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Correspondence and papers re airborne dust (in particular asbestos) in the London underground system. Key correspondents include MPs Anthony Berry and Max Madden, as well as the Secretary of the National Union of Railwaymen (NUR), J J McMorrow.

Includes:

  • correspondence on low toxicity cables, 1978 (and 1982), between Nancy Tait and Berry, Madden, McMorrow, Sidney Weighell (General Secretary of the NUR) and various suppliers of low toxicity cable
  • press coverage 1976-1980
  • circulars of the NUR, 1980
  • typescript of a report by McMorrow on a meeting of SPAID held at the Friends’ House, Euston, 10 March 1979
  • correspondence with Victor Platt of Chingford, December 1978 and January 1979; Platt edited a health and safety bulletin “for trainmen on the east end of the Piccadilly Line”
  • London Transport press information, April-July 1978
  • Nancy Tait’s research notes and correspondence with Berry and Madden, May-June 1978
  • photocopies of correspondence between McMorrow and the Department of Transport, the Health & Safety Commission, etc.
  • copies of London Transport Executive’s notes of two meetings between the Management and the representatives of the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen, the NUR, and the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association, 13 December 1977 and 24 April 1978
  • announcement of British Society for Responsibility in Science press conference on asbestos dust in the London underground, 28 November 1977
  • photocopies of leaflet ‘Killer dust on the tube’, prepared by McMorrow and the London Work Hazards Group, published by British Society for Responsibility in Science, 1977
  • correspondence re the death of railwayman Charles Maurice Hayward, 28 May 1977
  • photocopies of correspondence between McMorrow and Prof. E J Shellard re glass fibre dust, 1976

A letter from Nancy Tait to McMorrow, September 1976, originally contained an extensive enclosure: Johns Manville Corporation's response to the US Department of Labour, April 1976, re the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) proposed rulemaking on occupational exposure to asbestos. This duplicated material elsewhere in the collection. See link below.

Cancer Research Campaign (CRC) conference to launch the work of CRC Committee on Cancer Education, 13 January 1982. Correspondence and papers relating to the conference. Includes a copy of CRC Great Picnic Souvenir spring magazine No. 3, 1981, with colour photographs of the queen.

Among those who attended was also E G Rushworth of the Cancer Prevention Society, Glasgow.

Simpson Report

Papers and correspondence re the work of the Health & Safety Commission's (HSC) Advisory Committee on Asbestos (ACA), in reverse chronological order.

ACA was chaired by the Scottish trade unionist and political activist, William (Bill) James Simpson (hence 'Simpson Committee). Simpson was HSC chairman 1974-1983.

ACA's terms of reference were: "To review the risks to health arising from exposure to asbestos or products containing asbestos including: persons exposed at work; members of the public exposed to asbestos generated from work activities; members of the public exposed to asbestos from consumer products and from asbestos waste; [and] To make recommendations as to whether any further protection is required."

For a copy of the final report of the Committee (‘Asbestos: vol. 1: final report of the advisory committee’, 1979), consult University of Strathclyde Special Collections at http://suprimo.lib.strath.ac.uk/.

Langbaurgh various

Three components:

  • "Ireland | Dr Murray": Nancy Tait's correspondence with contacts in Ireland, 1977-1982, starting with copy of a statement by international asbestos expert Dr Robert Murray that the controversial Raybestos Manhattan brake-lining factory at Ovens and the waste-dump at Ringaskiddy, both Co Cork, were safe
  • papers relating to EEC perceptions of and policy concerning asbestos, 1978-1981, including a note from Nancy Tait to Petra Kelly
  • miscellaneous notes, correspondence, excerpts from publications c.1978-1981

Correspondence and papers re reform of the industrial injuries scheme (Cmnd 8402). Includes:

  • DHSS discussion documents, draft papers and press releases 1980-1982
  • some press reports 1979-1982
  • correspondence between Nancy Tait, DHSS, solicitors and reporters, spring 1982
  • invitation from the DHSS for Nancy Tait to attend a meeting of the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC), February 1982, and transcripts of her contributions
  • SPAID commentary on asbestos-related diseases where asbestos is not present, submitted in response to a request for information received from the IIAC, January 1982
  • copy of typescript by Alan Walker (June 1980) 'Industrial injuries compensation: the case for reforming the industrial injuries scheme', precirculated for the Disability Alliance Conference 'The industrial injuries scheme: is there a need for change?', Imperial College, London, 13 June 1980 (see link below)
  • copy of DHSS discussion paper (February 1980) 'Industrial injuries compensation - a discussion document'
  • correspondence between Nancy Tait and the IIAC, 1978-1979, introducing the newly founded SPAID
Press cuttings 1981

Press coverage, January to December 1981. In reverse chronological order with some thematic, non-chronological aggregations. Original cuttings mostly mounted, more photocopies than in preceding years.

Mainly on asbestos (all aspects - impact on health, state of the industry, regulation, accountability of lawyers, etc) but also covers other themes.

Nancy Tait's proof of evidence, including extensive appendix. Also Tait's handwritten notes on the meeting.

Further includes

  • papers marked 'Papers referred to not appended', among them parts of Alex Cross, '[Presentation at] Asbestos Information Association third annual industry-government conference, 8-9 September 1976'
  • copy of SPAID's extensive critical commentary on the final report of the Health & Safety Commission (HSC) Advisory Committee on Asbestos (Simpson Report, 1979)
  • HSC/HSE correspondence and papers 1975-1977

Proof of evidence Councillor Kevin Nilan, G E Rushworth and Peter William Wilson (Group Planning Officer of the Borough of Langbaurgh).

Further includes

  • testimony of David Stephen Cooke, Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
  • correspondence between Nancy Tait, G E Rushworth, Kevin Nilan, the Borough Secretary of the Borough of Langbaurgh, and others; includes draft proof of evidence Nilan, Rushworth and Wilson
  • correspondence with the Department of Health & Social Security (DHSS) 1970-1981, intercalated with transcripts of House of Commons debates and correspondence with MPs
  • correspondence and papers relating to recent cases, 1976, 1978-1981

The first component includes a copy of 'Comments from SPAID on diagnosis of asbestosis by Pneumoconiosis Medical Panels' [1979] and correspondence of Max Madden MP, 1974, among others with members of a Hebden Bridge group practice proposing to undertake an asbestosis study including retrospective survey using semistructured interviews, retrospective death certificate survey, and prospective asbestotic survey.