Oil workers have a dangerous job formerly made worse by their heightened risk for developing diseases related to asbestos exposure. Asbestos has heat resisting properties and is an excellent bonding substance. Often asbestos was mixed with the drilling mud in oil fields to help prevent overheating as it bonded with the mud. Workers on drill sites may have been exposed to asbestos used to insulate the machinery. Fire risk is always high in an oil field and asbestos was very heat-resistant, but as it ages the asbestos fibers release, move into the air and are inhaled by those working nearby. For oil workers working on offshore oil rigs from the 196os the middle of the 1980s, asbestos exposure was common.

Asbestos is an umbrella term used to refer to many natural minerals that have different names geologically but many features in common. Called asbestos-like minerals, they have extremely minuscule fibers which flake off easily and can be inhaled but anybody breathing nearby, namely well platform and oil drilling workers. Asbestos fibers if, at once inhaled into the lungs if, will not be expelled. They will remain the up in the individual’s lungs forever and may cause several related health problems

Asbestos-related health problems are not always obvious. As the problems advance they may develop into lung cancer, asbestosis or mesothelioma. Since the 1970s asbestos exposure has been a huge subject of litigation. Due to decades of lawsuits, most asbestos producers are now under the protection of bankruptcy thereby allowing them to avoid making any payments for rightful injury claims of personal asbestos damage or asbestos-related health problems. However, oil workers exposed to asbestos during the normal course of their work time duties can qualify to be compensated legally for damages under maritime law. More specifically, a Federal law called the Jones Act can be used to win compensation and settlement for oil workers who worked at sea on a barge or on a boat with asbestos insulation. Through the combination of maritime law and the Jones act victims can file claims directly against their former employers instead of against the asbestos manufacturers, and increase the likelihood of a fair settlement.

If you are loved one may have been exposed to asbestos as an oil worker and a field or on and off shore drill site, contact a personal injury attorney well versed in maritime law and the Jones Act immediately.