Business Career

When I applied for another temporary position, this time in Saudi Arabia, my father, instead of agreeing to my request, asked me to help him solve some urgent problems the group was facing in Switzerland. I was not especially happy at the prospect of returning home while there was still a wide world waiting for me, but a father's request for assistance cannot be ignored.

The position of sales manager for Eternit AG in Niederurnen was probably the true beginning of my business career. The next year I was designated CEO; and in 1976, I assumed my father's position as president of the Swiss Eternit Group. In 1984, when my father decided to divide his estate among his children, I became the owner of the Eternit Group while my brother Thomas took over the Holderbank Group (later Holcim).

At age 29 I found myself responsible for overseeing a business conglomerate with plants in more than 20 countries and tens of thousands of employees, a group with a decentralized management, successfully operating in many markets.

The controversy over the potentially harmful effects of asbestos dust was a shock to me in many respects. I myself had been dangerously exposed to asbestos fibers during my training period in Brazil. I frequently helped load asbestos bags and pour the fibers into the mixer, breathing in deeply all the while due to the exertion the work entailed. At the end of a hard day's work, I would often be covered in white dust.

I assumed that I could not determine by myself the actual risk level involved in the manufacture of asbestos-cement products. Our advisors believed that the scientific studies purporting to establish the harmful effects of asbestos were rife with contradictions. I personally felt that the lack of a clear scientific and technical consensus on asbestos and the inherent unpredictability of its effects rendered impossible any reliable planning and risk evaluation. And aside from being worried about risks to the health of my colleagues and myself, I reached the conclusion that this was not a very promising business to be in.

We immediately installed new equipment and filters in our factories to minimize fiber concentration in the air. We also implemented personnel training programs to minimize the risks associated with asbestos, and set in motion exhaustive research aimed at developing asbestos-free products.

At the same time, I made a radical decision: even though I did not have the faintest idea of how this change was to be implemented, I publicly announced that the group would cease to manufacture products containing asbestos (much earlier than the ban eventually imposed by the European Union). I clearly remember the words of one of the plant's technical managers following my announcement: "Young Schmidheiny is mad! He expects to manufacture Eternit products without asbestos. It's like trying to come up with dry water."

I took the decision to get out of asbestos based on the human and environmental problems associated with the mineral. But it also seemed to me that in an age of increasing transparency – and increasing concerns about health risks – it would be impossible to develop and maintain a successful business based on asbestos. This insight caused me to begin to ponder deeply the relationships between business and society. It was a painful period, but it was invaluable preparation for my later being thrown into a position of leadership on business/society issues.

Ten difficult years

We went through some extremely difficult periods. But, as time went on, I grew more and more convinced that I had made the right decision.

The Schmidheiny family had always led a private life, removed from public scrutiny. Suddenly, I found myself on the front page of the newspapers, linked to the harmful effects of asbestos, the very effects from which I was trying to protect society, my employees, and the group. This was very hard, not only for me, but also for my family and friends.

In retrospect, and taking into account our present knowledge of the many tragic victims of asbestos, I am glad that I remained steadfast in my decision to put an end to asbestos use, despite the uncertainty and resistance from the industry, my own group, and many of my employees. As we know now, the illnesses caused by asbestos only manifest themselves many years and even decades after exposure to the fibers. This is a profoundly deplorable situation, particularly since neither governments nor the industry recognized the problem's implications and for a long time failed to take the necessary protective measures.