1
JULY
1974
AUGUST
vHnW
from John M. Henske:
Some thoughts
on new Olin
The following comments are taken
from two talks by Olin’s president, John
M. Henske, one before the Olin Works
Management Club at East Alton, the
other to a group meeting in Stamford
on internal communications programs.
“In the new Olin, let’s not settle for
anything less than excellence. We can’t
have an excellent company unless
every one of us pulls in the same direc
tion. We all have our own personal ob
jectives. But if they’re not in harmony
with what the company is doing, then
there’s a conflict—and we ought to get
it resolved. It’s better to thrash it out
than have each of us going in his own
direction...
“We are going to concentrate our re
sources on businesses where we can
be fully competitive with the best. We
don’t need to be ‘me too’ in any product
line. We don’t intend to be.
“We need better internal communi
cations so we can identify with the
whole company, not just part of it. We
all need to play a greater part in Olin.
We’re not just passengers along for the
ride. If the company’s to be a different
company, every one of us has to do
something different than in the past. . .
“We used to be taught that responsi
bility and authority went hand in hand,
that you couldn’t have one without the
other. I think that’s baloney. Every in
dividual is responsible for Olin’s suc
cess, regardless of his authority. Each
of us is paid to make this company
better...
“People get authority after they ac
cept responsibility, not the reverse.
Everyone should be free to suggest, to
make or try for change. Not just man
agement, but right down the line . . .
“A dependent organization has no
ability to respond on its own to any new
situation. It has to go home to mother
to get authority for any action.
“An independent organization is one
that feels totally self-contained. It has
continued on page 6
Cross-section of coal mine, showing a passageway in the center and seams of coal on both sides.
Fly ash was first blown in from the surface, then Autofroth foam, to seal off all passageways leading
to a fire some distance away.
Autofroth foam system
helps to put out mine fire
Olin’s Autofroth foam system, already
established for such diverse uses as
raising sunken ships and insulating re
frigerated holds, was recently used for
the first time to help put out a mine fire.
At a coal mine in Farmington, W. Va.,
an accident started an underground
fire. There was no loss of life, but the
mine began to fill with methane gas,
toxic, flammable and explosive.
To seal off the affected area without
sending men into the mine, a firm rep
resenting the owners and the U. S. Bu
reau of Mines first drilled 6-inch-diam-
eter holes from the surface into pas
sageways leading to the fire, then blew
in large quantities of fly ash through the
holes. Because of the powdery nature
of the fly ash, it formed in conical piles
below the holes and did not completely
seal off the passageways. An Autofroth
foam unit, modified by Geologic Asso
ciates, was lowered through each hole
into the mine. The system was sus
pended from long feeder hoses that
supplied urethane chemicals and a
blowing agent to produce froth foam in
the mixing unit at the end of the hoses
near the crown of the passageway. The
resultant foam flowed over and around
the fly ash and expanded into the re-
continued on page 8