How do you know if you were safe?

I know that this is a subject that no one wants to ask.... and worse, no one wants to hear the answer....but anyways ...here goes.... flat roofers.....scratchers, sweepers, rippers, vacuumers..... we all know the drill, try to work down wind whenever possible... but you know, you can't get out of it...it's in your hair, eyes, gloves, clothes, truck seat, laundry...everywhere. Fireproof asbestos saturated felt products...they may have stopped using it many years ago, but...for the sake and safety of laborers and roofers and the environment in general, encapsulation has always been the recommended solution to working with it.....recovery board and re-roof. But what about before all that. I see ads all the time..."if you or a loved one, deceased or alive has mesothelioma, caused by working around asbestos...brake mechanics, heating systems installer.....roofers?, insulators?....call the law office of "fill in the blanks". Have you been in the business long enough to have workers that might be affected by this?...Does your insurance cover you for dealing with this.....is there a statute of limitations regarding negligence in a case such as this?. Is there anything you can do 35 years later to protect your health?....Just like smoking.....guys dying from lung cancer and heart issues usually are written off as heart related issues....he had a heart attack. he couldn't fricken breathe, he had a panic attack....who wouldn't have a heart attack? Politics and the insurance industry. arghhhhhhhhhh don't get me started. sorry!! >>>

Builderr I remember goin to the hospital as a kid 2x (head out the window was the only way to open my eyes) Really good topic for older roofers. We are doin test cuts on 30 roofs before we rip the rubber and t&g off. Should have been mandatory before. If ur thinkin of protecting ur company make it a LLC with same name.>>>

Wouldn't be ignorance on the part of the industry.... according to the table below, awareness of the potential medical concerns go back a long way. so, I'm implying negligence on the part of the roofing companies that weren't addressing the issue. Not like it just became a popular ailment by any means. I'm not assuming that contractor liability would be the best avenue to proceed, although I would bet that if I were to file a case against my old company, if I had documented asbestosis.and / or mesothelioma , he would be beating my door down with a check to make me go away. I suggest JM (Johns Manville), Frye, among others might have a new source of claim potential from the roof industry. Research friable asbestos and you will find many studies showing that engineers are aware that moisture penetration in BUR systems that permeate the rigid insulation and base sheets, after recovery and long term drying out periods, cause friable asbestos fibres in fire retardent base sheets to become airborns during removal. Why do you think that roof recovery by barrier board and sheet goods has become so acceptable in this trades.....no reason to penetrate the asbestos beast lying under the surface.

1879 First commercial production of asbestos containing insulation materials. 1899 Murray First published case of lung scarring caused by asbestos. 1927 Cooke Term "Asbestosis" first used to describe lung scarring caused by asbestos. 1920's More than 25 published articles concerning asbestos and lung disease. 1930 Merewether Greater than 25% of asbestos textile workers showed signs of asbestosis. First published article demonstrating that the greater the dose of asbestos exposure, the greater the likelihood of disease (dose/response). 1935 Lynch & Smith First published report in United States of workers suffering from both asbestosis and lung cancer.

CAPS INTENTIONALLY....WARNING......NEWER ROOFERS...... THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THAT A LOT OF THE NEWER PRODUCTS, ADHESIVES, ETC ARE NOT HARMFUL TO YOUR HEALTH....YET. BUT THERE'S A REASON FOR OSHA, INDOOR AIR QUALITY TESTING AND WORKPLACE SAFETY. BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY WHEN INSTALLING HARDI SIDING IN THE SUMMER WITHOUT WEARING A MASK WHILE CUTTING BUT BE FOREWARNED...IT AINT GOOD. SAME WITH ADHESIVES, BONDING AGENTS, COATINGS AND EMULSIONS..FIBREGLAS INSULATIONS, HARD BOARDS, BLOWN AND POURED IN PLACE INSULATIONS, ETC. .BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY. >>>

Hi builderr,

I am inclined to go with Ed, very few if any roofers work for the same company for any long period of time.

I think lawyers tend to need a company with serious assets or major insurance cover before taking on such cases.

You might recall in the Erin Brokavitch Movie the costs in the case were so high that the original lawyer ended up taking a partnership with a larger practice, lawyers want a good chance of winning, don't forget civil law is not about justice it all comes down to money.

I think the contractors are reasonably safe from what were accepted safe work practices 35 years ago and more, I was discs to cut asbestos sheets in the 80's, I doubt if diagnosed I would have a case against what was nothing short of ignorance at the time.

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James Hardie Industries Ltd. was first listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1951.

In December 2001, the company shareholders unanimously voted to restructure and relocate the company in the Netherlands as a parent company, as to separate themselves from the asbestos controversy>>>

That's true Ed, but...

the question is...if the company that you worked for 35 years ago, working on T&G removal crews, without OSHA approved resperitory equipment, was still in business, and tomorrow, you were diagnosed with mesothelioma, should they be off the hook? In those cases like Erin Brokavitch or the one with John Travolta when the action was done way prior to the discovery of the injury, the class action suits against the manufacturers still paid off. I guess my real question is, do I need to proove that I might have mesothelioma in order to get in the class action, or do i have to wait until I can't breathe, like my father being a boiler heat man, before I look into it. I don't expect my old bosses company to pick up the tab for any thing, i just think that they're still party to the class action suit, even as a third party interest. Being that we assume no-one in here has been in business that long, which I'm not sure is true about others, my business was incorporated in 1973,and is still ion business, and if I closed the doors today, I end any possibility of negligence associated with a previous business situation, but if I remain in business, then I concede longevity of the business, and any claims against it....by customers and employees. I suppose I could even document the day that I went to the hospital with my eyes closed shut from pitch burns and my lungs burning from swallowing dust for a couple of hours, but my question is more about a business owner protecting themselves from injuries associated with OSHA related injuries, no matter when the infraction took place.

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Not many roofers work at the same place of business for a consecutive 35 year period.

How and who would be able to be held liable in such a case, where it may be more like a repetitive inhalation scenario over time?

Ed>>>

Good question.

"Heart attacks" cover a lot of ground.>>>