The shipbuilding industry in general has long been a major user of asbestos products because of the extreme danger that ships face if they catch fire at sea.
Asbestos is an excellent insulator and fireproofing agent, with the downside that it poses a significant risk to human health.
Boiler rooms, wall insulation, turbine housing, and pumps, among many other shipboard components and applications, all contained asbestos in earlier decades.
Baton Rouge’s Avondale Shipyards is one of the largest suppliers of military and commercial vessels in the United States, and for most of the life of the facility, workers were continuously exposed to asbestos without appropriate safety equipment or education.
Compensation And Benefits For Employees And Their Families Who May Be Suffering Due To Asbestos Exposure Form Avondale Shipyards
As a result, workers from Avondale Shipyards in Baton Rouge may be at heightened risk for some of the diseases associated with asbestos exposure, most notably a difficult-to-treat form of cancer called mesothelioma.
Mesothelioma is caused when fibers of asbestos are inhaled or swallowed and become lodged in small airways or capillaries in the body.
Nearby cells are irritated by the rigid fibers, and over years or decades, those cells can become cancerous, ultimately spreading into the tissues that line the lungs, abdomen, or other body areas.
In Louisiana, when a worker is hurt on the job, they have a right to pursue compensation. This is true even when the injury in question takes decades to develop.
If you worked at the Avondale Shipyards in Baton Rouge and have developed an asbestos-related disease like mesothelioma, call The Gertler Law Firm today at (504) 527-8767 to speak to an experienced Louisiana mesothelioma attorney who fights for families just like yours.
