Queensland Laboratory News Details
The Corporate Timeline of James Hardie
Added: 30 October, 2009
1898
A factory safety inspector in Britain expresses concern about the ‘evil effects’ of asbestos dust.
1900
The case of 33-year-old Nellie Kershaw, who died of pulmonary asbestosis after working in a Turner and Newall asbestos-based textile factory for 20 years in the UK, is reported. Kershaw’s case involved the first known use of the term ‘asbestosis’.
1918
The US-based Prudential Insurance Company produces a study that shows evidence of premature death among asbestos industry workers. The study leads to other insurance companies increasing premiums and refusing cover to those employed in the industry.
1926
The first successful asbestos-related compensation claim is filed with the Massachusetts Industrial Accidents Board by a sick worker in the US.
1927
Asbestosis is formally given its name.
1930
The landmark Merewether and Price research report is published in Britain. The report finds an increased risk of fibrosis in asbestos textile workers, which increases as the duration of employment continues. The report is taken so seriously in the UK that it results in new laws designed to prevent any future unsafe exposure.
1935
James Hardie’s Chief Inspector of Factories finds that two workers from the company’s Riverdale factory in WA “appeared to be suffering ‘in a marked degree from the effects of asbestos dust’.”
1936
James Hardie Asbestos moves its asbestos business to two subsidiaries,
James Hardie & Coy Pty Ltd and Jsekarb Pty Ltd, which are later renamed Amaca and Amaba respectively. This ends up giving the James Hardie parent company legal protection from future damages.
1939
James Hardie receives its first compensation claim from Samuel Jones, who worked at the company’s main asbestos cement factory at Camellia for seventeen years.
It was reportedly Jones’ job to rake raw asbestos, which would cause clouds of dust to fill his mouth and throat. Soon after experiencing a bad cough, poor appetite and weight loss, he died. His wife’s claim against James Hardie was unsuccessful because the judge concluded that “…while generally speaking, exposure to asbestos dust is an industrial hazard, there is nothing known as to what degree of exposure is necessary to cause asbestosis.”
The WA Commissioner of Public Health found evidence of respiratory disorders among a number of James Hardie factory workers.
1947
Dr Douglas Shiels of Victoria’s Department of Health tells factory workers “The first recorded case of asbestosis was in 1900…You would think that as a result of that that the danger of asbestosis was immediately recognised and steps taken to prevent damage by it, but that was not the case.”
1952
James Hardie takes out unlimited liability insurance coverage with QBE at a time when most similar companies had only minimal cover.
1954
A medical officer with the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Authority warns that employees at the group’s Cooma workshop are exposed to ‘highly dangerous’ asbestos dust as they cut sheets of fibro.
Neil Gilbert is hired by James Hardie to work out a way to clean up the asbestos dust found in its factories and workshops in Victoria. He finds the workplaces covered with asbestos dust.
His solution is to almost completely automate the asbestos handling process so that only one worker would be exposed in each factory and that worker would have the dust around him drawn away by negative pressure.
1957
The Chairman of James Hardie wrote a letter to the company’s British partners saying “We have always been conscious of the possible risks in our own works and have taken what steps we could to minimize the danger to men working in the vicinity…The provision of masks and other protective methods fall down to a very large extent due to the refusal of the men to wear them…we hope there is practically no risk of trouble.”
1960
Mesothelioma is discovered to have affected a number of workers at James Hardie’s Wittenoom asbestos mine in WA.
1961
James Hardie safety officer Peter Russell writes a memo to the company’s factory managers warning, “Overseas, asbestos is classified as one of the most dangerous of industrial poisons.”
1963
Hardies managers ask Neil Gilbert to develop a cellulose product to replace asbestos fibro boards altogether. He developed Hardiflex, which contained just 15 percent asbestos.
1964
Hardiflex is launched for the Australian market.
An internal James Hardie report on the health of 23 workers with asbestosis from Camellia is written. The report reveals that nine out of ten ‘asbestos gang’ workers identified in health department surveys had some form of asbestosis.
1965
Hardies spends more than half its annual capital budget at its Camellia plant on dust-extraction equipment.
1966
James Hardie director John B Reid writes a memo to personnel manager Ted Pysden seeking advice. He attaches to the memo a British newspaper clipping about a probe into a ‘killer dust’ disease.
The response he receives from Pysden says that the article is not new and that evidence has mounted of the dangerous effects of asbestos since the 1930s. He tells Reid to do something positive about engineering the dust out of existence and ignore the publicity.
Neil Gilbert begins installing dust monitors and extraction fans across James Hardie’s Australian workplaces. He would later note that he faced resistance from local managers and that he complained to Hardie managers that they were not moving to eradicate the dust fast enough.
1968
James Hardie abandons its use of blue asbestos and says mesothelioma should no longer be a problem as a result.
1969
Neil Gilbert comes to the conclusion that there is no way to completely eliminate the threat from asbestos dust since it was widely accepted that the only safe levels were nil. He decides the only way to make Hardies workplaces safe is to remove asbestos all together.
1970
Hardie’s chemists and safety workers begin experimenting with alternatives to asbestos.
1971
Hardie’s own Dr McCullagh expresses alarm when he discovers the dust count at the company’s Baryulgil mill is 500 times the recommended standard.
1972
Dr McCullagh warns James Hardie leaders that the rates of asbestos disease at the company’s insulation factories are ‘disproportionately high’ — an indication that hygiene standards are not satisfactory.
1974
One of the first serious public warnings of the dangers of asbestos appears in the form of a Bulletin cover story with the headline ‘Is this killer in your home?’
