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collections
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GB 249 CPSG · Collection · 1973 - 1988

Papers documenting the research and activism of G E Rushworth and the Cancer Prevention Society (CPS). Main series are:

  • research and campaigning for change
  • activism re specific sites and buildings
  • publications by the Cancer Prevention Society
  • press archive of the Cancer Prevention Society

The archive relates predominantly to the health threats posed by asbestos and to measures taken by the CPS to contain these threats. The third series, publications by the CPS, poses an exception to this, addressing all sorts of common cancers.

Books and booklets found with the material have been transferred to the OEDA Library and can be identified through the library catalogue.

Rushworth, George Edward, b. 1930, industrial health and safety consultant
Alan Dalton papers
GB 249 DAL · Collection · 1899 - 2003

Correspondence and papers from most of Dalton's career. The collection includes:

  • papers on Dalton's career and the libel cases brought against him
  • correspondence and papers originating from Dalton's roles at the British Society for Social Responsibility in Science, the Transport and General Workers' Union, the Environment Agency and others
  • correspondence with fellow activists, occupational health experts, academics, doctors, solicitors, politicians, trade unionists, campaign groups, asbestos victim support groups and others
  • subject files on environmental and occupational health issues, particularly asbestos
  • publications by Dalton and letters to the press
  • consultancy and expert witness work
  • notes and papers from conferences and meetings
  • correspondence and papers relating to Dalton's involvement in the production of television and radio programmes on asbestos, together with a series of video recordings and transcripts of documentaries and other programmes collected by Dalton on asbestos and other environmental and occupational health and safety topics.
  • press cuttings on asbestos and other environmental and occupational health issues
  • Dalton's library of books, academic papers, reports and other publications on asbestos and other environmental and occupational health issues
Dalton, Alan James Patrick, 1946-2003, safety and environmental campaigner
GB 249 FLYNN · Collection · 1893 - 2005

Laurie Flynn's papers on the asbestos industry span the period 1893-2005 and contain information primarily on the occupational health hazards posed by asbestos. This interest is centred on the activities of Cape Asbestos Company Ltd (and all corresponding names including shell entities) as well as the company's overseas subsidiaries.

There are 4 main series:

  • mining in South Africa, 1938-2005
  • asbestos litigation in North America, 1934-2005
  • asbestos in the UK, 1953-2005
  • Cape Asbestos corporate papers, 1893-2000

The focus of the collection is on employer negligence concerning health and safety, as argued in compensation lawsuits brought against the company and its subsidiaries.

Access to the wealth of business and legal papers brought to light primarily through lawsuits led Flynn to question whether multinational enterprises are as progressive as some commentators (notably business historians) have made out. The depositions, affidavits and court exhibits contained in this collection illuminate the role played by corporations and their representatives (in particular company medics and corporate lawyers) in suppressing scientific evidence concerning the risks of asbestos exposure. The Flynn papers also illustrate the lengths to which Cape Asbestos’ legal advisers went to create complex and confusing company structures in order to distance the parent company from liability ("corporate veil").

The collection includes some of Flynn’s notebooks and other background research materials for journalistic projects (among them extensive interviews with South African miners and Glasgow laggers), scripts and transcripts for documentaries, press cuttings, scientific literature, and correspondence with health and safety experts, medical specialists, environmental consultants, tort lawyers and asbestos ban campaigners.

In addition to documenting Flynn’s sustained interest in the workings of multinational asbestos enterprise, the collection also includes a little material relating to gold and diamond mining and the medical impact of atomic testing.

Flynn, Vincent Laurie Macpherson, b. 1946, investigative journalist
GB 249 LEES · Collection · 2007 - 2023

Digital documents (word documents, Excel spreadsheets, emails, PDFs, JPEGs) all relating to Michael Lees' research of asbestos in schools and the activities of the Asbestos in Schools campaign began by Michael. Michael Lees began researching asbestos in Schools following the death of his wife, Gina, who worked in an infant school and died of mesothelioma. Files are arranged into thematic folders and include:

  • briefing papers;
  • asbestos photos; articles;
  • meetings papers- agenda, questions, minutes etc;
  • photocopies of documents from FOI requests e.g. Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions;
  • Michael Lees articles 2088 - 2023;
  • documents about legal cases;
  • presentation files, Michael Lees, 2009 - 2013;
  • Parliament meetings papers c2008 - 2014;
    And further similar documents.
Lees, Michael, b. 1947, MBE, anti-asbestos campaigner
GB 249 LKA · Collection · c. 1990s - c. 2010s

Papers relating to Laurie Kazan-Allen's work in the UK for the British Asbestos Newsletter and to her work internationally for the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat. The bulk of the collection comprises research files on various aspects of asbestos, its uses, dangers, and effects.

