Asbestos News Roundup: 9.13.12 – Electrician Asbestos Risk

September 13th, 2012. By LucyC

A roundup of recent asbestos-related news and information that you should be aware of. An ongoing list of reported asbestos hot spots in the US from the Asbestos News Roundup archive appears on our asbestos map.

Electrician Asbestos Exposure Risk

Electricians and electrical cable installers may not know it, but they are at risk for being exposed to asbestos through repair, demolition or installation work. This lethal, fibrous material was used in felted asbestos insulation or asbestos tape to insulate wiring. So working on old power lines, old wiring or breaker boxes would put electricians at risk for asbestos exposure. Older arc chutes also contain asbestos. It was used in circuit breakers, for example, before the mid-1980′s, when they were made of asbestos-containing plastic molding compound.

Recently, an asbestos lawsuit was filed by the spouse of an electrician in Tennessee. John Elmer Simons died just months after being diagnosed with asbestos mesothelioma—and his spouse has named 76 companies as being responsible.

Asbestos Lawsuits

Charleston, WV: Willie H. Simons, the spouse of the recently deceased John Elmer Simons, of Signal Mountain, TN, has filed an asbestos lawsuit alleging 76 companies caused Mr. Simons’ mesothelioma diagnosis and death.

Mr. Simons was diagnosed with asbestos mesothelioma on April 28, and subsequently died on June 27, according to the lawsuit.

Willie H. Simons alleges John Simons was exposed to asbestos during his employment as an electrician from 1953 until 1992. The defendants are being sued based on theories of negligence, contaminated buildings, breach of expressed/implied warranty, strict liability, intentional tort, conspiracy, misrepresentations and post-sale duty to warn, according to the lawsuit.

The 76 defendants named in the suit are A.W. Chesterton Company; Air & Liquid Systems Corporation; American Producers Supply WV, LLC; Armstrong International, Inc.; Aurora Pump Company; Bayer Cropscience LP; Bechtel Corporation; BW IP, Inc.; Catalytic Construction Company; Caterpillar, Inc.; Certainteed Corporation; Cleaver-Brooks Company, Inc.; Copes-Vulcan, Inc.; Crane Co.; Dravo Corporation; E.I. Dupont De Nemours & Co.; Eaton Electrical, Inc.; Flowserve US, Inc. f/k/a Durco International, Inc.; Flowserve US, Inc. f/k/a Flowserve FSD Corporation; Fluor Enterprises, Inc.; Fluor Enterprises, Inc., as successor-in-interest to Fluor Daniel; FMC Corporation; Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation; Gardner Denver, Inc.; General Electric Company; Goulds Pumps, Inc.; Grinnell Corporation; Hercules, Inc.; Howden Buffalo, Inc.; I.U. North America, Inc.; IMO Industries, Inc.; Inductotherm Industries, Inc.; Industrial Holdings Corporation; Ingersoll-Rand Company; ITT Corporation; Joy Technologies, Inc.; Lockheed Martin Corporation; McJunkin Corporation; Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; Nitro Industrial Coverings, Inc.; Ohio Valley Insulating Company, Inc.; Owens-Illinois, Inc.; P&H Mining Equipment, Inc.; Pettibone/Traverse Left, LLC; Premier Refractories, Inc.; Rapid American Corporation; Reading Crane and Engineering Company; Riley Power Inc.; Rockwell Automation, Inc.; Rust Constructors, Inc.; Rust Engineering & Construction, Inc.; Schneider Electric USA, Inc.; Seco/Warwick Corporation; Spirax Sarco, Inc.; State Electric Supply Company; Sterling Fluid Systems, LLC; Sunbeam Corporation; Surface Combustion, Inc.; Swindell Dressler International Company; Tasco Insulations, Inc.; the Alliance Machine Company; the Chapman Valve Manufacturing Company; the Gage Company; the Nash Engineering Company; the William Powell Company; Trane U.S. Inc.; UB West Virginia, Inc.; Uniroyal, Inc.; United Engineers & Constructors and Washington Group International; Viacom, Inc.; Viking Pump, Inc.; Vimasco Corporation; Warren Pumps; West Virginia Electric Supply; Yarway Corporation; and Zurn Industries, Inc. (wvrecord.com)

San Antonio, TX: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited seven construction companies—three Miami-based contractors and four San Antonio-based subcontractors—with 45 serious and one other-than-serious violation for exposing workers to asbestos hazards at a San Antonio construction work site. Proposed penalties total $148,000.

“Asbestos is an extremely hazardous material that can potentially cause lifelong, irreversible health conditions,” said John Hermanson, OSHA’s regional administrator in Dallas. “It is imperative that OSHA’s safety and health standards be followed to avoid accidents, injuries and illnesses.”

In response to a referral by the Texas Department of State Health Services, OSHA’s San Antonio Area Office initiated a safety and health inspection in March at the Reserves at Pecan Valley apartment complex located on East Southcross Boulevard. Inspectors found that workers were remodeling apartments without the use of proper clothing and respiratory equipment that would protect them from exposure to asbestos.

Specifically, the violations include failing to abate asbestos hazards and ensure that employees work in regulated areas, perform air monitoring for asbestos exposure, use the required engineering controls to prevent exposure, require the use of proper respiratory and personal protective equipment, train workers on the hazards of working with asbestos and ensure that an asbestos assessment is performed by a qualified person. A serious violation occurs when there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

The Miami-based contractors have been cited for a total of 14 violations: Newport Property Ventures LLC has been issued citations carrying $36,100 in fines for eight serious and one other than serious violation; Newport Property Construction LLC has been fined $12,600 for two serious violations and Jamesboys Inc. has been issued citations carrying $18,900 in fines for three serious violations.

The San Antonio subcontractors have been cited for a total of 32 violations: Alex Vega doing business as Alco Painting & Remodeling has been issued citations carrying $28,200 in fines for 11 serious violations; Luis Lozada has been issued citations with $20,400 in fines for eight serious violations; Frank Gonzalez has been issued citations with $9,600 in fines for four serious violations; and Clemente Covarrubias, doing business as Knock It Out, has been issued citations with $22,200 in fines for nine serious violations. (WorkersCompensation.com)

Tags: Asbestos, Asbestos Exposure, asbestos lawsuit, Asbestos Mesothelioma, Asbestos Settlement

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