Asbestos in the Workplace: Employer Responsibility for Employee Safety

The four points of workplace safety

Safe environment and equipment

First and foremost, employers must provide safe environments and safe equipment. They cannot cut corners in this area.

Proper Safety Training

Additionally, employers must teach workers how to use the safety equipment and tell them why safety matters. Employers cannot assume workers already know these things. 

Ensuring safety measures are used

Furthermore, employers must ensure their workers use the equipment. They cannot provide it and then blame workers for not using it. 

OSHA standards

Finally, employers must comply with all Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations. And other such regulations, at all times. They cannot just clean things up when inspectors drop in.

These rules are straightforward, but egregious violations are common. Recently, a Bay City, Michigan contractor  recruited workers at a homeless shelter and paid them $50 cash per day to remove pipes wrapped in insulation made with asbestos. Most of these workers wore shorts and flip-flops while they inhaled asbestos-laced dust. This problem is widespread. One expert believes that 40 percent of asbestos abatement workers don’t have proper safety equipment.

Asbestos Health Hazards

Asbestos is definitely a good insulator, but the “public health” drawbacks are real. Asbestos fibers are much more toxic than PFAS “forever chemicals,” cigarette smoke, and other hazardous substances in our environment. Proven health hazards include:

• Mesothelioma: Only asbestos exposure causes this rare and aggressive form of lung cancer. Even given the advances in cancer treatments since the 1990s, a mesothelioma diagnosis is usually a death sentence.
• Asbestosis: Asbestos fibers don’t just cause malignant tumors. They also burn narrow breathing passageways in the lungs. As the scar tissue builds up, the victim experiences severe breathing problems, even at rest. The only effective treatment is a radical and risky lung transplant.
• Colon Cancer: Asbestos fibers often migrate through the body to the delicate digestive system. Once there, the fibers alter cell DNA and cause tumors. Colon cancer is more treatable than mesothelioma, but not much more treatable.
• Cardiovascular Problems: Heart problems and lung problems, like asbestosis, often go hand in hand. Fibrosis of the lungs increases blood flow resistance to blood flow through the capillary bed. This condition could also occur with less severe fibrotic disease, especially if chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is simultaneously present, as is often the case with asbestos workers who have been smokers.

Even lifelong smokers can collect compensation for asbestos damage.

Many of our clients believed they weren’t eligible to file an asbestos lawsuit because they were cigarette and cigar smokers. This isn’t true under the laws of many states.  Our database contains the medical evidence needed to show that smokers who are exposed to asbestos are far more likely to develop cancer than smokers who weren’t exposed to asbestos. Cigarettes and asbestos are far more dangerous than cigarettes or asbestos.

Even lifelong smokers can collect compensation for asbestos damage.

Many of our clients believed they weren’t eligible to file an asbestos lawsuit because hey were cigarette and cigar smokers. This isn’t true under the laws of many states.  Our database contains the medical evidence needed to show that smokers who are exposed to asbestos are far more likely to develop cancer than smokers who weren’t exposed to asbestos. Cigarettes and asbestos are far more dangerous than cigarettes or asbestos.

Asbestos is a contributing cause and aggravating presence for many diseases, including asbestos-related diseases like mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis.

Smoking, genetics, and other factors aggravate many asbestos health issues, and not just cardiovascular problems. Full compensation is usually available in these cases. Generally, a factor like smoking is a contributing cause, as opposed to a substantial cause. The same thing is true in bad weather car crash claims. Wet roads might be a contributing cause, but the driver’s excessive speed is the substantial cause.

Since the 1920s, courts have awarded substantial compensation to asbestos exposure victims and survivors.

Asbestos Trusts

The extreme mesothelioma latency period doesn’t just make evidence hard to acquire, as outlined above. Legal claims are impossible in some of these cases. If the responsible asbestos provider is no longer in business, there’s no one to sue.

Victim compensation funds are usually available in these situations. Many asbestos providers declared bankruptcy in the 1980s. As a condition of that bankruptcy, they contributed to victim compensation funds, which today still contain billions of dollars.

Over $30 Billion is still available (No lawsuit. No fees unless you receive money. No risk.) Stake your claim.

Generally the  fastest and easiest way to get compensation for a qualifying asbestos claim is an asbestos trust.

In some ways, these claims are more straightforward than court claims. Since there’s no adverse lawyer and no court proceedings, the claims process requires less evidence and is easier overall. In some ways, VCF claims are more complex. Most fund administrators are stingy. They know that when the fund dries up, they lose their jobs. 

In other words, victims may not need lawyers to file VCF claims. But unless they’re willing to settle for less, they will likely need asbestos attorneys to negotiate on their behalf. And in any case, an asbestos lawyer can help with researching and proving the asbestos exposure.

If you would like to look up your worksite or your family member’s workplace, you can search our database for free – W.A.R.D. – The Worldwide Asbestos Research Database.