The Ramazzini Institute
for Occupational and Environmental Health Research   

Who Are We?

Henry Bagwell [left] is the recently elected President of the Amarillo Metal Tades Council, AFL-CIO, and new Chairman of the Board of the Amarillo Health Consortium [AHC]. He is shown here in 2000 with Mike Flynn, Director of Occupational Health and Safety for the International Association of Machinists and a Director of the Ramazzini Institute, at the organizing meeting of the Consortium.
     Bagwell, a member of the IAMAW who served as Vice-President , Trustee and on the  negotiating committee in the early 1990's, has been Educator in IAMAW local lodge 1255. He has also been a safety and health instructor for the international union and the Center for Workers Health and Safety since 1991. He has an AA degree in Applied Science and Radiography from Amarillo College and a BA in Occupational Education, Wayland Baptist University. 
     The metal trades council is the recognized collective bargaining agent at the plant and works with management in the Consortium. AHC is a joint project of the Metal Trades Council and the Ramazzini Institute.
     The Consortium has completed sociological studies, a cancer detection research program for active and former workers at the Pantex nuclear weapons facility in Amarillo, Texas, and has begun a medical surveillance program for the plant’s former workers in cooperation with the Department of Energy. Workers who participate in the DOE beryllium medical surveillance and workers compensation programs have also been assisted.
     David Pompa is the elected President of the Amarillo Health Consortium and a health and safety specialist in the plant. AHC Medical Director is Professor Arthur L. Frank, MD, PhD of Drexel University School of Public Health and the University of Texas Health Center at Tyler.