2 posts tagged “asbestos injury”
Exposure to asbestos is the main risk factor for developing mesothelioma injury. The mesothelioma injury normally develops in to full fledged mesothelioma lung cancer.
Asbestos is a family of fibrous minerals made of silicate. Asbestos Fibers was once used in many products such as thermal asbestos insulation, pipes, asbestos tiles, door gaskets, asbestos siding, soundproofing, roofing, asbestos flooring, guttering, ceilings, patching compounds, fireproof gloves and ironing board covers, brake pads, paints, crayons and even portable hair dryers.
When asbestos fibers processed and separated, it forms a microscopic dust that can be easily inhaled. If inhaled and not excreted by the body, it can collect in the lungs and stomach and eventually lead to the development of serious, life threatening diseases.
Industrial environments with high risk of asbestos exposure
Asbestos is classified as a toxic substance. It use is regulated by asbestos mesothelioma law. Despite global asbestos control measures, many workers are however, still at risk of asbestos exposure. Below is a discussion of the main industrial environments where high levels of the toxic asbestos fibers may be found.
Asbestos mining, asbestos processing and other underground mining
Asbestos exposure of miners can come from either naturally occurring asbestos in the ore or host rock or from asbestos contained in manufactured products.
Metal and Nonmetal Mines: The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH, other research organizations like the EPA and scientists have noted the occurrence of cancers and asbestosis among miners involved in the mining and milling of commodities that contain asbestos.
Their mesothelioma research proves the existence of industrial asbestos risk. Construction or demolition sites
Asbestos used to be the preferred material for the production of building materials for many decades. Because of its strength and durability, asbestos products were generally used between 1950 and 1975. Asbestos was also the building material of choice close to the sea.
Click here to view pictures of asbestos in a seaside holiday destination.
Construction workers and builders who tear down and alter old buildings will encounter any of these products. These include:
- asbestos Tile- asbestos flooring
- asbestos pipe
- asbestos insulation
- asbestos shingles
- asbestos siding (external asbestos clapping & internal dry walls),
- asbestos ceilings,
- asbestos roofing and
- asbestos pots, cloth, etc.
Power plants and mobile generators and welders
Asbestos fibers are highly heat resistant. It is also well known for its poor heat conductivity. Asbestos insulation used to be the material of choice for the thermal insulation of power plants and mobile generators.
Therefore many of the broilers and generators in power plants are lined with various forms of asbestos. People who do maintenance work on power plants, mobile generators and welders work under high asbestos exposure risk. They are prone to asbestos exposure.
Safety protocols should be followed as a part their employers’ standing asbestos management plan, as required by law. If such a plan had not been previously implemented by the employer, they should discuss the relevant laws with their employers.
Shipyards
The shipbuilding industry employed hundreds of asbestos-containing products as components of the ships they were building. Because of this practice during the 1930s, 40s and 50s, thousands of shipyard workers worked with asbestos in various applications. They received high levels of asbestos exposure over prolonged periods.
Therefore shipyard workers are considered a very high risk group of industrial asbestos risk, and therefore potential asbestos exposure. They were regularly exposed to asbestos-containing product when the ships were built.
During the maintenance phase when they replaced or repaired items such as a plumbing isolation, a steam pipe or broiler on a ship.
They are still at risk today, when performing other maintenance or cleaning operations on older ships. The asbestos content of such ships are normally aged and deteriorated.
Automotive mechanic shops
Asbestos materials are known for its properties of hardness, durability and heat resistance. For decades, many older manufacturing plants used asbestos to manufacture breaks and clutch linings. There is evidence that mechanics working on older vehicles may be at risk of asbestos exposure. Their work environment is therefore considered to have a high industrial asbestos risk.
Steel mills
Asbestos insulation is used during the construction of steel mills, because of its properties of heat resistance and poor heat conductivity.
Steel mill workers work in an environment of high industrial asbestos risk.
Buildings built before the 1980s
Most commercial-, government- and school buildings from this period contain asbestos products of some kind. Because people work in these buildings we aslo classify them as high asbestos exposure risk. The same with homes built during that period.
The danger occurs as the asbestos building materials begin to age and deteriorate. Natural disasters may damage such buildings, as seen globally recently.
All people should become knowledgeable about asbestos, where and in what forms it was used. They will then be enabled to manage their own safety.
Geography of Asbestos Industry
Statistically, it was proven that individuals living near asbestos manufacturing plants live under high industrial asbestos risk.
Asbestos fibers leaking into the surrounding air and water find its way into their bodies and leads to high diagnosis malignant mesothelioma figures.
Mesothelioma claims
If you or one of your loved ones have ever worked in a job with high industrial asbestos risk, you could save much trouble by already keeping careful note of the products, suppliers, manufacturers, equipment, buildings etc, relevant to asbestos exposure at your work place.
