Construction Workers

Construction workers are employed across America on residential and commercial construction sites. They may be electricians, plumbers, bricklayers, painters, carpenters or other specialty workers, or they may be involved in heavy labor, machinery operating, or other tasks.

The construction industry is one of the most hazardous in the country, with high risk of falling, incidence of machinery and vehicle accidents, and until the mid-1970s, the potential of exposure to asbestos from thousands of asbestos-containing building products.

Asbestos Exposure

During the twentieth century, construction workers of all types worked with products that often contained large amounts of asbestos. This naturally-occurring substance was recognized for its fire and heat resistant/insulating properties, and it was a common component of a vast array of different construction materials until warnings were issued about its hazards in 1977.

Construction workers may have been at great risk of asbestos exposure when working with any types of asbestos-containting construction materials, including:

• Finishing cement, refractory cement
• Flatboard, micarta, permaboard, millboard, rollboard
• Acoustical plaster or acoustic finishers
• Patching plaster or patching fiber
• Packing, agricultural filler and insulation
• Floor and ceiling tiles
• Roofing materials such as felt, shingles, and adhesives

In 1977 the Consumer Product Safety Commission began to restrict the use of asbestos in such products; however, while asbestos could not be used in manufacturing most construction materials after this time, the ban did not cover existing stocks of such products. Any construction worker who was employed on residential or commercial building sites up to the mid-1980s may have been at great risk of asbestos exposure, regardless of the specific type of work they did, simply because asbestos was used in so many different construction products for so long.

In addition to the lack of restriction on the use of asbestos throughout most of the twentieth century, most construction companies did not provide their workers with protective equipment and clothing to prevent their workers from being exposed to asbestos. Indeed, construction workers were often employed in environments that were heavily laden with airborne asbestos fibers, and these fibers were inhaled by unprotected workers on a daily basis.

Even though the dangers of asbestos were known as early as the 1930s, many thousands of construction workers were repeatedly exposed to this toxic substance without being provided with safety equipment that could have saved their lives. In the late twentieth century, the results of this widespread exposure were seen as construction workers and other people working with asbestos began to develop life-threatening diseases such as asbestosis and a rare but aggressive form of cancer called mesothelioma.

Asbestos-containing construction materials are still used in new construction since asbestos is not banned in the United States. However, construction workers face a greater risk for asbestos exposure when they work on residential or commercial buildings that were constructed before the 1980s. The danger of asbestos exposure is heightened as buildings age, because asbestos construction materials become friable over time, meaning that the asbestos crumbles easily and the fibers have an increased tendency to become airborne. Construction workers should take care to use protective equipment in any situation where the risk of asbestos exposure is present.

Mesothelioma News