "Based upon theory of asbestos dust as a harmful product," with "theory" underlined: insulation work on the second and third shifts, wet processes where feasible, specifications loose enough to allow non-asbestos substitutes, heavy cutting in well-ventilated areas, and approved respirators for everyone working with asbestos or nearby. The table lists Johns-Manville, Owens-Corning, Pittsburgh Corning and other products, with no alternative material shown for most of them and several entries reading "No precautions" or "No Safety Precautions." Ingalls repeated most of the memo in its October 1 reply to the Navy.

In Johns-Manville's index

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

Ingalls Shipbuilding Safety Department memo to Floyd Schultz (Ingalls Shipbuilding), 9/12/69, entitled "Survey of Insulation Materials and Other Materials Containing Asbestos." Ingalls' Safety Dept. responds to Murdock's request of April 1969. The Safety Dept. attaches a survey of the asbestos-containing materials used at the shipyard. The survey includes the names of the asbestos-containing materials used, the names of the operations in which they are used, their specification numbers, the number of persons exposed to the materials, the annual quantity used, and the safety precautions used. The Safety Dept. also attaches a survey of asbestos dust exposure conducted by the industrial hygienist employed by the shipyard's workers' compensation carrier. (Enclosure is not attached.) The Safety Dept. points out that the results of this survey were favorable in all but two locations. The Safety Dept. reports "that our Medical and Compensation

Related documents

• Naval Ship Engineering Center to Ingalls Shipbuilding on Shipyard Asbestos Hazards, with Ingalls' Reply (1969)

About this copy

This is document 882 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-004672 to CRMC-Motley1000-Subj-004681.