High-Risk Asbestos Areas
High-risk asbestos areas are those where people stand the greatest chance of being exposed to dangerous levels of asbestos. Asbestos exposure poses a serious threat to human health, and can lead to lung cancer, cancer of the mesothelial lining of the heart, lungs, or abdominal organs (known as mesothelioma), asbestosis, and more. The following is a list of high-risk asbestos areas, where exposure is most likely and most dangerous.
Construction Sites
Construction sites are high-risk asbestos areas. Asbestos has been used extensively in building and construction materials because of its insulating, fire and heat-resistant, and soundproofing qualities. Asbestos is often used in flooring, wallboards and wall coverings, ceiling tiles and other materials, cement siding, gaskets, roofing, caulking, and much more. New building construction, remodeling, and building repair are all high-risk asbestos sites. People working in or around construction sites can be at high risk for asbestos exposure.
Automotive Shops
Automotive shops can be high-risk asbestos areas, as autoworkers often handle materials constructed using asbestos. Asbestos is widely used in brake shoes and clutch pads in trucks, cars, and even airplanes. People who build, repair, and maintain automobiles are at risk of asbestos exposure.
Shipyard Sites
Shipyard sites are also high-risk asbestos areas. Because asbestos was ideal in many shipbuilding and maintenance applications, it has been used extensively on ships and in shipyards. Most employees of shipping companies and shipyards have been exposed to asbestos. In fact, shipping sites are such high-risk asbestos areas that medical studies have found that over 85 percent of shipyard workers with over 20 years of industry employment later developed asbestos-related diseases, including cancer.
Factory and Industry Labor
Factories and other industrial sites are high-risk asbestos areas. The risks of factory and industrial exposure to asbestos have been known for over a century, yet owners and operators of these sites continue to knowingly expose their employees to asbestos.
The industrial and factory sites considered the most dangerous high-risk asbestos sites are those that manufacture asbestos-containing materials such as piping, gaskets, insulation, building materials, acoustic materials, paints, cement, fireproofing materials, and more.
Other high-risk asbestos sites can include the home, mines, and certain communities where asbestos is used extensively. To learn more about high-risk asbestos sites, please contact us today.
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