It is never good to live in fear. However, it would be prudent to keep this log. If you or any of your close relatives do receive the diagnosis malignant mesothelioma at any later stage, these records could expedite a successful asbestos settlement in your favour. It may prove your occupation of a place with high industrial asbestos risk.
Asbestos lawyers use such information to prepare for mesothelioma lawsuits in cases with a history of industrial asbestos risk. Asbestos cancer attorneys normally handle mesothelioma cases, filing mesothelioma claims without requiring any advance payment from your side.
For more information, visit Mesothelioma-Junction.Com
Also view the popular photo albums titled:
A Silent Killer Stalking Your Favorite Beach Destination?
What is occupational asbestos risk? Does the Silent Killer stalk your work place? The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations (CAWR) requires asbestos risk to be identified and assessed. Employers have the explicit duty to protect employees from asbestos risk and to manage the safety of their premises.
The new H.S.E. Regulations, requires the employer, property owner or manager to make an assessment, as to whether asbestos is present or liable to be present, internally or externally.
Asbestos Risk in The Work Place
Chrysotile, also known as white asbestos, used to be the predominant form of asbestos that was used commercially; amphiboles were of minor commercial importance. Asbestos fibers do not have any detectable odor or taste. It does not dissolve in water or evaporate and are resistant to heat, fire, chemical and biological degradation. In terms of building material, it was considered resistant to degradation by salt air, damp and heat – ideal for seaside conditions.
These properties cause the management of environmental asbestos risk to be a highly scientific and expensive effort.
Because of these properties, asbestos has been mined for use in a wide range of manufactured products, mostly in building materials, friction products, and heat-resistant fabrics. Since asbestos exposure had been identified as one of the causes of mesothelioma, all new uses of asbestos have been banned in the United States by the EPA, to lessen occupational asbestos risk.
Asbestos was also the building material of choice close to the sea. Click here to view pictures of asbestos in a seaside holiday destination.
Today, asbestos is heavily regulated and has ceased to exist in all but a few, closely monitored, products and industries. Despite this reduction in usage, a study completed in 1980 by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), a subsidiary of the Centers for Disease Control's Prevention (CDC) of the federal Department of Health and Human Services, maintains that there is no safe level of exposure to asbestos fibers.
Because of the difficulties in obtaining good quantitative exposure assessments, cumulative exposure expressed in fiber-years is often selected as the common metric for the levels of exposures
reported in epidemiological studies.
Asbestos Risk Management
The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations (CAWR) requires asbestos to be identified and assessed. Regulation 4 (CAWR 2002) places an explicit duty on the employer in occupation to manage the risks from asbestos in their premises.
The new H.S.E. Regulations, requires the employer, property owner or manager to make an assessment, as to whether asbestos is or liable to be present, internally or externally.
The employer, property owner or manager must then produce a written plan to locate and manage the occupational asbestos risk and to implement the plan in an asbestos management programme.
Click here to read more about Asbestos Risk management
Occupations with Asbestos Risk
If you have been diagnosed with an asbestos-related condition and are currently, or have ever been employed in the following occupations, you may be entitled to compensation from the parties responsible for your exposure.
- Bricklayers
- Carpenters
- Cement Finishers
- Construction Workers
- Electricians
- Railroad workers
- Engineers
- Insulators
- Mine workers
- Machinists
- Dry wall removers
- Mechanics
- Teachers
- Metal Workers
- Civil servants
- Pipefitters
- Renovators
- Plumbers
- Asbestos mill factory workers
- Roofers
- Shipyard Workers
- Steamfitters
- Welders
- Wives of the above and of asbestos workers
Security measures to prevent asbestos mesothelioma
The measures taken to prevent take-home contamination are varied. Operators may choose the most effective method for eliminating this hazard based on the unique conditions in the mine, including the nature of the hazard. For example, in one situation providing disposable coveralls could minimize or prevent asbestos take-home contamination. Another situation may require on-site shower facilities coupled with clothing changes to provide the same protection.
The existing standards, together with lower PELs, provide sufficient enforcement authority to ensure that mine operators take adequate measures, when necessary to prevent asbestos take-home contamination.
Commenters urged MSHA to expand the rulemaking to include specific requirements to prevent take-home contamination. NIOSH also encouraged MSHA to adopt measures included in its 1995 Report to Congress on their Workers' Home Contamination Study Conducted under the Workers' Family Protection Act.
Our work on asbestos mesothelioma and related research is published on our Mesothelioma-Junction.com website. Our asbestos picture study of asbestos in a popular seaside holiday distination, entitled: Asbestos Pictures