1978
James Hardie places its first round of warning labels on asbestos products.
1982
James Hardie stops manufacturing asbestos fibro boards but has such large stockpiles of the dangerous product that it continues selling it until 1987.
1987
James Hardie finally stops selling asbestos products.
1990
NSW governor David Martin dies of mesothelioma. It is believed he was exposed to asbestos insulation during his time in the navy.
1992
A Hardies lawyer estimates the liabilities of James Hardie and its subsidiary companies for asbestos disease related compensation at between $40 million and $45 million.
1998
The James Hardie board gives the go-ahead to start planning a relocation to the Netherlands to take advantage of US tax breaks. By this time, the company has moved millions of dollars worth of assets from liable subsidiaries to the parent company.
2001
The NSW Supreme Court approves James Hardie’s move to the Netherlands but orders the company to maintain a balance of $1.9 billion in Australia to ensure that future compensation claims can be met.
James Hardie sets up the Medical Research and Compensation Fund, which is to take on the asbestos liabilities of the James Hardie company. The fund is set up with $293 million.
By this time the company has transferred up to $2 billion from asbestos-liable subsidiaries to the parent company.
2003
Having moved to the Netherlands the James Hardie parent company takes the final step of legally separating from its Australian subsidiaries. The move results in the cutting off of funding guarantees for asbestos claimants.
By this time concerns are growing over the potential shortfall of the fund. Initial estimates suggested it was under-funded by about $500 million but estimates later that year suggested asbestos liabilities would reach about $1.9 billion leaving the fund short by more than a billion dollars.
2004
The NSW government establishes the ‘Jackson Inquiry’, headed by David Jackson, to investigate MRCF funding shortfalls. The fund is close to liquidation.
The company releases a statement calling for a one-size-fits-all compensation scheme that would potentially transfer some of Hardie’s asbestos debt onto Australian taxpayers.
ASIC launches an investigation into the actions of the company. CEO Peter McDonald resigns.
A countrywide ban on the importation and use of all forms of asbestos in the workplace is introduced.
2006
A NSW government review of the compensation system is completed and new procedures for the processing of claims by the Dust Diseases Tribunal come into affect.
2007
The ongoing battle between James Hardie and those seeking compensation is considered won when the company’s shareholders approve a $4 billion compensation deal and the set up of the Asbestos Injuries Compensation Fund. The move follows intense public pressure as well as the findings of the Jackson Inquiry.
James Hardie injects an initial payment of $184.3 million into the fund.
2008
ASIC launches a legal case against 10 top James Hardie executives including former CEO Peter McDonald, former chief financial officer Peter Shafron, and former chairman Meredith Hellicar.
ASIC claims the directors should be fined up to $200,000 each and banned from running companies for failing to act with due care and diligence.
August 2009
Peter McDonald is found guilty of issuing a false and misleading statement about the company’s ability to pay compensation. He is fined $350,000 and banned from managing a company for 15 years after being found guilty of seriously breaching section 180(1) of the Corporations Act.
The other nine former James Hardie leaders are found guilty of less serious breaches of the Act, with regards to due care and diligence.
Hellicar is fined $30,000 and banned from running a company for five years. Shafron is awarded a seven-year ban and a $75,000 fine while former chief financial officer Phillip Morley is fined $35,000 and banned from managing a company for five years.
James Hardie is fined $80,000.
October 2009
The Asbestos Injuries Compensation Fund says it is about to run dry as James Hardie’s agreement to pay the fund only requires them to hand over extra cash when they have it.
James Hardie is planning a relocation to Ireland.
- Peacock, M, ‘Killer Company: James Hardie Exposed’, 2009, HarperCollins, Sydney
- Mesothelioma.com, ‘History’
- Dement, JM et al, ‘Asbestosis’
- Bourlioufas, N, ‘Hardie Chairman, Directors Quit’, The Australian, 2007
- Percy, K, ‘James Hardie Promises Additional Money for Asbestos Victims: Transcript’, PM, 2004
- Caldwell, A, ‘James Hardie Ltd Accused of Underestimating Compensation Costs: Transcript’, AM, 2004
- Hill, B, ‘Sins of the Fathers’, Sydney Morning Herald, 2004, http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/10/01/1096527939130.html
- Verrender, I, ‘Cavalier Attitude Leaves Lives and Reputations in Tatters’, Sydney Morning Herald, May 2009
- Peacock, M, ‘Asbestos Sufferers Angered by New Revalations’, The 7:30 Report, ABC
- Sexton, E, ‘James Hardie Faces Surge in Asbestos Claims’, Sydney Morning Herald, 2005
- Surviving Mesothelioma: A Patient’s Guide, ‘James Hardie’s Mesothelioma and Asbestosis Legacy Continues’, 2009
- Asebstos.com, ‘Mesothelioma Sufferers Addressed in James Hardie Case’, 2009
- Uhlmann, C, ‘Hockey Says Unions Dead, Howard Disagrees: Transcript’, PM, 2007
- Doherty, B, ‘PM Resists Asbestos Probe’, The Age, Melbourne, 2009
- Stancich, R, ‘Asbestos Victims Outraged by Amsterdam-based Aussie Building Supplies Company’, Ethical Corporation, 2004
- Sydney Morning Herald, ‘Editorial: Public Health Policy Pandemic’, Sydney Morning Herald, 2004
- International Metal Workers Federation
- Ben Hills, Every breath you take
- AAP, Timeline of events in James Hardie saga