J. H. Marsh to Raybestos-Manhattan Managers on the Paris Conference of Asbestos Associations (1974)

A four-page Raybestos-Manhattan memo of December 18, 1974, from John H. Marsh to F. D. Bauce and seven other company managers, reporting on the fourth International Conference of Asbestos Associations and Asbestos Information Bodies, held in Paris on November 28 and 29, 1974. Marsh traced the earlier meetings: at the first, in Caen in 1964, "there were no representatives of U.S. industry present," and at the second, in London in 1971, the only American was Bill Raines of Johns-Manville, so that "no one in the U.S. industry, other than J-M, had previously been aware of the information" given there. In Paris, Dr. Walter J. Smither, medical director of Cape Asbestos, was "questioned repeatedly" on the British asbestos standard; "in all cases his answer was 'ask me in 20 years'." Marsh closed that had U.S. industry taken part from the start, "more protective measures for more workers would have been undertaken at an earlier time."

What it shows

Marsh described the third meeting, at Lyon in 1972, as "devoted exclusively to developing defenses against anticipated attacks on the industry," with some members "literally in a state of panic over the expected pronouncements of Selikoff and others." The Paris conference also discussed a proposed industry-run international "Safety Commission to balance the efforts of the International Labor Organization," and named an ad hoc working group, with Marsh as the U.S. member, to draft a charter for a standing international committee. A Raybestos-Manhattan manager here records his view that the American industry's absence from these meetings had cost workers protection.

In Johns-Manville's index

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

J.H. Marsh memo to F.D. Bauce, et al. (R-M), 12/18/74, entitled "International Conference of Asbestos Associations and Asbestos Information Bodies: 11/27-28/74 - Paris." Marsh reports on the fourth international meeting of industry representatives and scientific advisors concerned with the biological effects of asbestos. Marsh notes that at the three previous meetings few U.S. industry representatives attended and communication of information presented at the meetings to the U.S. industry was poor. Marsh states that at the fourth meeting, regulations and controls were discussed country by country. Dr. Walter J. Smither (Medical Director, Cape Asbestos) was questioned repeatedly on the adequacy of the British occupational health standard for asbestos because it is the basis for regulations in all other countries. In all cases, his answer was "ask me in 20 years." News media attacks on the industry were also covered on a country by country basis. All of the countries were very much concerned about the enormous adverse publicity being generated in the U.S. Marsh concludes by stating that he is "convinced that had the U.S. industry fully participated in the international meetings from the beginning the industry would be far better prepared to cope with the technical requirements of compliance with regulations and could have avoided much of the distressing and distracting publicity. More importantly, however, more protective measures for more workers would have been undertaken at an earlier time."

About this copy

This is document 713 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-002604 to CRMC-Motley1000-Subj-002607.