[breadcrumb]
What is a Factory Worker?
Factory workers operate machinery and participate in the manufacturing or production process. Factory workers may have different job duties, such as monitoring machines, controlling output, pack finished products, sort products or assess the quality of manufactured goods.
Factory processes became more efficient during the Industrial Revolution and soon many goods were quickly being produced in factories across the United States. The assembly line became commonplace and workers completed repetitive tasks to quickly turn out product.
Between the 1920s and 1980s, many factories were responsible for manufacturing products that contained asbestos. Asbestos was a highly sought-after product because it was inexpensive, lightweight, durable and readily accessible. Many industries used this product.
How Can a Factory Worker Get Mesothelioma by Occupational Exposure to Asbestos?
Before the 1980s, many factories produced asbestos-containing products. Workers could have come in contact with asbestos during their routine work. Factory workers and others who worked in these facilities could have been exposed to workers, such as when they:
- Handled raw asbestos materials like minerals and fabric
- Shipped or received shipments of raw asbestos materials
- Assembled components into final products
- Worked around equipment that was insulated or otherwise contained asbestos
- Maintained equipment or facilities that were made with asbestos
- Inspected products that contained asbestos
- Tested products that were made with asbestos
- Inspected the facility and equipment
When workers manipulated asbestos to make it a usable product, microscopic fibers would become airborne. Those around these fibers were at risk of inhaling these deadly fibers, which would then become lodged in the linings of the lungs, heart and abdomen. Once these fibers remained lodged in the body for several years, these individuals were at risk for developing mesothelioma.
Even if factory workers did not work directly with asbestos to make products that contained this dangerous material, asbestos was often used in factory buildings, tools and equipment. Factories often contained insulation that included asbestos, so maintenance workers could have breathed in fibers when making repairs. Asbestos was often used to wrap boilers and insulate equipment, so any workers who came in contact with these items could have been exposed to this deadly material. Factory workers may have come into contact with asbestos through these alternative methods. They often were not given any protection against these materials. Workers may have also worn protective clothing that was made of asbestos.
Locations in the United States for the Highest Employment Rates for Factory Workers
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, states with the highest employment rates for factory workers include the following:
Similar Occupations as Factory Workers
Similar occupations as factory workers include:
- Assemblers
- Fabricators
- Production workers
- Industrial machinery mechanics
- Machinery maintenance workers
- Metal and plastic machine operators
- Machinists
- Tool and die makers
Lawsuits and Settlements Involving Factory Workers and Mesothelioma
There have been a few notable court victories for former factory workers who were exposed to asbestos and developed mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases. Some of these victories include:,
- In April 2019, a North Carolina jury awarded the family of a former factory worker $32.7 million. The man had worked at a tire facility, beginning in 1975 where he hanged tire molds on asbestos-containing tire presses.
- A jury in New Jersey awarded $2.38 million in 2019 to the widow of a manufacturing plant worker who worked for years with raw asbestos that was mined, marketed and distributed by Union Carbide Corporation> He died of mesothelioma.
- In 2017, a New York jury returned a verdict of $4 million to a former plant worker who developed mesothelioma and lung cancer after working with asbestos products against the company that supplied those materials.
- In 2015, a South Carolina jury awarded $14 million to the family of a maintenance worker who died of cancer after being exposed to asbestos while working at a polyester fiber plant during the 1970s in a wrongful death case.
- A California jury awarded $20.5 million to a former cement pipe manufacturing worker and his wife in 2001 after the worker developed cancer after working at a plant to manufacture asbestos-cement pipe.
Studies Related to Factory Workers and Asbestos
There have been several studies conducted that are related to Factoryworkers, including the following:
- Mortality from all cancers of asbestos factory workers in east London 1933-80 assessed records of more than 5,000 individuals since their first exposure to asbestos.
- https://oem.bmj.com/content/57/11/782
- Asbestos Textile, Friction, and Packing Plant Workers (Asbestos) was a study conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in 1998 that studied 3,276 people during the 1970s and tracked asbestos-related deaths of 63 of such participants.
- https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/pgms/worknotify/asbestos.html
- A study of the mortality of workers in an asbestos factory was an early study conducted in 1969 of 4,000 male asbestos factory workers and found that when workers were heavily exposed to asbestos, there was a higher rate of incidence for lung cancer and cancer of the pleura.
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1008987/
- Tyler asbestos workers: A mortality update in a cohort exposed to amosite was a study published in 2016 by the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health that analyzed data related to 1,130 people who worked at a Tyler, Texas plant between the years 1954 and 1972. Researchers found that the factory workers’ risk of dying from throat or lung cancer increased by 244 percent due to their work at the factory.
- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10937404.2016.1195319
Types of Asbestos Products Used by Factory Workers
There are thousands of products that factory workers may have manufactured that contained asbestos or products that they may have worked with that contained asbestos. These products include:
- Adhesives and sealants
- Automotive parts and fireproofing materials
- Building materials
- Cement powders and mortar mixes
- Construction materials including drywall, paints, tiles and shingles
- Consumer products
- Drywall board and tape
- Electrical and mechanical components
- Fireproofing and heat control products
- Gaskets, hoses and valves
- Heating and air conditioning equipment
- Insulation
- Joint compound
- Paper products
- Protective clothing
- Textiles
Manufacturers of Asbestos Products Used by Factory Workers
Some of the largest companies that were responsible for manufacturing asbestos products that factory workers used include:
- Amatex
- P. Green Industries
- Bendix Corp.
- Celanese Corp.
- CertainTeed Corp.
- Covil Corp.
- Duro Dyne Corp.
- Garlock Sealing Technologies
- Georgia Pacific
- Ingersoll-Rand
- Johns-Manville
- Molded Industrial Friction Corp.
- Raybestos Manhattan
