Routine maintenance work, such as chipping paint, sanding steel surfaces, and repairing deck fittings, could disturb deteriorating asbestos insulation nearby, while operating cargo booms, winches, and cranes exposed them to asbestos brake linings and clutch facings used in this equipment.
As part of the ship's damage control organization, boatswain's mates frequently worked near steam pipes, valve rooms, and machinery spaces containing asbestos insulation and packing, and their emergency repair duties during fires or flooding often disturbed asbestos that had been damaged by heat or impact. Their damage control assignments also included standing firefighting watches and taking part in drills involving AFFF, and during shipyard overhauls, they commonly remained aboard while civilian workers removed or installed asbestos-containing insulation, adding to their overall exposure.
Relevant job titles
- ship, boat and barge mate
- motorboat operator
- painter
- sailors and marine oiler
- rigger
- aviation boatswain's mate
AFFF exposure for boatswain's mates
Because boatswain's mates were responsible for the upkeep of a ship's external structure and equipment, their work routinely brought them near fixed foam stations, hose lockers, and firefighting gear stored topside and along the deck. Boatswain's mates may have documentation of AFFF exposure from duties and activities that included:
- standing watch as part of the ship's underway firefighting parties, a standard assignment for deck personnel during general quarters
- rigging and stowing firefighting hoses, nozzles, and foam equipment as part of their routine deck maintenance responsibilities
- taking part in man overboard, fire, and damage control drills that required activating or simulating AFFF discharge on deck
- working near foam storage lockers and piping while performing topside painting, rigging, and upkeep tasks in close proximity to fixed AFFF systems
Cancers currently eligible for an AFFF claim include:
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.
Asbestos products handled by boatswain’s mates
During the last century, military vessels would be laden with asbestos, containing over 300 different hazardous products. Therefore, boatswain’s mates were heavily exposed to asbestos. In addition to being surrounded by friable asbestos products, which released toxic fibers in the air, they would also handle such materials without protective equipment, since the military have not enforced any regulation with regard to asbestos exposure until 1980, although they were aware of the dangers. These are the asbestos products boatswain’s mates would most commonly be exposed to.