Laborers

Millions of individuals can consider their job classification as "Laborer". The title is extremely broad, covering a multitude of commerce and positions. In the widest definition, a "Laborer" is anyone other than a manager; it is the person who is actually responsible for the hands-on completion of the task. However, throughout the industrialized world, the term of laborer is utilized in conjunction with manual labor more than with office-type work. Therefore, a laborer usually refers to someone who must meet physical as well as mental requirements. Thus, laborers are found in construction, manufacturing, mining, shipbuilding, repair, installation, and equipment or environmental maintenance.

Exposure to Asbestos and Asbestos Containing Dust for Laborers

Unfortunately, each of these industries has a history of placing employees at high risk through exposure to asbestos, which has probably caused more unnecessary deaths since record keeping began. It is estimated that over a million laborers in varied occupations may suffer retributions of inhaling the toxic mineral, but the actual totals won't be known for another decade or so. That is because asbestos diseases have a latency period of up to 40 or 50 years. Therefore, it is unknown just how many laborers-and their families-may have been affected. Several thousand cases of mesothelioma have been reported world-wide over the last 20 years (due to the boom of the early to mid-1900's) and almost all involve people who could be termed "laborers". Sadly, the only way to acquire malignant mesothelioma, a rare but fatal cancer of lung lining, is through exposure to asbestos, so it is entirely preventable. There has been debate over whether executives in any industry completely understood repercussions of asbestos, but actual fears were rarely shared with those handling the material or in occupations that required exposure to it. Laborers were always informed of asbestos dangers, and could not control their work environment even if they were. It would have been difficult to lessen potential toxicity on the job if supervision didn't acknowledge risk or if procedures did not seem to be dangerous. After all, it was not yet realized that symptoms would take decades to appear, since even workers who processed asbestos did not appear to suffer any immediate difficulties.

Asbestos Exposure

With seemingly limitless sources of asbestos in mines throughout the world, it was inexpensive, and being so lightweight and pliable, asbestos was also easily transported. Since it could be molded and shaped to any required dimensions, applications for asbestos multiplied over the years. Due to its strength and inherent properties, it was used almost everywhere that protection, strength and durability was needed. Asbestos was included in countless appliances and products as well as used for insulation. As laborers molded asbestos with their hands to fill crawl spaces, or wrapped it around pipes or boilers, or had it fall into their face while working on brakes under a car, the floating dust was probably considered just annoying. It was also aggravating to housewives would had to shake work clothes before laundering, or children who saw clouds of dust around their father when he returned home. Little did anyone know that the microscopic fibers, once inhaled and swallowed, could be fatal. However, although its carcinogenic effects were suspected in the first half of the twentieth century, they weren't proven until research and tests during the 1970's. Asbestos was banned from many uses, but portions of the ban were overturned, and asbestos still exists today in certain forms, in some products. Most businesses though, now understand the dangers and insist that laborers follow safety guidelines while around situations where asbestos may be an issue.

What Laborers Should Know

Once the minute asbestos fibers have become embedded in the body's internal tissues, they are unable to make their way out and are trapped for decades. After having asbestos fibers in their bodies for years, eventually the patient becomes a victim of disease. It could be in the form of asbestosis (which is non-malignant but still fatal), lung cancer, gastrointestinal cancer, colon, liver or esophageal cancer, or the chest/lung lining cancer of mesothelioma. Rarely have these asbestos cancers been caught in time with surgery. Usually by the time the victim is aware that something is wrong, the cancer has already spread. The only way to slow it is through chemotherapy and radiation, and since the prognosis may be less than 2 years, life is cruelly shortened. A laborer who has worked around asbestos in any capacity during the last 40 years should be aware of changes in his physical condition. Unexplained shortness of breath, chest or stomach pains, or other unusual respiratory or digestive or gastric symptoms should be checked immediately, and the same for family members. If the diagnosis is connected to asbestos exposure, medical professionals will begin the course of treatment, but the patient should contact legal experts for consultation and financial and administrative assistance.

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