Asbestos and the Construction Trades | Mesothelioma and Construction Workers

Construction is a large and dynamic industry that plays an important role in the U.S. economy and worker safety is always a concern. The Bureau of Labor Statistics identifies 20 construction trade occupations:

Boilermakers
Brickmasons, blockmasons, and stonemasons
Carpenters
Carpet, floor, and tile installers and finishers
Cement masons, concrete finishers, segmental pavers, and terrazzo workers
Construction and building inspectors
Construction equipment operators
Construction laborers
Drywall installers, ceiling tile installers, and tapers
Electricians
Elevator, installers and repairers
Glaziers
Hazardous materials removal workers
Insulation workers
Painters and paperhangers
Pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters
Plasterers and stucco masons
Roofers (see page on asbestos roofing shingles)
Sheet metal workers
Structural and reinforcing iron and metal workers.

The Construction sector comprised an estimated 8 million paid workers in 2005. A high percentage of mesothelioma victims were exposed to asbestos on one or more of those jobs, or had a relative who worked in those jobs who inadvertently brought home asbestos fibers.

Construction workers and employers build roads, houses, and workplaces; repair and maintain the nation's physical infrastructure and for decades came into contact with asbestos. The work is done under changing conditions involving hazardous tasks and circumstances such as work with carcinogens (e.g. asbestos, benzene), at height, or around heavy machinery.

Injuries leading to fatalities include falls, electrocutions, struck-by events, and caught-in or crushed-by events. These are only immediate events. Long-term exposure to hazardous materials such as asbestos is a less visible but still potent threat to workers' health. Construction has the fourth highest fatality rate among industries, behind agriculture, mining, and transportation. Construction workers have high rates of work-related injuries and deaths in comparison with other industry sectors.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) developed a comprehensive research and prevention program to reduce occupational diseases, injuries, and fatalities affecting construction workers. NIOSH attempts to use high quality research, practical solutions, partnerships, intervention and knowledge-sharing to create products, solutions and services that will be adopted in the workplace. The Construction Program has sought to ensure its relevance and impact through:

A multidisciplinary public health-based approach; Reliance on injury and illness data as a program driver.
Innovative activities tailored to the unique characteristics of the construction industry.
A collaborative approach to research and prevention via active partnerships
Innovations in targeted dissemination, diffusion, and other "research-to-practice" efforts.

NIOSH sponsors research and training. They support construction research projects conducted by academic and other researchers through grants and cooperative agreements.

More on the NIOSH Construction Safety program.

Related: Sick building syndrome

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