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Company / Manufacturer

Caterpillar Inc.

As a Fortune 100 corporation that develops, engineers, designs, manufactures, sells, and markets engines, financial products, and insurance to worldwide customers, Caterpillar Inc. was founded in 1925 in California. However, it is currently headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois. The company has over $41 billion in revenue and is the largest global construction equipment manufacturer. Because Caterpillar Inc. has always been manufacturing vehicle components and vehicles per se, workers who were employed before 1980 were heavily exposed to asbestos on the job. Asbestos has a remarkable heat resistance and is also durable, which determined most companies in this industry to choose it for insulation and other purposes. If you worked for Caterpillar Inc. and now struggle with a disease related to occupational asbestos exposure, you should reach out to our legal team, as you are most likely eligible for compensation from your former employer.

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Caterpillar Inc. employees exposed to asbestos

Interestingly, the company is the leading manufacturer of wheel loaders in the world right now, but it actually produces over 400 different types of machinery, such as tracked tractors, backhoe loaders, locomotives, motor graders, and hydraulic excavators. With products and components made in 110 facilities across the world, Caterpillar Inc. has 51 plants in the U.S. You should know that it also manufactures the following, which, during the last century, involved working with asbestos and, inevitably, being exposed to it:

  • on-road trucks
  • natural gas engines
  • gas turbines
  • automatic transmissions
  • diesel engines
  • electronic products

The company divided the products, services, and technologies into 3 principal business lines: machinery, engines, and financial products for sale to private and governmental entities. It also reported that it uses 4 business segments: the construction industry, resource industry, power systems industry, and financial products industry. Sadly, during the last century, Caterpillar Inc. made use of a tremendous amount of asbestos to manufacture automotive components such as brakes, clutches, brake linings, gaskets, hood liners, and engine parts.

Asbestos was ideal for insulating vehicle components because it cannot be set on fire and because it is extremely durable. It would also reduce friction within the components in which it was found as insulation. In the past, drum and disc brakes were manufactured with 35% to 60% asbestos. Alarmingly, today, companies in the U.S. are still allowed to sell auto components that contain asbestos. This can endanger the health of automotive workers and auto mechanics, as these workers have to handle and, inevitably, disturb these vehicle components. As a result, numerous brake and clutch parts continue to have up to 35% asbestos.

The following are the occupational groups Caterpillar Inc. exposed to asbestos in the facilities of the company during the last century and the employees from other industries that were also exposed to asbestos due to handling and disturbing the products of this company:

A disturbing 2018 study from Epidemiology: Open Access estimates that 730,000 workers in the U.S. are at high risk of asbestos exposure from brake repairs alone today. This is because asbestos is still allowed in vehicle components nowadays. Other vehicle parts that would contain significant amounts of asbestos during the last century were air conditioning housing, soundproofing, adhesive, woven asbestos backing, and decal stripes.

Asbestos related cancer eligible for filing a claim

If you developed one of the following cancers as a result of occupational exposure, you are eligible for compensation. If you are too ill, a family member can help you with the legal process. In the unfortunate event that you pass away before recovering compensation, your surviving family members will receive compensation on your behalf.

If, however, you struggle with non-cancerous pleural diseases such as asbestosis, pulmonary fibrosis, pleural plaques, pleural effusion, diffuse pleural thickening, COPD (emphysema & chronic bronchitis), pleurisy, lung nodules, lung spots, asthma, pneumonitis, tuberculosis, rounded atelectasis or lung scarring, please seek a second or even a third opinion as the rate of misdiagnosis is very high among the victims of asbestos exposure.

Legal assistance in wrongful death asbestos exposure cases for family members

Regrettably, many victims of asbestos exposure refuse or fail to seek the financial compensation they deserve while they are alive, either because they pass away suddenly or because they fear a long and complicated legal process. If you lost a family member to a disease caused by occupational asbestos exposure who had not taken legal action before, you can now opt to file a wrongful death claim. Doing so will result in you getting compensation on behalf of your departed family member. The money can help you with the funeral expenses, as well as with the past medical expenses of your loved one.

You will first have to call our legal team and explain your situation in detail to file your claim. Afterward, you will need to send our experts a series of documents as evidence, such as the employment and medical records of your family member and their death certificate. Our lawyers will review your case, and you will eventually find out whether you are eligible to file a wrongful death claim. If you are, our attorneys will efficiently prepare it for submission, and our legal experts will search our database for additional proof to support your claim. In the end, you will receive the money you deserve on behalf of your deceased family member.

Asbestos products workers at Caterpillar Inc. would manufacture or encounter

The employees of Caterpillar Inc. would both manufacture and encounter asbestos products on the job during the last century. Naturally, the most common were vehicle components such as brakes and clutches, but they were also exposed to asbestos from the building materials of the facilities in which they would carry out their work. Numerous construction products contained asbestos at the time, such as drywall, floor tiles, and pipe insulation. The following are the asbestos products the workers of Caterpillar Inc. would come in contact with regularly.


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