Millwrights
Millwrights
Millwrights are craftsmen who do precision machine installation and assembly using sophisticated measuring instruments. They install and align heavy industrial machinery such as conveyor systems, packaging systems, pumping systems, compressors, turbines and electric generators. The millwright may also repair and maintain machines or may have the job of disassembling them when they are to be replaced. Millwrights have been employed at factories, power plants, construction sites, and innumerable other workplaces where large machines are operated.
Millwrights and Asbestos Exposure
A fair amount of millwrights have been found diagnosed with mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases throughout the past decades.
Millwrights are dealing with pieces of machinery that conventionally used asbestos as insulating material, particularly in turbines, boilers and generators. All these machines were insulated with asbestos. Additionally, some parts inside turbines and generators were coated with asbestos due to its fire and heat resistant property, and strength.
Millwrights rework the machines to reach their finished dimensions so that they can be fixed in the planned places. For this, Millwrights have to grind, sand, and saw the pieces. If any of the asbestos-containing parts are grinded or sanded, asbestos dust will be released into the air. Inhaling airborne asbestos particles can result in horrible health issues. Inhalation of asbestos fibers is the only known reason for mesothelioma, which is an incurable cancer.
Millwright may install and maintain a machine at a construction site, for the duration of the project. If the machine stops working or needs a substitute part, such as a gasket, the millwright performs the repair of the machine or its parts at the site. The machines have to be dismantled many times so that they can be repaired or trashed. This process can expose millwrights to friable asbestos. Friable asbestos is a form of the mineral that can be crumbled easily with a small pressure. It is the most deadly form of asbestos as it releases a lot of its particles into the air when disturbed.
There is one more chance for Millwrights to be exposed to asbestos. Millwrights often work with machinery that requires extremely high temperatures to operate. In order to protect themselves from fire and heat, they use protective clothing, which is generally made from materials containing asbestos. By using asbestos face mask, millwrights inhale a lot of toxic particles every day. Though millwrights don’t use asbestos containing protective gears now-a-days, most of them would have used it previously when hazards of asbestos were not fully known.
Throughout the past several decades, the millwright profession has been one among many who've seen a fair amount of their colleagues diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases, like mesothelioma, due to their frequent on-the-job exposure.