Asbestos in Industry
Asbestos has been used in association with a number of industries and countless different occupations throughout the years. Massive amounts of asbestos were used in the following industries:

• Shipyards
• Steel works
• Schools
• Power stations
• Chemical plants
• Car repairs

Asbestos in Cars
For many decades, asbestos has been used by the car industry in brake pads and linings, clutch facings, and gaskets. Millions of these products still remain on vehicles currently in use today, which poses a severe risk of asbestos exposure to current and former car mechanics across the country.

Breathing in asbestos dust can lead to asbestosis, lung cancer, and pleural mesothelioma, an aggressive and painful cancer that attacks the lining of the lungs. Mechanics do not develop these diseases until many years after their initial exposure to asbestos, so they may not realise the extent of the damage to their health. They may also have the mistaken concept that asbestos has been banned.

When asbestos-containing materials are disturbed or damaged, they release a dust filled with microscopic asbestos fibres into the air. As a result, the very nature of brake and clutch functions causes continual abrasion, and this releases the imbedded asbestos fibres. A large portion of the toxic material is trapped inside the brake housing or clutch space, and is then released when replacement or repair work is performed.

The following brake cleaning techniques can result in the release of asbestos into the air and consequently may lead to employee exposure:

• Using a shop vacuum cleaner - a shop vacuum filter is not fine enough to collect asbestos fibres
• Using a compressed air hose to clean drum breaks
• Wiping with a dry rag or brushing dust from the assembly
• Wiping with a wet rag or brush - a wet rag will still scatter asbestos fibres (furthermore, once it dries, the fibres can still spread around the work area)
• Using liquid squirt bottles or solvent sprays
• Using a water hose

The symptoms of asbestos-related diseases can take many years to develop. Due to this, car mechanic employees are still being diagnosed with debilitating illnesses more than 30 years after the warnings were issued. If you or a loved one has worked as a mechanic and believe you may have been exposed to this dangerous substance, seek a medical examination from your doctor.

Asbestos in Chemical Plants
Chemical plants are known as industrial processing plants that manufacture and process chemicals on a large scale. These plants use special equipment and technology to produce their products, which can often create hazardous work environments at risk of fire or dangerous chemical reactions.
Asbestos was used in products that could be found both inside and outside of chemical plant laboratories. Some of the laboratory equipment containing asbestos included:

• Protective clothing
• Bench and counter tops
• Coating materials

Other equipment containing asbestos, most commonly as insulation, that could be found outside laboratory rooms included:

• Boilers
• Furnaces
• Heat exchangers
• Ovens
• Pipes
• Driers
• Extruders
• Pumps

The symptoms of asbestos-related diseases can take many years to develop. Due to this, chemical plant employees are still being diagnosed with debilitating illnesses more than 30 years after the warnings were issued. If you or a loved one have worked at a chemical plant and believe you may have been exposed to this dangerous substance, seek a medical examination from your doctor.

Asbestos in Construction
During the 20th 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-containing 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

Even though the dangers of asbestos were known as early as the 1930s, thousands of construction workers were repeatedly exposed to this toxic substance without being provided safety equipment. In the late 20th 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.

If you or a loved one have been exposed to asbestos through the construction industry and have developed an asbestos-related disease as a result, you may have legal options for compensation.

Asbestos in Power Stations
While power stations are absolutely necessary to continue much of the UK’s operations, they can be extremely dangerous places to work. Due to the involvement of electricity, the constant risk of fire is always a potential hazard. To lessen the potential of on-the-job accidents involving heat and fire, a lot of equipment and machinery inside power plants are lined with asbestos, a naturally occurring mineral.

Unfortunately, asbestos has been proven to cause a number of illnesses to those exposed to the toxic substance, including lung cancer, asbestosis and mesothelioma. Asbestos exposure can occur when asbestos-containing materials are damaged or disturbed and the toxic fibres that make up asbestos are released into the air, enabling them to be inhaled.

