T&N Ltd.
1. Background
T&N Ltd. is the current incarnation of a UK company which at one time was a world class contender in the flourishing asbestos trade. Now owned by the US multinational Federal-Mogul, the firm was itself the product of a coalition of four others. From very early on, Turner & Newall Ltd. (T&N) was a vertically integrated, aggressive company with international links and a position second to none in the UK asbestos industry. Amongst its overseas interests were asbestos mines in Southern Rhodesia, South Africa, Swaziland and Canada, asbestos factories in India, subsidiaries in North America and Europe. The company was involved in all stages of asbestos processing at home and abroad. According to a government report: "from the time of its formation in 1920 T&N had steadily strengthened its position as the leading, indeed the dominant, producer of both fibres and asbestos products. Smaller manufacturers... certainly existed, but after 1928 none was comparable in size or range of interests to T&N." Between 1920 and 1976, T&N was the largest British employer in the asbestos industry. By 1950 T&N had achieved a virtual monopoly position in the UK asbestos industry; in 1955 T&N’s market share of the sales of asbestos cement products was 75% and of friction materials 50%. In 1955 T&N was responsible for 60% by value of all the asbestos products supplied in the UK. For a time T&N overtook Johns-Manville, the largest American asbestos manufacturer; while Johns-Manville had sales of $304.1 million in 1959, T&N had sales of $450 million the previous year.
Beginnings
Turner and Newall Ltd. was created in 1920 by the merger of established UK family concerns experienced in the manufacture of asbestos and magnesia products; it became a public company in 1925. The objective of the union was "to create an organisation for the Mining, Manufacture, and Distribution of Asbestos and allied products, wherein overlapping and waste effort would be minimised, and research and development work could be carried out on a scale commensurate with the magnitude of its operations." The interests of the founding companies were complementary:
1) Turner Brothers Asbestos Co. Ltd (TBA) manufactured textile and related products from chrysotile [white asbestos] for use in transportation, construction and heavy industry;
2) J.W.Roberts Ltd. manufactured textile and related products mainly from crocidolite [blue asbestos];
3) Newalls Insulation Co. Ltd. (NIC) specialised in the installation of insulation systems for industrial applications;
4) The Washington Chemical Co. Ltd. manufactured a range of magnesia products, some incorporating asbestos fibre, including one known as 85% Magnesia which was used by NIC;
In 1920 T&N’s head office, with a staff of two, was located on the Rochdale premises of TBA. By 1933, the group’s rapid expansion required a larger staff and T&N purchased additional office accommodation at Rochdale. In October, 1949 T&N’s head office was re-located to Fountain Street, Manchester.
3. Growth
From the start, T&N pursued a policy of growth through acquisition. On rare occasions, new facilities were commissioned: e.g. the construction in 1949 of TBA’s factory in Hindley Green, South Lancashire and the construction of Ferodo’s factory in Caernarvon, N.Wales in 1960. In the main, however, T&N’s aggrandisement followed corporate purchases and mergers.
Over a period of years T&N reduced its dependence on asbestos-related activities by following a "policy of organic growth and strategic acquisitions enhanced by joint ventures and licensing agreements" in places such as Thailand, Argentina, Turkey, Brazil, South Korea, France, Australia, Mexico, India and China. On 5 March, 1996 T&N announced that a £39 million agreement had been reached for the sale of T&N’s construction materials and asbestos mining businesses in Zimbabwe and Zambia. Sir Colin Hope described the deal as a landmark for the group; this sale "leaves T&N as a straightforward automotive business and gets rid of its (asbestos) past."
4. Knowledge of Health Risks
Employed by the most prominent company operating in the British asbestos industry, T&N managers were in a position to know about the health risks posed by asbestos. The Group had access to first-hand knowledge on the risks of occupational asbestos exposure from its subsidiaries. There was personal communication between T&N managers and government officials. Meetings took place between executives from T&N and Cape (the second largest British asbestos company) to discuss matters of mutual interest. In 1957, T&N was one of the three founding members of the Asbestosis Research Council (ARC), a co-operative research organisation "primarily interested in the pulmonary fibrosis of the lung, asbestosis, which could occur in people occupationally exposed to asbestos." Information was exchanged through the ARC as well as through the Asbestos Information Committee.
Here is a brief look at some key dates in the evolution of T&N’s knowledge:
1920’s
The first detailed case of asbestosis appeared in the medical literature; the patient was a former T&N employee.
A doctoral dissertation on Asbestos and Health was written; the thesis, based on data from T&N’s Armley factory, referenced T&N’s use of dust extractors in the late 1920’s.
1930’s
The "Report on effects of asbestos dust on the lungs and dust suppression in the asbestos industry" was submitted by Dr. Merewether and C.W. Price to Parliament on 24 March, 1930. Using data obtained from TBA’s Rochdale factory, this paper documented the risks of long-term exposure to asbestos. In response to these findings, the Asbestos Regulations of 1931 were passed.
Concern about the high incidence of cancer at the T&N Rochdale factory, prompted the chief medical officer to begin collecting data which was ultimately published in 1955.
1940’s
Through its American subsidiary Keasbey & Mattison (K&M), T&N was made aware of a research project in upstate New York which had found an 81% incidence of lung cancer in mice exposed to asbestos dust. The director of the Saranac Laboratory, Dr. Le Roy Upson Gardner, told the projects’ sponsors, including K&M, that "the question of cancer susceptibility now seems more significant than I had previously imagined."
K&M sent the report to T&N’s headquarters commenting: "It brings out a number of important new developments but we feel that reference to the question of cancer susceptibility should be omitted from the report since it is inconclusive." Dr. Gardner wanted the project continued but the reluctance of its sponsors, the Second World War and Gardner’s unexpected death caused a temporary halt to the work.
In 1945 JWR and NIC were warned by H.M.Chief Inspector of Factories of the dangers arising from the increased usage of asbestos aboard ships.
1950’s
In 1955 Dr. Richard Doll made public his findings that the incidence of lung cancer amongst the asbestos workers at the TBA factory in Rochdale was ten times the national norm.
In 1958 Dr. C. Wagner discussed his research, which established the link between neighbourhood asbestos exposure and the disease mesothelioma, with T&N’s chief medical officer.
1960’s
In 1964 T&N personnel went to the New York conference at which Dr. Irving Selikoff detailed the links between asbestos and disease.
During the sixties T&N promulgated different versions of the threat posed by asbestos. To an important customer who asked awkward questions in 1966, T&N wrote: "There is no proof that asbestos can cause Mesothelioma and it is by no means the sole cause of this disease." But in 1965 Turner & Newall’s own company doctor John Knox had warned the Board that: "Exposure to Asbestos, even though it may have been transient, and many years previous, is an important factor in Mesothelioma of the pleura" .
1980’s Hazardous conditions continued at T&N’s South African asbestos mines. Dr. Peter Elmes, occupational lung disease specialist reported: "There is an incredible amount of handling of dust-covered items... hazardous materials like asbestos just cannot be processed safely in this way." T&N’s medical adviser complained after the Elmes report had been withdrawn: "I thought the bad old days of suppression of reports, secrecy on health and safety matters, non-investigation of sensitive problems were long since over... The ‘withdrawal’ of the Elmes report, the attempt to curtail the humidifier fever (Legionnaires disease) survey at Hindley Green and Mr. Marks’ reluctance to forward my memo to you all seems to contradict this. I am sure the decisions have been well intentioned, but the overall impression is of fudge and cover-up" .
May 2, 2000
