Hazards of Asbestos to Sawyers

There was a time when the term ‘Sawyer’ used to refer to a person who worked with saw and turned timber into boards or planks. Prior to the 1900’s, they were frequently sought after for their services in construction projects and during the construction and renovation of houses. But the technological innovations at the beginning of the twentieth century changed that. While carpenters became people who worked with wood, sawyers on the other hand became people who cut stones. Sawyers cut concrete, stone, insulated pipes, and asbestos-cement sheet at a construction site.

The Use of Asbestos

In the early to late twentieth century, asbestos was a favored form of insulating material due to its resistance to fire and heat. Cutting the asbestos cement sheets and insulated pipes was part of the sawyer’s job, which is why they were exposed to the harmful asbestos fibers. Asbestos in itself is not harmful, but when it is handled roughly like when cut, then the asbestos fibers get released. These, when ingested or inhaled, cause deadly diseases to human beings. Before 1970, the harmful effects of asbestos were not known, thus sawyers hardly ever or never used any kind of protection.

But, after the warning released in 1970, the danger still persists as sawyers often have jobs during demolition of old buildings. These old buildings contain asbestos as it was used during the construction of the buildings during a time period when the asbestos was widely used.

Today, there are mandatory safety regulations and procedures that sawyers need to follow while they go about their jobs. They are required to wear protective gear, especially when working around demolition of old buildings. When cutting stone, it is mandatory to use water to avoid creation of unhealthy dust.

Cancers Caused by Asbestos Exposure- Mesothelioma

It is still a potentially high-risk job. Sawyers, working closely with asbestos products, risk developing diseases like Mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestosis. When a sawyer is diagnosed with Mesothelioma, it is wise to learn about your legal rights. All these have led to a number of lawsuits and claims being filed. There are some serious legal problems that a sawyer who is looking into suing should look into.

First problem is that the asbestos legislation that regulates all the legal matters regarding asbestos is in a primary developing stage. As there are no hard and fast guidelines that the court can follow, the judges and lawyers are left to their own devises. Since any outcome of a particular lawsuit always seems to bring up a lot of conflict in the system, the claimant actually getting a satisfactory ruling is sometimes not a reality.

RAND and Asbestos

A non-profit organization called RAND, which has been closely monitoring the changes and realities of asbestos legislation, has brought up a lot of statistics and analysis of the claims and outcomes. One should go through their reports that can be easily obtained online, to know what the current news is and what are claimants’ legal rights. One can also get an idea of what amount the sawyer has the right to claim.