W. B. Reitze to Kip Johnson on Information Furnished for Employee Education (1975)

A one-page Johns-Manville internal memo of May 8, 1975, from W. B. Reitze, J-M's corporate manager for accident prevention and industrial hygiene, to Kip Johnson, copied to Dr. Paul Kotin, listing the printed matter J-M had given employees about asbestos. Reitze names four items: the booklets "What You Should Know About Asbestos and Health" (January 1975) and "What Every Employee Should Know About Asbestos" (1973), the pamphlet "Recommended Safety Practices for Handling Asbestos Fiber" (November 1973), and a five-part presentation issued yearly from April 21, 1970. "To the best of my knowledge," he writes, "this is the only printed matter that has been distributed to our locations."

What it shows

Reitze says the three booklets went to all employees at locations using asbestos fiber or handling asbestos products, and that the yearly presentation was issued by C. L. Sheckler with instructions that plant managers use the outlines for talks to all employees. He adds that he had himself given talks and slide shows in many of J-M's pipe plants. The memo dates J-M's first printed asbestos education for its workers to 1970 and 1973. A fuller account of the same program is W. A. Cooper's 1977 history.

About this copy

The attachments Reitze lists are not in this file.