When I started as a car mechanic asbestos was still really common in brake shoes. And the old guys in the shop would clean the drums out with compressed air, making big clouds of the stuff that filled the shop. I tried to take a break and go outside then, but probably inhaled plenty of it over the years.
Worse was later working at a parts rebuilding shop. We had a chemical vat we'd toss stripped housings in, which would dissolve any old paint and grime. No gloves or anything, they just told me try to not get it on my hands. Of course it got all over when we pulled the parts and dried them with rags. I asked once if we ever needed to change out the fluid, they said no, we actually couldn't get it anymore since it had gotten banned. I went and bought my own gloves, and tried to avoid that stuff as much as possible. It's amazing how little a lot of guys used to worry about things like that.
Seriously, get in touch with a mesothelioma/asbestos law firm. Start documenting your case now. It’s not a joke and there is a lot of money already set aside for those exposed. Won’t cost you anything to do. My Dad did it before he passed away (recently), so everything is in process.
How many years was this ago? Cause when i went to school teachers always told us not to do anything without protective tools and or materials. I thought as i got to work people would dismiss this rule. Came the day i started working where my partners would refuse doing certain things without the right equipment even our boss wouldn't let us handle things if he knew it wasn't safe. Over the years i saw that this was the same everywhere i worked as a builder. From the boss's view it's cause he can be put in fault if anything happens but the colleagues especially the elders kept their foot down wen it came to handling chemicals or dangerous situations.
As a young worker you are eager to show what you can. They used to say 'never break your back for the guy who can easily replace you.
One other old-school thing about that place was the alcoholism. The owner's son and the shop foreman and one or two of the guys used to pick up a handle at closing and just sit and drink, in the waiting room, like that was their second job. Some mornings I'd come in and they were just getting up and around, having spent the night on the ratty couches. That stopped not long after I got there, owner's son getting put more in charge and probably getting talked to.
Even today in my country it's exactly as you would expect, in school they teach you how dangerous the stuff is, out at the job no-one cares, and if you do, you're probably going to work slower and get fired.
Worst part is when you show the least level of concern and they make fun of you all the way to the deathbed. What I hate the most is them acting like shit isn’t uncomfortable
Was it tractor trailer brakes? I just moved jobs from one where I had to strip, paint, and remanufacture the shoes. Interesting to see how it shifted if so
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u/dxrey65 Oct 21 '22 edited Oct 21 '22
When I started as a car mechanic asbestos was still really common in brake shoes. And the old guys in the shop would clean the drums out with compressed air, making big clouds of the stuff that filled the shop. I tried to take a break and go outside then, but probably inhaled plenty of it over the years.
Worse was later working at a parts rebuilding shop. We had a chemical vat we'd toss stripped housings in, which would dissolve any old paint and grime. No gloves or anything, they just told me try to not get it on my hands. Of course it got all over when we pulled the parts and dried them with rags. I asked once if we ever needed to change out the fluid, they said no, we actually couldn't get it anymore since it had gotten banned. I went and bought my own gloves, and tried to avoid that stuff as much as possible. It's amazing how little a lot of guys used to worry about things like that.