"Make history but don't forget the past"

Our plain-English summary of "Make history but don't forget the past", by G. Swayn (New Solutions, 2008).

The study

• Author: G. Swayn
• Journal: New Solutions
• Published: 2008;18(3):379-82
• Type of article: Historical article
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This article is not a research study. It is the text of a speech the author gave at the dedication of an asbestos disease memorial for waterside workers at Melbourne Docks, Australia, on 24 November 2004. The author spoke as a life member of the wharf section of the Maritime Workers Union. The speech reports no data collection or analysis. The author recalled that health department officials told waterside workers asbestos was safe for them because their exposure was brief. According to the author, workers either had no protection at all or, in the 1960s, were given Modess sanitary pads to use as improvised face masks. Employers later provided airwash masks. The author stated that in January 1976 the Sydney branch recorded a member's death from mesothelioma, the first such death the Melbourne branch knew of, and that only then was protection issued to workers. The author also described an ex-gratia payment for victims and dependents negotiated in 1982. The author said that many people exposed to asbestos, even briefly, will pay a price, and argued that safe working conditions come from collective union activity.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Speech / personal commentary (text of an address at a memorial dedication); not a research study
• Who was studied: Waterside (wharf) workers at Melbourne Docks, Australia, described from the author's experience as a union member; no defined study group or numbers
• Exposure: Asbestos handled by waterside workers on the waterfront; no fiber type, products or doses specified
• Main results:
  • The author's account: waterside workers were advised by health department officials that asbestos was safe for them because of the brevity of their exposure
  • The author's account: workers had either no protection or, in the 1960s, were issued Modess sanitary pads as improvised face masks, before employers provided airwash masks
  • The author's account: in January 1976 the Sydney branch recorded a member's death from mesothelioma, the first such death the Melbourne branch was aware of
  • The author's account: only after that 1976 death was protection issued to workers
  • The author's account: in 1982 the union negotiated an ex-gratia payment for victims and dependents, without prejudice to legal process, up to age 75
  • The author's account: from 1968, containers shifted some waterfront hazards to depots, warehouses and factories
• The authors' conclusion: The author said that current cases are the tip of the iceberg and that many people exposed to asbestos, even for brief periods, will pay a price. The author also argued that safe working conditions are an outcome of collective union activity.

Related studies

• James Hardie asbestos victims compensation summary — Australian Council of Trade Unions (2008)
• Sources in the history of occupational health: the Turner & Newall archive — G. Tweedale (2000)
• Global asbestos justice: South African asbestos victims win right to sue Cape PLC in U.K. courts — L. Kazan-Allen (2001)
• Asbestos and the law — G. Poyatos, C. Diego Roza (2017)
• Asbestos problems yet to explode in Korea — D. Paek (2003)
• Asbestos disease and compensation — R.E. Sweeney, B. Castleman (1979)

Browse more research in New Solutions, or return to medical research.