Machinists and Asbestos Exposure

Machinists are a group of highly skilled workers who use large machines such as lathes, machining centers, and milling machines to manufacture metal parts. Many industries and businesses require custom-made metal parts, and as a result, machinists may be employed in any number of industries, including the aerospace industry, the railroad industry, the automobile manufacturing industry, or simply in a machine shop that caters to many different sorts of clientele with the need for precisely-crafted metal parts.

In the past, machinists ran their lathes and mills manually, controlling the speed and other factors of manufacture with the power of their bodies. Much has changed over the last few decades. Although today most machinists run their machining operations with a sensitive computer system, machining is still a job that requires skill, precision, and care.

Because the process of machining metal or other solid materials involves intense heat, machine shops were often full of asbestos. As a matter of fact, employers typically used asbestos products to insulate the machine room itself. As long as the asbestos contained in the machine room ceiling tiles, walls, and flooring was not disturbed, the machinists would be relatively safe, but as soon as these tiles were disturbed, removed, or replaced, asbestos dust could be released into the air, where it would pose a serious health risk to the machinists working in the room.

Often times, machinists were exposed to asbestos by the very materials intended to protect them from harm. In a machine room, there are countless ways a body can be injured, and out of consideration for these dangers, machinists often wore gloves and other protective gear, keeping their hands and fingers safe from the sharp tools with which they crafted metal parts and the heat that was present throughout the room. For years, these gloves were manufactured with asbestos, which could pose a threat to the health of a machinist once the gloves began to wear or were cut or damaged during operation of a large machine.

Today, machinists are aware of the dangers presented by asbestos exposure, and wear protective gear such as masks when exposure is a possibility. For decades, however, machinists were not given access to information about the dangers of asbestos and the health of many of these individuals has been affected due to development of diseases such as asbestosis and mesothelioma.

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