Allen, Laurie, Kazan-, b. 1947, anti-asbestos campaigner
GB 249 OEDA · Collection · 1969-2009
  • early correspondence and papers relating to Nancy Tait’s fact-finding mission regarding asbestos
  • minutes of meetings of the SPAID/OEDA Trustees, annual reports, strategic plans
  • registers and other finding aids for the extensive OEDA case file series (OEDA CF); see link below
  • information resources on employers and insurers and other materials for supporting compensation claims
  • some case correspondence, medical appeals correspondence, correspondence with the medical appeal administration, and with the social security commissioner
  • documentation of the different types of information services provided by SPAID / OEDA, among them series relating to occupational and environmental health enquiries; SPAID / OEDA publications and display boards; responses to requests for information from solicitors; and responses to requests for information from the media
  • records relating to SPAID/OEDA's research into asbestos related diseases, mortality statistics, latency periods; also testimony before commissions, consultancy reports
  • SPAID/OEDA's extensive advocacy work over four decades
  • interactions with victims support groups, unions, fellow activists, occupational health experts, historians, solicitors and legal scholars
  • conferences and meetings to which Nancy Tait and her organisation contributed or which she attended
  • information files compiled on specific topics
  • series of correspondence and telephone memoranda
  • SPAID/OEDA accounts; also fundraising activities including grant applications
  • some documentation of the creation and running of the Electron Microscope Research Unit
  • instructions and manuals relating to office procedures and information management in the organisation
  • reference library (OEDA/K) including the organisation's collection of scientific papers, deposits and judgements, statutory instruments, DSS claims forms 1969-2007, clusters of press coverage, etc

Further,

  • OEDA collection of printed material; see link below
  • ten series of case files (OEDA CF, see link below)
  • OEDA's copies of the Chase Manhattan Turner & Newall papers (OEDA CM, see link below)
  • several standalone collections accepted to the OEDA archive during the 1990s, including the research papers of M J Sanders, records of Cancer Prevention Society, Glasgow, and the papers documenting refrigeration management worker W H Knight's compensation claim; see links below
Occupational and Environmental Diseases Association
GB 249 OEDA CF · Series · c. 1970 - c. 2007

Ten separate series of individual case files and one series of radiographs resulting from the Occupational and Environmental Diseases Association's advocacy for better compensation payments for sufferers of asbestos-related diseases.

The case files comprise correspondence, medical notes and the results of the Association's own groundbreaking electron microscope testing.

Occupational and Environmental Diseases Association
GB 249 OEDA CM · Collection · c. 1920 - 1998

Copies of content from the Turner & Newall (T&N) corporate archive, Manchester, which were given to the Occupational and Environmental Diseases Association by Chase Manhattan Bank.

The collection comprises correspondence about the papers and lawyer Michael O'Connor's mission to distribute them, followed by Turner & Newall corporate papers relating to:

  • minutes of meetings
  • industry regulation
  • compensation (including all manner of case information)
  • health and safety measures
  • epidemiological research on asbestos
  • documentaries on the asbestos industry
  • company histories

The collection concludes with a single dossier on legal actions relating to the former site of Turner Asbestos Cement Co Ltd (later TAC Construction Materials Ltd) at Dalmuir.

Occupational and Environmental Diseases Association
M. J. Sanders papers
GB 249 SAND · Collection · c.1958-1991

Documents the activities of the safety officer of a national environmental research laboratory in the late 1960s.

At the time, new regulations concerning asbestos were in the making. The Warren Spring Laboratory (WSL) was asked to look into their implications for working environments in Mintech (Ministry of Technology) establishments. The core of the M J Sanders papers consists of a series of minutes of meetings and draft reports, relating mainly to asbestos. The remainder is publications, with very occasional intercalations of correspondence.

Books and booklets found with the material have been transferred to the OEDA Library and can be identified through the University of Strathclyde Library catalogue.

Sanders, M.J., fl. 1960-1999, health and safety expert
GB 249 SOHC 30 · Collection · 2014 - 2015

Oral history project, conducted in 2014-2015 by Nigel Ingham of the Open University on behalf of the Greater Manchester Asbestos Victims Support Group, interviewing members of the Group.

There were 7 interviews in total and the collection comprises audio recordings, full transcripts, summaries and photographs for all interviews.

The interviewees comprise 5 women, widowed through mesothelioma (an asbestos-related disease), and 2 men who at the time were current sufferers. Of the 5 widows, 3 had been bereaved for up to 10 years, while two others lost their respective loved ones in the previous 12 months.

The interviews cover life story details, the social and economic context in which asbestos exposure occurred, the patient journey with mesothelioma, as well as the individual, emotional, family and social impact of the disease. Heavy industries such as textile mills, power stations are featured in the material, as well as shops, schools, and other 'lighter' contexts. The trades of those exposed to asbestos include electrical engineering, painting and decorating, joinery, shopfitting, bricklaying and tiling.

Geographically, the material predominantly covers Lancashire and Greater Manchester, but also references London.

