O. B. Westmont to Mill Foremen on the Use of Respirators (1932)

A one-page notice of April 25, 1932, from O. B. Westmont, superintendent of mills, to the mill foremen, headed "Use of Respirators." All workmen in the baghouse and at the No. 11 and No. 2-3 system Bates packers had to wear respirators, and shift foremen were responsible for having them worn "at all times" while shaking baghouse stockings, packing, refeeding, and anywhere else with excessive dust. Foremen and workmen who did not follow the instructions "will be subject to immediate discharge."

What it shows

This appears to be the respirator instruction for the Lompoc, California, diatomaceous earth mills that the Lompoc manager sent to headquarters in December 1932 (Cromwell to Williams). It shows that at Lompoc the company treated the dust in the packing and baghouse work as dangerous enough to require respirators on pain of dismissal.

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

O.B. Westmont (Superintendent of Mills, Lompoc) writes to all Mill Foremen, 4/25/32, that all the workmen in the Baghouse and at No. 11 and No. 2-3 System Bates packers must wear respirators. The foremen and workmen who do not follow these instructions will be subject to immediate discharge.