Asbestos and Sheet Metal Workers

Sheet Metal Workers and Asbestos-Related Disease 

The continued use of asbestos-containing materials in the sheet metal industry places workers, and their families, at increased risk for asbestos-related disease. 

Asbestos exposure is associated with a wide range of potentially life-altering illnesses, including, but not limited to, the following: 

• Asbestosis, a chronic lung disease caused by the inhalation of microscopic asbestos fibers. 

• Cancer, including lung cancer, laryngeal cancer, and ovarian cancer. 

• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, an inflammatory lung disease that obstructs airflow from the lungs, making it more difficult for victims to breathe.

• Mesothelioma, an aggressive type of cancer that can be caused by asbestos exposure and is frequently diagnosed in former asbestos workers.  

• Pleural disease, including pleural plaques and pleural effusions, the latter of which is sometimes referred to as “water in the lungs.” 

Asbestos has no taste or smell.

You may not know you’re breathing it.

Non-malignant and malignant asbestos-related diseases

Non-malignant asbestos-related conditions, like asbestosis and pleural plaques, are not necessarily life-threatening, but they often herald of the presence of more insidious illnesses—illnesses that have poor prognoses and low long-term survival rates. 

Unfortunately, by the time that conditions like mesothelioma are diagnosed, it is usually too late for victims to take any meaningful action. Even for sheet metal workers with robust health insurance policies, fighting back against cancer can be physically exhausting and financially challenging. 

People who worked in these industries prior the mid-1980s have a higher risk of developing asbestos-related diseases:

Construction	Factories	Foundries	Refineries	Shipyards	Mining / Milling
Demolition	Insulation	Steelworkers	Pipe Fitting	Shipbuilding	Mechanics
Roofing	Textiles	Iron workers	Boilers	Firefighting	Brake Repair
Flooring	Cement	Electricians	Gasket Repair	Railroad	HVAC

Unfortunately so do their families.

Second-hand asbestos exposure (Secondary Asbestos Exposure)

Even the workers’ families were affected due to secondhand exposure—asbestos fibers are extremely durable and can cling to skin and clothing, traveling great distances with those directly exposed.

Asbestos fibers have no taste or smell, and can be microscopic, so you may not realize you were breathing them.

Unfortunately, many workers’ families and other household members were exposed to asbestos as well, as asbestos was brought home daily in neighborhoods across the U.S. on work-clothing. 

This is often known as secondary or second-hand asbestos exposure (or domestic / household family asbestos exposure). In studies of asbestos disease, 1 in 5 cases of asbestos exposure were caused by secondary asbestos exposure.3

But spouses and children can also receive a share of the $30 Billion in asbestos trust compensation if they were exposed to asbestos brought into the house or family vehicle by a worker.

Compensation and Injuries from Occupational Asbestos Exposure

How Sheet Metal Workers Can Protect Their Rights After a Life-Changing Diagnosis

Since the symptoms of most asbestos-related illnesses can take years to emerge, most victims never realize that their body is harboring a potentially life-threatening disease until they have already been diagnosed.  

For most working families, the high costs of medical care can be difficult to overcome.

However, sheet metal workers do not have to accept financial hardship as a consequence of providing for their families. If you, or a loved one, have been injured by asbestos, you could be entitled to significant compensation through any of the following methods: 

An Individual Personal Injury Lawsuit

A personal injury lawsuit is a type of civil claim brought against a negligent person, party, or corporation. Every state has its own requirements for personal injury lawsuits. Under most circumstances, an asbestos-related lawsuit must meet these state-specific requirements to prevail in trial. 

Even lifelong smokers can collect compensation for asbestos damage.

Many of our clients believed they weren’t eligible to file an asbestos lawsuit because they were cigarette and cigar smokers. This isn’t true under the laws of many states.  Our database contains the medical evidence needed to show that smokers who are exposed to asbestos are far more likely to develop cancer than smokers who weren’t exposed to asbestos. Cigarettes and asbestos are far more dangerous than cigarettes or asbestos.

Even lifelong smokers can collect compensation for asbestos damage.

Many of our clients believed they weren’t eligible to file an asbestos lawsuit because hey were cigarette and cigar smokers. This isn’t true under the laws of many states.  Our database contains the medical evidence needed to show that smokers who are exposed to asbestos are far more likely to develop cancer than smokers who weren’t exposed to asbestos. Cigarettes and asbestos are far more dangerous than cigarettes or asbestos.

Multi-District Litigation

Multi-District litigation is the legal practice of consolidating similar but otherwise unrelated claims in a single court. 

Asbestos-related claims made against the same company, or similar parties, are sometimes coalesced into multi-district actions. This is because asbestos-related diseases affect individual victims in very different ways. 

Multi-district litigation thereby provides an opportunity for closely-related lawsuits to be tried together. 

Over $30 Billion is still available (No lawsuit. No fees unless you receive money. No risk.) Stake your claim.

An Asbestos Bankruptcy Trust

For many sheet metal workers, and their families, asbestos bankruptcy trusts are a convenient and cost-effective alternative to litigation. 

Between the 1980s and early 2000s, dozens of asbestos companies filed for bankruptcy. During bankruptcy proceedings, federal regulators and private attorneys negotiated a settlement, wherein asbestos companies were ordered to set aside billions of dollars in compensations for Americans injured by the industry’s negligence. 

Do You Qualify For Compensation?

Quickly and easily find out how you were exposed by searching W.A.R.D., the largest asbestos database on the planet.