Temporally, the material covers the decades following World War II up to approximately 2015.

Greater Manchester Asbestos Victims Support Group
GB 249 SOHC 35 · File · 28 January 2013

Recording of Arthur McIvor in conversation with Phyllis Craig, Chair of Clydeside Action on Asbestos, 28 January 2013. Phyllis Craig describes her work at the charity where she started on 2 October 1995.

[00:00] Introductions.
[00:25] Summarises main life events.
[01:14] Describes voluntary work at Castlemilk law centre and the poverty she observed.
[01:43] Describes starting work at Clydeside Action on Asbestos.
[02.44] Discusses the occupations of her parents and her relationship with them.
[05:10] Describes roles at Clydeside Action on Asbestos.
[06:04] Tells story of a particular appeal and the treatment of a client.
[07:28] Returns to description of activity of Clydeside Action on Asbestos.
[07:53] Mentions the case of ‘Fairchild, Matthew and Fox’ and describes other asbestosis cases.
[10:58] Describes the wide variety of other Clydeside Action on Asbestos activities, such as fundraising and communications.
[11:56] Describes how the job has changed over the years.
[13:17] Describes how the resources and funding have improved since the early years of the charity.
[13:54] Describes the psychological effects of a mesothelioma diagnosis.
[16:12] Describes the experiences of those living with mesothelioma.
[18:59] Describes the physical and mental effects of mesothelioma.
[20:20] Talks about the limitations of new government disability legislation and its relation to the mental health of sufferers.
[22:15] Mentions the economic schemes that were available to help sufferers and remarks upon the likely negative effects of recent government legislation.
[23:06] Describes the rise of diagnoses of mesothelioma in women, explores the reasons, and talks about the different experiences of the disease for men and women.
[25:45] Describes the difficulties of competing with other charities for funding for example charities that work with victims of post-traumatic stress.
[27:07] Tells the story of a particular mesothelioma case pertaining to a male client who was a Glasgow joiner.
[30:11] Tells the story of two mesothelioma cases pertaining to women, one client from Falkirk who struggled to get a diagnosis and a former GP who works in the charity office. Phyllis comments on the different reactions of men and women to a diagnosis of mesothelioma.
[32:46] States that mesothelioma is still incurable and describes the general life expectancy of sufferers.
[34:47] Describes the dramatic changes in medical interest and treatments for mesothelioma since 1995. Also discusses surgery and the importance of palliative care.
[38:55] Describes the differences between Scotland and England in terms of legislation and compensation. Also describes the tenacity required to campaign for justice.
[42:30] Describes the reasons why legislative situation has evolved further, to the benefit of victims, in Scotland than in England.
[46:11] Discusses how the establishment of the Scottish Parliament has benefited the experience of victims in Scotland and how Scotland’s asbestos legislation compares globally.
[47:43] Describes the current campaigns and activity of Clydeside Action on Asbestos.
[50:59] Closing remarks upon the importance of the recognition of other asbestos related lung cancers in addition to mesothelioma, in terms of legislation and support.
[52:53] Describes inaccuracies in predictions for when the peak of asbestos-related deaths will be seen.

University of Strathclyde | Scottish Oral History Centre
GB 249 SOHC 38 · Collection · 2019

Ongoing oral history project being carried out by Stellar Quines, a Scottish theatre company.

In the autumn of 2019, Stellar Quines created and toured 'Fibres', a play by Frances Poet about the impact of the shipyards and asbestos on a Glasgow family. It was inspired by a true story and mirrored hundreds of similar stories in Glasgow and the rest of the UK. In addition to producing the play, the company collaborated with Clydeside Action on Asbestos, one of Glasgow’s primary support services for those impacted by asbestos, to undertake an oral history project to gather some of those Glasgow stories .

The interviewer is Rosie Priest, Creative Learning Associate, Stellar Quines.

Stellar Quines
GB 249 SOHC 4 · Collection · Original recordings, 1998-2000

27 interviews with sufferers from asbestos-related disease and/or members of their families. Sound recordings and transcripts (17), transcript only (10), or sound only (1). Also questionnaires.

Anonymity was assured to all project participants. Only Owen and Margaret Lilley (SOHC 4/14) opted out.

One recording had been mistakenly aggregated with this oral history project but was found not to relate to asbestos. As a result , there is no interview with the reference number SOHC 4/12.

McIvor, Arthur J., b. 1956, social historian
GB 249 SOHC 8 · Collection · Original recordings, 2005

Conversations between Neil Rafeek and two men who spent their working lives as laggers in the Clydeside heavy industries. Topics covered include childhood and growing up in Glasgow, the Clydebank blitz, housing, domestic life, social life, football, sectarianism, gang culture, National Service, working conditions, trade unions, health and safety, asbestos.

Includes notes and draft publications relating to a project about the working culture and notions of masculinity in Clydeside heavy industries.

University of Strathclyde | Scottish Oral History Centre