AsbestosAsbestos Industry
Who is at Risk?Sawyers
History and Background
The term "sawyer" is actually an old-fashioned name that refers to someone who works with a saw, comparable to a specialized carpenter. Prior to the twentieth century a sawyer mainly created wood planks out of logs and was often hired to work on new homes and small construction projects. Since the early 1900s, with the advancement in technology, there has been a break between sawyer and carpenter. A carpenter has become someone who specializes in working with wood, while a sawyer is now someone who works with stone. These men and women are the ones who saw stone pieces, concrete slabs, and asbestos-cement sheets and pipes so that they can be used in construction projects.
Tasks Putting Sawyers at Risk for Asbestos Exposure
Throughout the mid to late twentieth century sawyers regularly risked exposure to the dangerous mineral asbestos. Asbestos is a natural mineral that was widely used in construction because it is extremely strong and also heat and fire resistant. Once its fibers become airborne it can be very dangerous if it is inhaled, as discussed below. The basic description of the work performed by sawyers consists of sawing and cutting pieces of stone, concrete slabs and asbestos-cement sheets and pipes. That is actually how it is listed, so there is little denial of the fact that sawyers worked with asbestos.
Sawyers mainly use and operate gang saws, reciprocating saws, circular saws and wire saws in working with the stone slabs and concrete and asbestos sheets. They would risk exposure to harmful asbestos dust while cutting these latter pieces as the saws would throw dust into the air creating a potentially hazardous work environment. There have been recent regulations and safety precautions including running water over the stone in order to decrease the amount of dust created, but there is still a serious health risk. Prior to these dangers becoming known, many sawyers would work without respirators or masks, thus breathing in the dust created through their work. Even with proper safety precautions there is a chance of exposure to harmful asbestos dust.
The use of asbestos in construction projects has been limited for the past couple of decades. However, it was used extensively in most buildings that were created prior to the regulations imposed in the 1970s and 1980s. Construction projects involving the demolition or remodeling of an older structure can lead to exposure to asbestos dust as older products containing the mineral are removed and discarded.
Sawyers At Risk to Develop Mesothelioma and Other Asbestos Diseases
By the mid 1970s, strong evidence was uncovered regarding the health dangers associated with prolonged exposure to asbestos. Many who had worked with asbestos for extended periods of time were coming down with pulmonary diseases (such as mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis) from breathing asbestos dust.
The asbestos related diseases include:
- Mesothelioma: a type of cancer only caused by asbestos exposure that attacks the lining around the lungs and/or heart and/or abdomen. This cancer is not in the organs themselves, though untreated it will spread. The most common form is pleural mesothelioma (lung lining), then peritoneal mesothelioma (stomach lining), and then pericardial mesothelioma (heart lining).
- Asbestos Related Lung Cancer: while lung cancer can come from numerous sources, asbestos exposure can lead to the formation of a malignant tumor that blocks the air passages (common for smokers who were exposed to asbestos).
- Asbestosis: a pulmonary condition, only caused by exposure to asbestos, where scar tissue builds up in the lungs causing breathing problems and low blood flow.
The diseases associated with asbestos are similar in that their symptoms often do not appear for many years after exposure. It is not uncommon for someone to develop lung cancer after a 10 year lag between onset and initial exposure. Asbestosis and mesothelioma often do not become apparent for nearly 30 or 40 years after the initial exposure to asbestos. Common symptoms include: difficulty breathing, chest pains, a dry hacking cough that sometimes contained blood. These diseases are usually fatal.
The health problems associated with asbestos were not just isolated to people who worked with the product. The asbestos dust would spread easily through the air putting workers who never used it at risk. Also, many family members were at risk as well because workers would return home with the dust on their clothes, shoes and even hair.
