What is occupational asbestos risk? Does the Silent Killer stalk your work place? The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations (CAWR) requires asbestos risk to be identified and assessed. Employers have the explicit duty to protect employees from asbestos risk and to manage the safety of their premises.The new H.S.E. Regulations, requires the employer, property owner or manager to make an assessment, as to whether asbestos is present or liable to be present, internally or externally.

Asbestos Risk in The Work Place

Chrysotile, also known as white asbestos, used to be the predominant form of asbestos that was used commercially; amphiboles were of minor commercial importance. Asbestos fibers do not have any detectable odor or taste. It does not dissolve in water or evaporate and are resistant to heat, fire, chemical and biological degradation. In terms of building material, it was considered resistant to degradation by salt air, damp and heat - ideal for seaside conditions.

These properties cause the management of environmental asbestos risk to be a highly scientific and expensive effort.

Because of these properties, asbestos has been mined for use in a wide range of manufactured products, mostly in building materials, friction products, and heat-resistant fabrics. Since asbestos exposure had been identified as one of the causes of mesothelioma, all new uses of asbestos have been banned in the United States by the EPA, to lessen occupational asbestos risk.

Asbestos was also the building material of choice close to the sea. Click here to view pictures of asbestos in a seaside holiday destination.

Today, asbestos is heavily regulated and has ceased to exist in all but a few, closely monitored, products and industries. Despite this reduction in usage, a study completed in 1980 by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), a subsidiary of the Centers for Disease Control’s Prevention (CDC) of the federal Department of Health and Human Services, maintains that there is no safe level of exposure to asbestos fibers.

Because of the difficulties in obtaining good quantitative exposure assessments, cumulative exposure expressed in fiber-years is often selected as the common metric for the levels of exposures reported in epidemiological studies.

Asbestos Risk Management

The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations (CAWR) requires asbestos to be identified and assessed. Regulation 4 (CAWR 2002) places an explicit duty on the employer in occupation to manage the risks from asbestos in their premises.

The new H.S.E. Regulations, requires the employer, property owner or manager to make an assessment, as to whether asbestos is or liable to be present, internally or externally.

The employer, property owner or manager must then produce a written plan to locate and manage the occupational asbestos risk and to implement the plan in an asbestos management programme.

Click here to read more about Asbestos Risk management

Occupations with Asbestos Risk

If you have been diagnosed with an asbestos-related condition and are currently, or have ever been employed in the following occupations, you may be entitled to compensation from the parties responsible for your exposure.

- Bricklayers - Carpenters - Cement Finishers - Construction Workers - Electricians - Railroad workers - Engineers - Insulators - Mine workers - Machinists - Dry wall removers - Mechanics - Teachers - Metal Workers - Civil servants - Pipefitters - Renovators - Plumbers - Asbestos mill factory workers - Roofers - Shipyard Workers - Steamfitters - Welders - Wives of the above and of asbestos workers

Security measures to prevent asbestos mesothelioma

The measures taken to prevent take-home contamination are varied. Operators may choose the most effective method for eliminating this hazard based on the unique conditions in the mine, including the nature of the hazard. For example, in one situation providing disposable coveralls could minimize or prevent asbestos take-home contamination. Another situation may require on-site shower facilities coupled with clothing changes to provide the same protection.

The existing standards, together with lower PELs, provide sufficient enforcement authority to ensure that mine operators take adequate measures, when necessary to prevent asbestos take-home contamination.

Commenters urged MSHA to expand the rulemaking to include specific requirements to prevent take-home contamination. NIOSH also encouraged MSHA to adopt measures included in its 1995 Report to Congress on their Workers’ Home Contamination Study Conducted under the Workers’ Family Protection Act.

Despite the efforts of numerous health agencies throughout the world in trying to educate the public on the definition and effects of mesothelioma, it is unfortunate that there still exist a large majority of the local population in trying to comprehend such efforts. With this article, I hope that certain facts can be spelt out much more clearly in as simple terminology as possible.To start off, mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer in which malignant or cancerous cells are found in the mesothelium, a protective sac that covers most of our body’s internal organs. At present, statistics have proven that a majority of people who suffer from mesothelioma, have had first contact with materials known as asbestos, in the course of their work or exposure.

Mesothelioma (or cancer of the mesothelium) is a disease in which cells of the mesothelium become abnormal and divide without control or order. The known effect is that invasion and damage to nearby tissues and organs can occur. The cancer cells can also spread from their original location to other parts of the body. And very often, mesothelioma begins in the pleura or peritoneum. The pleura is the membrane that typically surrounds the lungs and lines the wall of the chest cavity, while the peritoneum is the tissue that covers most of the organs in the abdominal cavity. In addition, the pericardium covers and protects the heart, while the tissue surrounding the male internal reproductive organs is called the tunica vaginalis testis. For the female, this will be known as the tunica serosa uteri.

While it has been reported specifically in the United States alone that the occurrence of mesothelioma has been at a rate of 2000 cases per year in the last 20 years, there maybe more unreported cases that have gone undetected and therefore, not captured within official records. Typically, mesothelioma affects mainly the male gender, but although (as mentioned above) this form of cancer has affected mainly those in direct contact with asbestos material in the course of their work, there have also been occurrences to those who have had no direct exposure to asbestos.

Before we go on further, we need to be clear on where asbestos comes from. Essentially, asbestos refers to a group of minerals that occur naturally as masses of strong, flexible fibers that can be separated into thin threads and woven. Asbestos is often found in construction related materials such as cement, roofing materials, flooring products, etc. How asbestos gets into the human system, is when during the manufacturing process, where there is no strict control on the handling process, the particles generated from asbestos will float in the air and maybe inhaled by individuals, thus causing serious health problems. This therefore gives rise to other forms of cancer and one of them, mesothelioma.

Historically, mesothelioma was discovered particularly after the World War Two, as part of the industrialization process and increased war efforts. Millions of Americans were believed to have been exposed to asbestos dust particles in their course of work. And when these folks return home to their loved ones, it is believed that the dust particles which had remained on their work attires were subsequently inhaled by their family members, thus creating a form of “cross contamination” effect. While the occupational safety and health act today has restricted the amount of asbestos workers can be exposed to, the risk has obviously not been fully mitigated and the occurrence of mesothelioma is still possible.

To minimize exposure as well as cross contamination, workers in such industries should change out before leaving their workstations and showering. This concept is similar to exposure during a chemical fallout where the process of decontamination is deployed.

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