Electricians

Asbestos Products Used in Electrical Work

Many electrical products were formerly made with asbestos, including:

• Cables
• Insulation
• Tape
• Wires

Overall worksites also exposed electricians to all sorts of asbestos products as many other building products of the time contained asbestos. Paints, glues, and sealants contained asbestos particles that filled the air from cutting, shaping, and installing.

Construction sites also had asbestos in:

• Flooring and tiles
• Roofing
• Siding
• Wall insulation
• Wallboard and millboard

Wires and cables weren’t the only electrical products containing asbestos. Asbestos linings and washers insulated breaker boxes and contact terminals. Electric ducts or raceways were filled with asbestos to prevent fires from electrical shorts. Even an electrician’s clothing and tools were made with asbestos to insulate them from electrocution.

Electrician Careers

Every American jurisdiction requires electricians to be trained and certified. Electricians go through a period of apprenticing before being licensed to work on their own.

Ticketed electricians are called journeymen. This trade-qualification has been in place since the 1800s when electrical systems began.

By the turn of the 20th century, the electrical industry was booming. Generation stations and transmission lines tied a grid across the nation. It served cities, farms, and factories. The demand for experienced electricians grew enormously.

Soon, electrical systems snaked through homes, automobiles, and the growing number of ships being built to serve the military and intercontinental trade.

Ticketed electricians generally fell into three classifications. Their training in electrical theory was similar but their practical applications involved different materials and processes.

The three electrician levels included:

• Residential electricians: worked with light voltage and amperage. They wired homes, apartment blocks, and multi-family projects.
• Commercial electricians: worked on medium-sized buildings. Businesses, schools, and small factories are prime examples of projects worked on by commercial electricians.
• Industrial electricians: worked on large-sized buildings. They installed electrical wiring and control components in factories, mills, and refineries as well as in electrical generation powerhouses.

Shipyards, auto assembly lines, and aircraft factories employed hundreds of specialized electricians. But no matter what role electricians served during most of the 20th century, they were all exposed to asbestos.

Electrician Health Risks

Tiny shards of spear-like asbestos fibers filled the air where electricians worked. Day after day and year after year, electricians inhaled microscopic asbestos particles that embedded in the tissue linings of their lungs, abdomen, or heart.

Asbestos fibers are impossible to exhale. They sit in the organ lining forever, irritating and inflaming the tissues until they trigger cancerous mutations. This can lead to mesothelioma.

For 20-50 years, there are no obvious symptoms of this fatal disease until it has fully established. By then, the prognosis for electricians or anyone exposed to asbestos on a regular basis is poor.

Help for Mesothelioma Victims

What’s tragic about electricians who develop mesothelioma is that their exposure was preventable. Asbestos manufacturers were fully aware of the health risks of their products and failed to warn workers of the medical risks.

There are many court precedents where electricians and other tradespeople are compensated after developing mesothelioma. Awards are available for lost income, medical expenses, and punitive damages.

Families are also . allowed to file claims on behalf of members with mesothelioma. This includes wrongful death lawsuits.

Our Justice Support Team can provide you with more legal and medical resources if you have mesothelioma. See all the ways we can help today.