Occupations At Risk

By 1999, the use and importation of asbestos had been completely banned in the UK. In theory, at least, from the end of last century, the risk of being exposed to asbestos should by now have been eliminated.

Asbestos disease is caused by inhaling minute asbestos fibres. Fibres become airborne when asbestos is worked on and cause clouds of asbestos to develop. Those employees who directly worked with asbestos, and others who happened to be doing other work nearby, could not help but suffer asbestos exposure.

Before the ban on importing asbestos came into force, it arrived regularly on ships landing at the docks of UK ports, including Immingham, Hull, and Grimsby, from countries such as South Africa, Canada and Australia, where asbestos mining was a thriving industry. Usually, it arrived in powder form and was carried in the ship’s hold in hessian-type sacks.

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Asbestos Exposure Victims UK

Once it arrived in the UK, after being unloaded in the docks, asbestos was transported to factories and worksites all over the country. Some businesses were set up specifically to turn asbestos into asbestos-based products, such as:

• Asbestos cement and cement-based products.
• Asbestos insulation board (AIB).
• Asbestos material for lagging boilers and pipes.
• Asbestos brake linings for motor vehicles.
• Roofing felt.
• Gaskets.
• Textured coatings, such as Artex.
• Spray coated asbestos for roofing sheets, panelling and as filler.
• Asbestos in toilet cisterns.
• Asbestos in fuse boxes.
• Asbestos fire blankets.
• Asbestos floor tiles.

Workers producing asbestos-related products were at high risk from asbestos exposure.

So too, were those employed in occupations where asbestos and asbestos-based products were used as essential materials of their trade. Asbestos was versatile, so its use was widespread across many sectors of industry.

In all of the occupations listed below, and many more not listed but where asbestos was used, the dangers asbestos posed to employees’ health came about when asbestos was worked on.

In this context, we use the phrase ‘worked on’ to mean:

• Emptying bags of asbestos.
• Mixing asbestos with other products to produce lagging paste or asbestos cement.
• Sieving asbestos.
• Polishing asbestos.
• Grinding asbestos.
• Cutting asbestos.
• Drilling asbestos.
• Breaking asbestos with hammers.
• Sawing asbestos.
• Ripping/tearing asbestos material.

All of the activities listed above cause clouds of asbestos dust to form. Those directly working with asbestos could not avoid inhaling the microscopic asbestos fibres contained in the dust, not least because they were rarely, if ever, provided with face masks or other protective equipment.

Regular asbestos exposure meant that these workers were at significant risk of developing symptoms of asbestos-related disease later in their lives.

No list of industries or trades in which asbestos was used could ever be called complete. However, the ones we’ve listed below are some of the trades and industries where asbestos was in more frequent use than others, with employees suffering from exposure to asbestos as a consequence:

• Construction workers.
• Dockers.
• Shipyard workers.
• Trawlermen.
• Boilermakers.
• Railway Engineering workers.
• Power station workers.
• Laggers.
• Electricians.
• Carpenters.
• Asbestos strippers.
• Demolition.
• Car mechanics.
• Painters
• Car and other vehicle mechanics.
• Teachers.
• Firefighters.
• Sheet metal workers.

Those who directly worked on asbestos suffered ‘primary exposure to asbestos’. Employees with primary exposure generally suffered a high level of asbestos exposure, putting themselves at risk from the types of asbestos diseases caused by receiving heavy doses of asbestos, i.e., asbestosis, mesothelioma, and asbestos-related lung cancer.

Secondary exposure to asbestos is suffered by other workers who are not working with asbestos but who are instead carrying out other duties nearby. They get exposed to the dust from the asbestos clouds caused by their colleagues. Secondary exposure usually causes a lower level of exposure to those affected than primary exposure does. Many labourers and tradesman’s mates suffered from secondary exposure to asbestos.

In 1985, the use or import into the UK of blue (crocidolite) asbestos and brown (amosite) asbestos was banned, followed in 1999 by white (chrysotile) asbestos. Since the turn of the century, it has been illegal to use any kind of asbestos or asbestos product. For this reason, employees are no longer exposed to asbestos at work, in theory at least.

However, whilst factory workers no longer walk around in clouds of asbestos dust and boilermakers, fitters, and laggers do not have to work with asbestos, it would be wrong to believe that occupational exposure to asbestos has ceased entirely.

Asbestos remains in many buildings built before the asbestos bans came into force. Textured asbestos coatings, corrugated asbestos roofing, asbestos cement cladding, old-style water tanks, asbestos tiles, guttering, downpipes, loose-fill asbestos, AIB, sprayed coatings of asbestos and lagging are just some examples of asbestos fittings and material still present in public and some domestic buildings today.

The old adage that ‘asbestos, if left undisturbed, does not present a health hazard’ is only valid to an extent. Old asbestos fittings, particularly AIB and insulation, can be dangerous if worn, damaged, or accidentally worked on by workers unaware of their presence. If damp settles into a property, this too can wear down asbestos.

Many old public and local authority buildings still contain asbestos, and there are fears of children and teachers in schools and hospital workers and patients in old hospital buildings getting exposed to asbestos from damaged asbestos in the structure of the buildings. We discuss the dangers of asbestos in schools in greater detail in our blog Will Asbestos Disease Ever Become a Thing of the Past?

Asbestos Lawyer UK

If you, or a family member, have been diagnosed with an asbestos illness or you worked with asbestos and are now suffering from breathing difficulties or other unexplained symptoms, our specialists will be only too pleased to talk with you, free of charge, to see whether they can assist you.

Our experienced team of asbestos solicitors offer a free, confidential and no obligation initial chat. You can email the team at enquiries@bmcf.co.uk, and they’ll get back to you at your convenience.

Asbestos Awareness is dedicated to informing, educating, and supporting people in relation to asbestos-related diseases.

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