Magic Mineral to Killer Dust: Turner & Newall and the Asbestos Hazard

by Geoffrey Tweedale (Author), Geoffrey Tweedale (Author), Turner & Newall (Author), Philip Hansen (Author)

New
Hardcover
2000
$267.53

Asbestos was once known as the 'magic mineral' because of its ability to withstand flames. Yet since the 1960s, it has become a notorious and feared 'killer dust' that is responsible for thousands of deaths and an epidemic that will continue into the millennium. This is the first comprehensive history of the UK asbestos health problem, which provides an in-depth look at the occupational health experience of one of the world's leading asbestos companies - British asbestos giant, Turner and Newall. Based on a vast company archive recently released in American litigation, Magic Mineral to Killer Dust gives an unprecedented insight into all aspects of the asbestos hazard - dust control, workmen's compensation, government regulation, and the development of medical knowledge. In particular, it looks at the role of industrialists, doctors, factory inspectors, and trade unionists, highlighting the failures in regulation that accompanied the commercial development of a material that was already known to be lethal at the start of the twentieth century.

Synopsis

Asbestos was once known as the 'magic mineral' because of its ability to withstand flames. Yet since the 1960s, it has become a notorious and feared 'killer dust' that is responsible for thousands of deaths and an epidemic that will continue into the millennium. This is the first comprehensive history of the UK asbestos health problem, which provides an in-depth look at the occupational health experience of one of the world's leading asbestos companies - British asbestos giant, Turner and Newall. Based on a vast company archive recently released in American litigation, Magic Mineral to Killer Dust gives an unprecedented insight into all aspects of the asbestos hazard - dust control, workmen's compensation, government regulation, and the development of medical knowledge. In particular, it looks at the role of industrialists, doctors, factory inspectors, and trade unionists, highlighting the failures in regulation that accompanied the commercial development of a material that was already known to be lethal at the start of the twentieth century.

$267.53

Quantity

20+ in stock

More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 344
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Published: 16 Mar 2000
ISBN 10: 0198296908
ISBN 13: 9780198296904

Media Reviews

this is an excellent book, not only for the industrial health and safety professional, but for any reader interested in the problems of technology, and of managing the attendant risks: and for anyone interested (and that should be all of us) in the problems associated with achieving consensus on what is 'acceptable' risk. I fully commend it and heartily recommend it. * Industrial Safety Management *
The investigative element of the book has been carefully researched, Industrial Safety Management
The book is a devastating indictment of the cynical lies and evasion, backed by ranks of paid for medics and scientists, that saw generations of T&N workers wiped out. * Jawad Qasrawi, Hazards, 74, 2001 *
Tweedale ... his study provides a formidable contribution to the continuing debate on business ethics as well as to the history of the human costs of business success in hazardous industries. * Joseph Melling, Business History *
The story told by Tweedale is usually interesting, often moving and sometimes shocking. There can be little doubt that the author pursues his subject with integrity and has undertaken meticulous research in a difficult area of scholarship. * Joseph Melling, Business History *
Geoffrey Tweedale's book ... compelling and often chilling. * Morris Greenberg, THES 12.01.01. *
absorbing, horrifying and sobering ... Geoffrey Tweedale ... has arranged the mountain of material with great skill to produce a well-documented and very readable account. * Trevor Ogden, The Annals of Occupational Hygiene, Vol.44/8. *
This is a fascinatong and thought-provoking book and a damning indictment of government and big business approaches to occupational health. Given the role that asbestos has played in the maritime induatries, it should be essential reading. Sandra Spears, Lloyds List, March 11, 2000.
Tweedale's book makes for grim, but compulsive reading... The book shocks in its tales of the company's attempts to avoid adequately compensating employees and their dependents. Sandra Spears, Lloyds List, March 11, 2000.
[Steve] McQueen's name is just one of many listed in the index of Geoffrey Tweedale's Magic Mineral to Killer Dust, a fascinating and moving account of the asbestos industry in Britain. Tweedale's engrossing story is one of appalling suffering and corporate cover-up... New Scientist, 15/04/2000, Steve Hill
As the author says, the book can be read simply as a muckraking tale of corporate misconduct , but it is much more than that. It is an engaging history of the social, scientific, medical and business aspects of asbestos that combined to create a tragedy. ...Tweedale's book points out that industry still has much to learn from its mistakes-it's essential reading if we are ever to do so. New Scientist, 15/04/2000, Steve Hill
A comprehensive history of the UK asbestos health problem. This is an outstanding book and an excellent read. The aily Hazard, April 2000.
It is the first time that so much information about an esbestos firm has been made public. Dean Kirby, Rochdale observer, 27 May 2000.
Magic Mineral mentioned in International Environment and Safety News, April 2000.
...startling and comprehensive history of the UK's asbestos health problem. Health and Safety Bulletin, May 2000

Author Bio

Geoffrey Tweedale is a Principal Lecturer in the Centre for Business History, Manchester Metropolitan University. since 1983 he has specialised in the History of Business, Technology, and Medicine, and more recently has held research posts at Manchester and Sheffield universities. His previous publications include Steel City: Entrepreneurship, Strategy, and Technology in Sheffield, 1843-1993 (OUP, 1995)