Asbestos Exposure on Jobs
For more than 100 years, asbestos has been used in a variety of different ways by a number of occupations. Many of the people who worked in these various occupations have suffered health problems from their asbestos exposure.
Asbestos was used in a variety of different products and was largely found in factories, building material, shipyards, chemical plants, power plants, and steel mills.
Below are occupations utilizing asbestos containing materials (ACM):
- Asbestos textile mill
- Automobile manufacturing workers
- Aeronautical Engineers
- Aircraft Mechanics
- Appliance Installers
- Auto Mechanics
- Asbestos Plant Workers
- Auto Plant Workers
- Blacksmiths
- Boilermakers
- Boiler Room & Engine Room Workers
- Bricklayers
- Bulldozer Operators
- Cabinetmakers
- Carpenters
- Cement Plant Workers
- Chemical Plant Workers
- Civil Engineers
- Construction Workers
- Crane and Hoist Men
- Custodians
- Demolition & Wrecking Crews
- Draftsmen
- Drill Press Operators
- Drywall Tapers
- Electrical Engineers
- Electrical workers
- Electricians
- Electrical Linemen & Cablemen
- Engineers
- Factory Workers
- Firefighters
- Forge Men
- Freight & Material Handlers
- Furnace Men, Smelter Men & Pourers
- Garage Workers
- Grinding Machine Operators
- Hairdressers
- Heavy Equipment Mechanics
- Household appliance installers
- HVAC Mechanics
- Industrial Engineers
- Industrial Workers
- Insulators
- Iron Workers
- Laborers
- Laggers
- Locomotive Engineers
- Longshoremen
- Loom Fixers
- Machine Operatives
- Machinists
- Merchant Marines
- Metal Lathers
- Maintenance Workers
- Masonry Workers
- Mechanical Engineers
- Millwrights
- Mixing Operatives
- Molders
- Oil Refinery Workers
- Operating Engineers
- Painters
- Paper Mill Workers
- Pipefitters
- Plasterers
- Plumbers
- Power Plant Workers
- Railroad Workers
- Refinery workers
- Refractory Plant Workers
- Road Machine Operators
- Roofers & Slaters
- Sailors and Deckhands
- Sawyers
- Sheet Metal Workers
- Shipyard Workers
- Stationary Engineers
- Steam Fitters
- Steel Mill Workers
- Stevedores
- Stone Masons
- Structural Metal Craftsmen
- Teachers
- Telephone Repair Men
- Textile Mill Workers
- Textile Operatives
- Tile Setters
- Tinsmiths
- Tool and Die Makers
- U.S. Navy Vets
- Weavers
- Welders
Asbestos in Shipyards
One of the most dangerous jobs is the shipbuilder. The shipyard workers used to work in very poor and unhealthy area, especially the air. They inhale unhealthy ( asbestos containing air) for long period of time. Therefore, medical studies say that more than 80% of shipyard workers with 20 or more years of worktime suffer asbestos related disease.
Below are the shipyard listings in United States.
Alabama
• Bender Shipbuilding
• Gulf Shipbuilding
Alaska
• Seward Ships Drydock
• Seward Marine Industrial Center
California
• Bethlehem Steel Shipyard Terminal Island
• Bethlehem Steel Shipyard San Francisco
• Conrad Industries
• Consolidated Shipyard
• Hunters Point Naval Shipyard
• Kaiser Shipyard
• Long Beach Naval Shipyard
• Mare Island Naval Shipyard
• Moore Dry Dock
• Todd Shipyard Los Angeles
• Todd Shipyard Oakland
• Todd Shipyard San Francisco
• San Diego Naval Shipyard and Air Station
• Southwest Marine
Connecticut
• Electric Boat
• Naval Submarine Base New London
Florida
• Atlantic Dry Dock
• Pensacola Naval Air Station
• Tampa Bay Shipbuilding
Hawaii
• Pearl Harbor Shipyard
Louisiana
• Avondale Industries
• Bollinger Shipyard
• Conrad Industries
Maine
• Bath Iron Works
• Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
Maryland
• Bethlehem Shipbuilding Maryland
• Ellicott International
• Curtis Bay Coast Guard Yard
Massachusetts
• Charlestown Navy Yard
• Fore River Shipbuilding
Michigan
• Defoe Shipyard
Mississippi
• Halter Marine
• Ingalls Shipbuilding
• Naval Station Pascagoula
New Jersey
• Federal Shipbuilding
• New York Shipbuilding Company
New York
• Brooklyn Navy Yard
• Caddell Dry Dock
• GMD Shipyard
• Todd Shipyard Brooklyn
North Carolina
• North Carolina Shipbuilding Co.
Oregon
• Astoria Voyage Repair Station
• Portland Shipyard
• Swan Island Shipyard
• Willamette Iron and Steel Yard
Pennsylvania
• Bethlehem Steel Shipyard
• Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
• Sun Shipbuilding
Rhode Island
• Naval Station Newport
South Carolina
• Carolina Shipping Company
• Detyens Shipyards
Texas
• Brown Shipyard
• Consolidated Western Steel Corp.
• Naval Station Ingleside
Washington
• Duwamish Shipyard
• Foss Tug and Launch Company
• Kaiser Vancouver Shipyard
• Lake Union Drydock
• Naval Station Everett
• Puget Sound Naval Shipyard
• Todd Pacific Shipyard
• Voyage Repair Station Port Angeles
• Washington Navy Yard
Virginia
• Colonna's Shipyard
• Little Creek Amphibious Base
• Lyon Shipyard
• Newport News Naval Shipyard
• Norfolk Naval Shipyard
• NORSHIPCO
Veterans and Asbestos.
During military service, veterans were exposed to toxic asbestos containing materials (ACM). In United States, currently there are more than 20 million veterans who have served in the US armed forces. Asbestos has certain capabilities that required by military standard, such as heat resistance and fireproofing. There are more than 310 military products containing asbestos, primarily by the Navy.
Every ship and shipyard built by the Navy before the mid-70s was fitted with numerous asbestos-containing materials. These materials were extensively used in engine and boiler rooms and other areas below deck for fire safety purposes. Navy personnel who worked below deck were heavily exposed to asbestos, but all sailors are at risk, as the deadly compound was used in navigation rooms, sleeping quarters, and mess halls. Products such as brakes, gaskets, valves, cements, adhesives, and floor and pipe coverings all contained asbestos. Clearly, virtually no portion of a naval ship was asbestos-free between the '30s and mid-70s, making Navy veterans and shipyard workers one of the most at-risk groups for developing asbestos-related diseases. According to research, asbestos exposure can cause mesothelioma cancer disease. Therefore there are several asbestos laws to regulate and even tos stop asbestos usage in industry. |
