Manville Pipe Plant Manager's Notice on Mandatory Respirators and Ear Protection (1968)

A two-page Manager's Notice on "Environmental Control," dated March 25, 1968, and signed by Heinz Engel, manager of Johns-Manville's pipe plant at Manville, New Jersey. It announces that from April 1, "the use of protective equipment such as ear muffs and respirators will become mandatory in designated areas," for supervisors, hourly workers and visitors alike. Respirators were required for anyone entering railroad cars in the warehouse, at mixing platforms and pipe machine crosswalks, "while feeding fiber into the willows," in packing and sawing areas, and at all dust collectors, fiber bins and mixers.

What it shows

The notice lists where respirators had to be worn in a plant making asbestos-cement pipe, but does not say what hazard they were for or mention asbestos. It tells supervisors to set an example and says "We must do all possible to protect our employees and ourselves," and that any employee who wanted protective equipment elsewhere would be given it. A month earlier, managers had told the union at Manville that workers who refused protective equipment would be disciplined (see the February 1968 union-management meeting).

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

Manville plant mandatory respirator program is in force on 4/1/68 "on those jobs which expose the operator to excessive dust, fumes, and solid particles in the air." The Dustfoe #66 is the required respirator.

Editor's note: J-M's description quotes the program as applying "on those jobs which expose the operator to excessive dust, fumes, and solid particles in the air" and names the Dustfoe #66 respirator. Neither appears in this two-page notice, which is dated March 25, 1968, and lists the designated areas where respirators and ear protection became mandatory on April 1.