Call Now for a Free Case Evaluation - 6/6/11, Ohio Mesothelioma Lawyer: Ohio has a long history as one of the nation’s key manufacturing centers and home to heavy industry. During the 19th century the state’s factories began churning out rubber and steel products; automobile production arrived with the 20th century.
As Ohio industrialized, its manufacturers were quick to embrace asbestos for its heat resistance, flexibility, and tensile strength, qualities that made it useful in variety of industrial applications.
Most of the job sites where asbestos exposure in Ohio is known to have been a danger consist of power plants and utilities, oil refineries, and shipyards. Many industrial victims of asbestos diseases were employed in one of these industries. Several medical studies confirm the dangers that oil, shipyard, and power plant workers face from asbestos.
Ohio asbestos exposure may have been an occupational hazard for many of the state’s workers. Some were unknowingly exposed on the job to asbestos in Ohio and now suffer from such life-threatening diseases as asbestosis, lung cancer or mesothelioma.
Suit Alleges On-the Job Asbestos Exposure
Consider the asbestos-related lawsuit filed by the Ohio widow of a construction trades worker. Her complaint alleges that 32 companies were responsible for the asbestos exposure that caused the lung cancer death of her husband, Carmine Palmieri Sr. Palmieri worked as a brick-layer and tile-setter between 1952 and 1980. His wife claims the defendants failed to exercise reasonable care for her husband’s safety and exposed him to asbestos-containing products during his career, which allegedly caused his lung disease, according to The St. Clair Record. Palmieri suffered great physical pain and mental anguish as a result of his illness; his condition also resulted in significant medical costs.
Palmieri’s case is a cautionary tale for Ohio workers. However, the construction industry clearly wasn’t the only one that may have exposed its workers to asbestos in Ohio.
Other Ohio Asbestos Exposure Job Sites
If there are heat, fire or chemical dangers at a job site, it is likely that asbestos was, or continues to be, a problem. Steel mills are one case in point; pourers and casters, operators, tenders, furnace operators and inspectors, machine setters, millwrights and welders are all jobs in which some exposure to asbestos was involved.
Ohio workers in the construction trades as well as those who work in building maintenance still face the risk of asbestos exposure on the job. In these types of cases, the asbestos is usually found in the form of pipe or wall insulation, flooring and mastic used to fix tiles in place, and acoustic ceiling tiles as well as “popcorn” ceilings.
At least two Ohio hospitals, as well as the University of Cincinnati, have asbestos issues.
Ohio Asbestos Exposure Sites
Following is a list of some of the job sites from the state of Ohio where workers were potentially and unnecessarily exposed to asbestos and put at risk for developing asbestos-related diseases, including mesothelioma, a rare and deadly form of cancer: American Shipbuilding; BP Amoco; Cardinal Power Plant; Galiopolis Powerhouse; Marin City Power Plant; Redding Power Plant; Shell Oil Co.; Sunoco Refinery.
While many of these Ohio asbestos exposure sites have taken steps to keep their employees and visitors safe since the problem was discovered, people who worked in or visited these areas in the past may still have been exposed to asbestos. Individuals who lived or worked near these areas or other known asbestos exposure sites in Ohio should be checked regularly for signs of mesothelioma and should contact a Ohio mesothelioma lawyer as soon as possible after a diagnosis in order to file any lawsuits within the state’s statute of limitations.
