Rust International Inc.

Rust International Inc. employees exposed to asbestos

With operations in North American, Europe, and South America, the company is currently the leading environmental restoration firm in the world, and the largest provider of scaffolding and maintenance in the U.S. Rust International Inc. provides assistance to other businesses and governmental agencies to become more efficient, conform to environmental standards, build new facilities and maintain old ones, dispose of waste, and remediate environmental hazard sites. So far, the company has cleaned up over 10,000 contaminated sites, including one-third of the commercial Superfund projects and 4,350 radioactive waste sites. Rust International Inc. also has contracts with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Since 1961, the company has been putting up facilities and offering consulting support services to NASA.

Despite the extraordinary achievements of the company, it remains culpable of having exposed workers to asbestos between the 1920s and the 1980s and also to other hazardous agents since it specializes in cleaning up waste sites. Furthermore, Rust International Inc. provided asbestos abatement services, which greatly endangered the health of employees since they were in charge of removing products containing the toxic mineral from various buildings and surfaces. The following are the occupational groups that the company most likely exposed to asbestos during the last century, directly or indirectly:

• abatement workers
• boilermakers
• construction workers
• paper mill workers
• remodelers
• roofers
• welders

One way construction workers would be exposed to asbestos was from the materials in which the mineral was lurking, such as paint, spackling, roof shingles, masonry compounds, and drywall. When these employees would disturb the construction products by cutting, sawing, drilling, or sanding, they would inevitably release asbestos fibers in the air they would subsequently inhale, slowly increasing their risk of developing a serious disease. Alarmingly, current laws allow construction businesses to use certain asbestos products that meet the government guidelines, such as roofing felt and coatings, millboard, vinyl floor tiles, pipeline wrap, cement sheets, shingles, and pipes.

Demolition workers were equally at risk of severe asbestos exposure, as nearly all of the buildings they had to tear down were put up with asbestos materials. When construction products age and their condition deteriorates because of weathering and wear and tear, they are more likely to release carcinogenic fibers in the air. During the last century, construction workers would not wear protective equipment against inhaling asbestos, so they would be heavily exposed to it. As for paper mill workers, they would mostly come in contact with asbestos from dryer felts, gaskets, and insulation. They were also exposed to the dangerous mineral when maintaining equipment that contained asbestos, as pulping, paper making, and boiler operations entailed extreme heat, and asbestos was necessary to insulate various components.

Secondary asbestos exposure, a serious concern for the family members of Rust International Inc. workers

Occurring when a person breathes in or swallows asbestos fibers from indirect sources, secondary asbestos exposure would take place very often among the family members of Rust International Inc. workers during the last century. Because the largest asbestos companies did all in their power to maintain the illusion that handling asbestos was safe, employees were not given any protective equipment to wear on the job to prevent the inhalation and ingestion of toxic fibers. Therefore, they would frequently return home with their clothes covered in asbestos dust, which was sometimes visible, so you can only imagine the hazard.

Upon greeting the worker, their family members would unavoidably breathe in or swallow asbestos fibers from their clothes, which is how secondary asbestos exposure occurred. Moreover, the wives of Rust International Inc. employees would be additionally exposed to asbestos when laundering the work garments of their husbands. If you shared a living space with a person who handled asbestos on the job, you were most likely exposed to the mineral as well, which is why we recommend you to pay close attention to your health, as even in small amounts, the presence of asbestos in your lungs can trigger a life-threatening disease.

Legal assistance in wrongful death asbestos exposure cases for family members

Not few are the cases in which a victim of asbestos exposure passes away without having sought the financial compensation they were entitled to from the liable employer. However, the surviving family members can now file a wrongful death claim with the help of our resourceful attorneys, which will result in a part of the money the asbestos victim would have received. Even though the amount of compensation will be smaller, taking legal action as a family member is worth it, as the money might still come in handy to cover the cost of the funeral expenses, for instance.

To file a wrongful death claim, you just have to give our legal team a call, explain your situation, answer our questions, and send us the employment and medical records of your departed loved one and also their death certificate. After our attorneys review your case, they will be able to tell you whether you can file a claim. If you can, they will promptly begin preparing it for submission while you can go on with your life, as we will take care of the most difficult and complex matters of the legal process for you. In the end, you will benefit from the sum of money you are eligible for.