Johns-Manville Report, Industrial Relations Activities During 1938 and 1939 and Their Results (1940)

A three-page internal report, "Industrial Relations Activities During 1938 and 1939 and Their Results," in a cover labeled for Enders M. Voorhees, a J-M director. It reviews the Industrial Relations Department set up in 1937: labor policy, unions and strikes, labor turnover, wages and hours, and community relations. Under "Safety and Health" it reports that on January 1, 1938, J-M "became self-insurers for Workmen's Compensation in all U. S. factories except Los Angeles and Redwood City," that accident frequency fell 63 percent in two years, and that $307,500 of the self-insurance reserve could be counted as a saving over insurance premiums.

What it shows

The report adds that J-M was installing equipment to remove dust and fumes, checked by pre-employment and periodic physical examinations, and that "An Industrial Hygiene Engineer, technically trained and experienced in this specialized work, consistently surveys air and working conditions in our factories." Self-insurance meant that from 1938 J-M paid its own compensation claims in most U.S. plants, which helps explain the close attention its attorney gave to dust disease bills (Brown's February 1939 memo). The report also notes that newspapers near its plants had become friendlier after a community relations program begun after a 1936 study.

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

Report entitled "Industrial Relations Activities During 1938 and 1939 And Their Results," authored by Vandiver Brown or Enders Voorhees. The report indicates that on 1/1/38, J-M became self-insured for workmen's compensation in all of its U.S. plants except Los Angeles and Redwood City.

At the same time, a safety engineer was added to the Industrial Relations staff and an Accident Prevention Program was set up, operating through the plant managers. At the end of two years, J-M's accident frequency had been reduced 63% from the previous 7-year average, bringing it 35% lower than the average for all industry as reported by the National Safety Council. After paying injury compensation as required by law and deducting the cost for guards and other activities of the safety program, J-M had a balance in its self-insurance reserve (as of 12/31/39) of $400,500. Of this amount, $93,000 was a carry-over from a previously established reserve, and $307,500 was considered a savings, inasmuch as it would have been paid to insurance carriers had J-M not been self-insured.

The report further states that in addition to J-M's safety program, J-M is working to improve the health of plant employees by the installation of equipment for removal of dust and fumes and the improvement of factory sanitary facilities. Progress in this work is checked by J-M's system of pre-employment and periodic physical examinations. J-M has employed an industrial hygiene engineer, technically trained and experienced in this specialized work, who consistently surveys the air and working conditions in J-M's factories. On the basis of his studies and recommendations, corrective measures are taken.

Editor's note: J-M's description says the report was written by Vandiver Brown or Enders Voorhees. The report does not name its author; the cover label names Enders M. Voorhees, apparently as the recipient of the copy.