The Insurance Industry and Asbestos

Insurance Officers and Directors 1930s

Here are some examples from the 1930s of insurance company officers and directors who were also on the board of directors of other insurance companies.

Mr. Morgan Brainard was the president and a director for both the Aetna Life Insurance Company and Aetna Casualty and Surety. At the same time Mr. Brainard was also on the board of directors of the Hartford Steam Boiler Insurance Company. 

Mr. William Corson was the president and a director for the Hartford Steam Boiler Insurance Company. At the same time Mr. Corson was on the board of directors for Aetna Life and Aetna Casualty and Surety.

Mr. Richard Bissell was the president and a director of the Hartford Accident and Indemnity Company and the Hartford Fire Insurance Company, and at the same time Mr. Bissell was on the board of directors for Aetna Life, Aetna Casualty and Surety, and the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company.

Mr. Edward Milligan was the president and a director for the Phoenix Insurance Company and Mr. Milligan was a member of the board of directors for Aetna Life, Aetna Casualty and Surety, Hartford Steam Boiler and Connecticut Mutual Life.

The National Council On Compensation Insurance

The National Council on Compensation Insurance is a group of insurance companies that shares workers' compensation information. The NCCI collects data on workers' compensation claims and policies and uses the information for workers' compensation insurance rate recommendations. The NCCI became operational in 1923 and exists to this day. Here is some Workmen's Compensation Experience data compiled by the NCCI in 1925 as to the classifications asbestos goods manufacturing and asbestos-spinning.

Some members of the NCCI in 1933 included Aetna Life Insurance Company, Continental Casualty Company, Fireman's Fund Indemnity Company, Hartford Accident & Indemnity Company, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, Pacific Indemnity Company, and Sun Indemnity Company (now known as Chubb Indemnity Insurance Company). The latter two members are currently part of the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies. In a 1933 report, the NCCI stated that they had "perfected the Occupational Disease programme, noted in the report of last year as having been begun." Here is the NCCI's 1933 table of occupational disease rates, which includes asbestosis, silicosis, and benzol (benzene).

Insurance Industry Involvement in Shipyards During W.W. II

During World War II asbestos was used in shipyards on the construction of naval ships.

The Minimum Requirements for Safety and Industrial Health in Contract Shipyards (1943) has this to say about asbestosis:

"13.7 - Asbestosis
a. Sources: In general, any job in which asbestos dust is breathed. For example:

Job:
Handling
Sawing
Cutting
Molding
Welding rod salvage

When Material Is:
Asbestos
Asbestos Mixtures

b. Job can be done safely with:

1. Segregation of dusty work and,

2. (a) Special ventilation: Hoods enclosing the working process and having linear air velocities at all openings of 100 feet per minute, or
(b) Wearing special respirators.

3. Periodic medical examination."

The insurance industry was aware of these minimum requirements. Insurance carriers were involved in health and safety matters in the shipyards. Here is a 1943 memorandum that requests documentation as to what the insurance carriers' activities are in the shipyards and a partial list of insurance carriers and some of the shipyards they were involved with. Some of the insurance carriers are Liberty Mutual, Hartford, Maryland Casualty, and Pacific Indemnity. Pacific Indemnity is one of the Chubb Group of insurance companies.