Generators and turbines are just two of the many machine types within power stations that are likely to be lined with asbestos. Anyone who comes in contact with this machinery, especially those who maintain it, may be exposed to asbestos fibres. The boilers and pipes found in most power stations are also insulated with asbestos, as well as gaskets, seal pumps and valves. Even the floor, wall and ceiling tiles of power stations are likely to contain asbestos.

The symptoms of asbestos-related diseases can take many years to develop. Due to this, power station employees are still being diagnosed with debilitating illnesses more than 30 years after the warnings were issued. If you or a loved one have worked at a power station and believe you may have been exposed to this dangerous substance, seek a medical examination from your doctor.

Asbestos in Schools
If your school was built, refurbished or had maintenance work carried out before 2001, it could contain asbestos. Asbestos was imported into this country until 1999 and was used for a while after that until the stocks in the building yards were used up Any school that has been refurbished, rebuilt or has had maintenance work carried out before about 2001 could contain asbestos.

If the school was built before 1985 it is probable that it contains asbestos in one form or another. Schools built after the war until the early 80s are likely to contain large amounts of asbestos. Even if your school is a Victorian building it will have been refurbished or extended at some time or another. If that happened after 1945 and before 1985 then asbestos is likely to have been used. It is possible that it has been until about 2001.

• Everybody attends school for at least ten years of their life.
• There were 79 deaths of qualified teachers in the ten year period between 1991-2000.
• Four times as many schools found to contain asbestos.
• In 2004 there were approximately 9,000,000 children in primary and secondary schools. A direct extrapolation between teachers’ deaths and children’s deaths gives a figure of 900 children who will die over a ten year period as a result of asbestos exposure they experienced at school.
• Surveys were carried out in primary and secondary schools, and by 1984 sufficient information was available from the surveys to reassess the extent of the problem. 34,800 schools contained friable asbestos potentially exposing an estimated 15,000,000 pupils and 1,400,000 staff.   

Asbestos in Shipyards
There are numerous occupations that can, and often will increase the risk of asbestos exposure. Shipyard workers are very likely to have used, or been surrounded by asbestos fibres. The material was ideal for use in shipbuilding because of its ability to resist corrosion and high temperatures. It has been used as insulation for boilers, incinerators, hot water pipes and steam pipes. The asbestos dust tended to build up around these areas and other inadequately ventilated parts of the ship, which led to human exposure aboard vessels.

Not only the shipbuilders, but the crews of those ships and the dockers (those who load the ships) were heavily exposed to asbestos as well. In fact, before the 1980s, many dockers probably even loaded bundles of asbestos onto ships. Before that time, the health risk associated with asbestos was not known by these workers and no special precautions were taken to prevent inhalation. Due to this, many shipyard workers run an increased risk of developing mesothelioma or other asbestos-related illnesses.

If you or a loved one has worked in the shipping industry, it is important to seek the advice of a medical doctor. Routine examinations should be performed to check for the development of a number of asbestos-related diseases.

Asbestos in Steel Works
Traditionally, plants that manufactured steel, aluminium and iron often used asbestos in a variety of ways to help protect against fire and heat, two elements that are ever-present in such facilities. Asbestos insulation was common use in these plants and probably served to save a number of lives from fires. Even asbestos clothing such as pants, aprons, shirts, gloves, shoe covers and masks were worn by workers in these facilities. In addition to clothes, equipment such as furnaces, boilers, generators and pipes were also lined with asbestos.

Though the dangers of asbestos have been known for quite some time, company executives have often defended the toxic mineral and ignored its hazards. Regardless of its ability to protect workers and save lives, the use of asbestos should have never been condoned. As a result of its use, those who have previously worked in aluminium plants, steel mills and iron works are at risk of contracting asbestos-related diseases.

If you or a loved one has worked in the steel works industry, it is important to seek the advice of a medical doctor. Routine examinations should be performed to check for the development of a number of asbestos-related diseases.