Asbestos Exposure and Pipefitters | Risks and Prevention

The Varieties of Pipefitting

Filtros para tubería play a crucial role in helping resources get from point A to point B and everything in between. Pipes are used to transport things like oil, gas, water, and clean air from source to source. Pipes can be subjected to a variety of temperatures and come in a wide range of sizes, everything from less than one inch in diameter to over six feet! Pipes also come in a range of materials: stainless steel, aluminum, copper, galvanized, plastic, PVC, rubber, and much more. 

Beyond the materials used, pipefitters are responsible for ensuring that their work is sufficient to get these resources (oil, water, etc.) from point A to point B safely. Pipes facilitate the travel of these resources at a variety of pressures and temperatures. An insufficient job at safely fitting pipes together can result in serious injury or death. And the task of fitting pipe together is just as varied as the materials used; sometimes pipes are threaded together, but other times they are bolted together with fasteners, soldered, or welded in place. If we take all of this together, it is clear just how dynamic and widespread the skillset and applications of a pipefitter can be throughout the workday.

The Work Environments of Pipefitting 

Beyond this, pipefitters can find themselves in a wide range of work environments. Pipefitters find themselves as a tradesman in high demand and value in the construction of industrial buildings, and commercial buildings, but they are also required to build and maintain things like vehicles, boats, and aircraft, as well as all varieties of military transportation.

Unfortunately, while this highlights the importance of this trade, it also shows just how dangerous it can be, not only in terms of the general work environment but especially because of the pervasive presence of asbestos as an occupational hazard.

Two Types of Asbestos Hazards for Pipefitters

In all of these examples, it’s easy to understand how pipefitters face a severe threat of asbestos exposure. In fact, we can break down the threat that pipefitters face in relation to asbestos exposure into two main hazard categories:

Hazard of Asbestos Materials

First, pipefitters face the threat of exposure because of the materials they are working with. As a specific example, let’s consider the threat of asbestos in the task of servicing naval vessels. In the past, companies like Owens Corning were once the largest manufacturer of insulation and “the standard insulation for all Navy ships”, according to their website. However, in the height of the company as the standard for various products, the key ingredient of their products was asbesto. 

Asbestos was used widely in U.S. military buildings, equipment and vehicles like Navy ships.

So pervasive was this use of asbestos that almost every vessel in the United States Navy used asbestos until the 1980s, particularly on piping that pipefitters would service and maintain. When submarines and other naval vessels are serviced, the puzzle-piece process of removing piping in order to access components and reinstalling piping after the components have been repaired is commonplace. 

However, since having a fire onboard a naval vessel is a worst-case scenario, asbestos was heavily used in the insulation process of piping to ensure that the threat of fire would be mitigated as much as possible. However, the friability (crushing, crumbling, breakdown) of asbestos in a working environment results in the release of tiny, microscopic asbestos fibers into the air. Once these fibers are exposed, pipefitters (and anyone nearby) can swallow or ingest these fibers into their bodies.

The Hazard of Asbestos in the Environment

While the thought of having asbestos in direct contact of piping systems is concerning in its own right, pipefitters should also be aware that even if they worked directly with piping that no longer used asbestos-containing insulation, they may have worked in an environment that still contained asbestos. Asbestos was hardly restricted to pipe insulation or naval vessels; most industrial facilities built before the mid-1980s could be assumed to contain asbestos somewhere from the cement foundation to the roofing tiles of the facility. 

In fact, according to the National Library of Medicine, asbestosis is prevalent in a variety of construction trades, precisely because of the prevalent use of asbestos in those environments. 

Construction environments are aggressive; there is grinding, welding, vibration, and all sorts of actions that lend to the friability of asbestos in asbestos-containing materials. Even if pipefitters are not working directly with asbestos, they may commonly find themselves in an environment that contains asbestos- one home to actions that directly cause the spread of dangerous asbestos fibers into the air.

AsbestosClaims.Law

En AsbestosClaims.Law, nuestra misión de asegurar una compensación para las víctimas del asbesto es más que profesional;es personal.

Nuestro fundador, Justinian C. Lane, conoce de primera mano los efectos devastadores del asbesto.

Tanto sus abuelos como su padre, todos trabajadores del asbesto, fallecieron de cánceres inducidos por el asbesto sin darse cuenta de su elegibilidad para juicios por asbesto u otras formas de compensación.

Nuestro objetivo es evitar tales trágicos descuidos informando y guiando a las víctimas y sus familias a través de sus opciones legales.

Si usted o sus seres queridos han sufrido como resultado de la exposición al asbesto, podría ser elegible para una compensación considerable. Estos fondos podrían cubrir tratamientos médicos, servicios de remoción de asbestos y salvaguardar su salud.

Además, los fideicomisos de asbesto ofrecen una compensación sin necesidad de un juicio, brindando un camino más rápido y sencillo hacia la justicia.

Comuníquese con nosotros en [email protected] o (206) 455-9190 para obtener ayuda con su reclamo. Ofrecemos escucha compasiva, explicaciones claras y no cobramos un centavo a menos que ganemos su caso.

Más allá de las demandas legales, también asesoramos sobre discapacidad de veteranos, seguridad social y protección laboral como compensación de trabajadores, FELA, y La ley de Jones para trabajadores marítimos.

No hay riesgo ni costo para conectarse con nuestro equipo experimentado sobre sus derechos. Nuestro compromiso con su bienestar significa que no cobramos honorarios a menos que reciba una compensación.

También presentamos WARD, la base de datos de investigación mundial sobre el asbesto. Es el recurso más completo de información relacionada con el asbesto.

WARD ayuda a identificar posibles escenarios de exposición, productos que contienen asbesto y puede indicar los tipos y posibles montos de compensación que puede tener derecho a recibir.

No te demores — ponerse en contacto Con nosotras hoy!