Every day as many as 1.3 million people in the U.S. go to a workplace where they are exposed to significant amounts of asbestos, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). For decades, the link between asbestos and serious health problems like mesothelioma has been well-established. As a result, many employees want to know how to protect themselves from health problems linked to mesothelioma at the workplace.

Asbestos in the Workplace: Safety and Health Risks

Asbestos is a naturally occurring, fibrous material. In part because of its durability and resistance to heat and flame, asbestos has been utilized in dozens of industries and occupations for decades. And, over the years, thousands of workers have developed a deadly asbestos-related disease called mesothelioma.

Asbestos has been classified as a carcinogen (cancer-causing) substance. So the most serious health risks come from long-term exposure to asbestos on the job — especially for older people who may have spent decades in the workplace before the advent of safety measures that help protect employees from most asbestos exposure in the modern workplace.

Serious health problems related to asbestos exposure include:

• lung cancer
• mesothelioma (a form of cancer that invades the lining of the chest and abdomen; learn more about mesothelioma in Nolo’s article Mesothelioma: Symptoms, Treatment, and Causes)
• asbestosis (lung inflammation and buildup that can cause coughing, difficulty breathing, and permanent lung damage)
• colorectal and gastrointestinal cancers, and
• abnormalities (thickening and calcification) in the lining of the chest cavity.

Jobs That Have a Higher Risk of Asbestos Exposure

Even now, decades after the advent of health concerns about asbestos and the rise in deadly asbestos-related diseases like mesothelioma, exposure to asbestos is still quite common (even necessary) in some lines of work. Here is a list of occupations and industries that have traditionally seen workers exposed to significant levels of asbestos:

• construction, renovation, and demolition of commercial and residential buildings
• shipbuilding
• paper mills
• mining
• heating and cooling equipment repair
• automotive repair (especially brake and clutch repair)
• manufacture of products containing asbestos
• roofing, and
• janitorial jobs in buildings that contain deteriorating asbestos.

Asbestos Workplace Safety

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and other workplace safety agencies are supposed to carefully regulate and monitor asbestos exposure on the job — they even set permissible exposure limits for different kinds of industries. Some on-the-job safety protections from asbestos exposure include:

• training of employees who will be working with and around asbestos
• properly ventilated workspaces
• monitoring of employees for asbestos exposure levels (including daily monitoring for workers involved in the removal of asbestos-containing materials)
• warning signs and instructions in areas where asbestos-related work is performed
• protective clothing like coveralls, gloves, foot coverings, face shields, and goggles
• protective equipment like respirators
• showers and other post-exposure precautions, and
• medical examinations for certain workers who are exposed to high levels of asbestos.

Occasionally, employees may need to perform work in areas where asbestos containing materials are present, but are not intended to be disturbed. However, it is recommended that employees working near asbestos never drill, hammer, cut, saw, break, damage, move, or disturb any asbestos-containing materials or suspected materials.