Prolonged asbestos exposure, or even acute exposure for a short duration, can lead to serious health problems, including the development of asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma. If you have worked at an Ohio steel plant for any duration from the 1950s to the 1980s, there is a chance you were exposed to asbestos at your workplace.
Cleveland, Ohio has seen thousands of cases of asbestos-related diseases for former workers in the auto, rubber and steel industry. Companies like J & L Steel and Midland Steel commonly used asbestos materials in their facilities, generally used in machinery, equipment and building insulation.
Asbestos was used in many industrial settings, and was thought to be the perfect insulator with its durability and resistance to heat and flame. However, the toxic material is now known to have broken down into tiny breathable particles that could be ingested or inhaled and led to thousands of lung cancer cases.
Midland Steel asbestos exposure was likely for a number of employees in Cleveland, Ohio well into the 1990s. The company employed around 1,500 workers in the 1970s and finally shut its doors in 2003. Working in a steel plant comes with some health risks, though employers have a duty to warn and protect its workers, or may be liable for injury and toxic exposure at the workplace.
Joe Lyon is an Ohio Asbestos Attorney and toxic tort lawyer investigating Midland Steel Asbestos exposure cases and mesothelioma lung cancer lawsuits throughout Ohio and the Midwest.
Midland Steel Asbestos Risks
Because asbestos was used in steel manufacturing plants and other industrial workplaces so commonly, thousands of workers have suffered the consequences of toxic workplace exposure. If any industrial equipment or industrial plant was built before the 1980s, asbestos exposure remains a danger to this day. Some studies suggest metal manufacturing workers are much more likely to die of mesothelioma than the general population.
Asbestos insulation was used in much of the steel plant equipment such as, ovens, stoves, furnaces, rolling mills, tanks, boilers, cranes, and steam pipes. Workers in certain work areas would regularly breathe broken-down fibers on a daily basis. Those at particular asbestos exposure risk may include:
- Pipefitters & Plumbers
- Maintenance crews
- Machinists
- Electricians
- Factory Foremen
- Lathe Operators
- Welders
- Millwrights
- Inspectors
Any former steel plant employee in Ohio who has been diagnosed with lung cancer, adenocarcinoma, mesothelioma, asbestosis or pulmonary fibrosis may contact an Ohio toxic exposure attorney and discuss potential personal injury lawsuit and asbestos trust fund settlements.
