Which occupations have the highest risk of exposure to asbestos?

Based on an analysis of the deaths from 1980 – 2000 the ten occupations found to have the highest risk of mesothelioma for males were:

Metal Plate Workers
Vehicle Body Builders
Plumbers and Gas Fitters
Carpenters
Electricians
Sheet Metal Workers
Electrical Plant Operators
Production Fitters
Construction Workers, and
Electrical Engineers.

Because of the long latency period of mesothelioma (between 15 and 60 years), these results generally relate to exposures before the 1980s.

These and other high-risk occupations can generally be associated with three broad areas of past asbestos use: shipbuilding, railway carriage and locomotive building, and the installation of lagging or other insulation materials in buildings or industrial plants.

However, over 25% of those dying from mesothelioma had worked in the building or maintenance industry, an area of exposure we cannot be sure has been eliminated.