Asbestos Exposure Among Ironworkers Local 17 — Cleveland | Ohio Mesothelioma & Asbestos Information

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If You Are Reading This

You may be a retired ironworker, or the child or spouse of one, sitting with a diagnosis you did not expect — mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer — wondering whether decades of construction work has anything to do with it. It does. Local 17 members built Cleveland’s skyline, erected power plants and refineries across northeastern Ohio, and worked inside industrial facilities where asbestos was in the steel connections, the pipe insulation, the fireproofing sprayed directly onto the structural members they bolted and welded. This article identifies where that exposure happened, which products caused it, and what legal options an asbestos attorney in Ohio can pursue on your behalf.

Who Are the Ironworkers of Local 17?

Local 17’s Role in Building Northeast Ohio

Ironworkers Local 17, affiliated with the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers (IABSOIW), has represented skilled workers throughout the greater Cleveland metropolitan area and northeastern Ohio for over a century. The union’s jurisdictional territory covers Cuyahoga, Lake, Geauga, Ashtabula, Medina, and surrounding counties. Local 17 members built the steel skeletons of Cleveland’s skyline, erected industrial facilities across the Cuyahoga Valley, and performed dangerous, physically demanding work on every major construction and industrial project in the region.

The Crafts and Trades Within Local 17

Local 17 members specialize in several core ironworking crafts:

Structural ironworkers — erecting steel frameworks of buildings, bridges, stadiums, and industrial facilities by bolting, riveting, and welding large structural members
Ornamental ironworkers — installing architectural metalwork, curtain wall systems, stairs, railings, and decorative elements
Reinforcing ironworkers (rodbusters) — placing and tying rebar within concrete forms for foundations, roadways, and structures
Riggers and machinery movers — positioning and securing heavy equipment and industrial machinery
Ironworker apprentices and journeymen — performing multi-trade work across all categories

This breadth of work placed Local 17 members on virtually every major construction and industrial project in the region — from groundbreaking through completion — and into direct contact with asbestos-containing materials at every stage.

How Ironworkers Were Exposed to Asbestos: Occupational Pathways

Why Ironworkers Faced Distinct Asbestos Hazards

Asbestos exposure among ironworkers occurred through multiple, well-documented occupational pathways. Understanding these exposure routes is critical for those pursuing claims against manufacturers or seeking an asbestos cancer lawyer in Cleveland.

Direct handling of asbestos-containing materials

Ironworkers regularly worked with asbestos-containing gaskets manufactured by Garlock Sealing Technologies, Johns-Manville, and Flexitallic when connecting flanged pipe systems and industrial equipment. They may have cut through asbestos-containing fireproofing to accommodate steel connections. In older industrial buildings, ironworkers performing structural modifications or equipment installations may have frequently disturbed existing asbestos insulation and fireproofing.

Work in proximity to other trades

On large commercial and industrial construction projects, ironworkers erected structural steel while insulators, pipefitters, boilermakers, and other trades worked simultaneously. Spray-applied asbestos fireproofing products such as Monokote (manufactured by W.R. Grace & Company) were routinely applied directly to structural steel during this era. Ironworkers may have worked directly beneath or adjacent to fireproofing operations, inhaling fibers released by the spraying process or overspray that settled onto steel below.

Enclosed and confined work environments

Many Local 17 members worked inside industrial facilities — boiler rooms, turbine halls, refineries, chemical plants — where asbestos insulation on pipes, boilers, and equipment was already in place. When ironworkers cut, welded, or drilled into existing structural steel in these confined spaces, they may have disturbed surrounding insulation manufactured by Johns-Manville, Owens-Corning, Armstrong World Industries, and other manufacturers, releasing fibers that lingered in enclosed spaces for prolonged periods.

Absent or inadequate respiratory protection

Prior to the early 1970s, and for many years afterward, workers were reportedly not provided respirators adequate to protect against asbestos fiber inhalation. Even after federal standards were in place, employers and general contractors are alleged to have failed to implement proper asbestos work practices, ensure adequate ventilation, or restrict asbestos work to periods when ironworkers were not present in the same area.

Asbestos-Containing Products at Local 17 Job Sites

The following product categories are well-documented in occupational health and industrial hygiene literature as routinely present on job sites where Local 17 members worked. Specific products are referenced in product liability litigation, union grievance proceedings, and OSHA inspection records from Ohio industrial facilities.

Spray-Applied Asbestos Fireproofing

Spray-applied fireproofing applied directly to structural steel was among the most concentrated sources of asbestos exposure for ironworkers. Products documented in published trial records and occupational health studies include:

Monokote (manufactured by W.R. Grace & Company)
Cafco Blaze-Shield (formulated with asbestos as the primary binding material)

These materials were applied as a wet slurry that released respirable fibers both during spraying and as the material dried. Because ironworkers erected the steel to which this fireproofing was applied, they were present during and immediately after fireproofing operations on a continuous basis across hundreds of projects. NIOSH studies and federal litigation document widespread use of spray-applied asbestos fireproofing on steel-framed buildings throughout the United States, including Ohio, with many of these products containing 10–25% chrysotile asbestos by weight.

Asbestos-Containing Gaskets and Packing

Ironworkers installing structural steel in industrial environments — power plants, refineries, and chemical facilities — may have regularly encountered flanged connections requiring gasket materials. Asbestos-containing compressed sheet gaskets and ring gaskets were the industry standard for most of the twentieth century. Products manufactured by the following companies are documented in occupational health literature as routinely encountered in these settings:

Garlock Sealing Technologies
Flexitallic
Johns-Manville

Cutting these gaskets to fit flanges and removing deteriorated gaskets released measurable quantities of asbestos fibers.

Asbestos Pipe and Equipment Insulation

Ironworkers performing structural work and equipment rigging in power plants, refineries, and industrial facilities are alleged to have worked in close proximity to thermal insulation on steam pipes, boilers, and process equipment. This insulation was often manufactured by:

Johns-Manville
Owens-Corning / Owens-Illinois
Armstrong World Industries
Fibreboard
Georgia-Pacific

When ironworkers cut through or around this insulation, or encountered insulation in deteriorated condition, asbestos fibers may have been released directly into their breathing zone.

Specific Asbestos Insulation and Fireproofing Trade Names

Ironworkers may have been exposed to the following asbestos-containing insulation and fireproofing products, each documented in occupational health literature as commonly present in industrial and commercial construction during the mid-twentieth century:

Kaylo (manufactured by Johns-Manville)
Thermobestos (asbestos-based thermal insulation)
Aircell (foam asbestos insulation product)
Cranite (manufactured by Crane Co.)
Superex (asbestos-containing insulation)

Asbestos-Cement and Transite Products

On some projects, ironworkers installed structural connections involving asbestos-cement boards or panels — commonly called transite — used as fire barriers and utility board material. Transite products manufactured by Johns-Manville and Celotex are documented in occupational health literature as having been routinely used in industrial facilities. Cutting, drilling, or grinding transite released asbestos fibers.

Asbestos-Containing Joint Compounds and Finishing Materials

On multi-trade job sites, ironworkers may have been exposed to airborne asbestos fibers released when asbestos-containing joint compounds were mixed, applied, and sanded in adjacent areas. Products such as Gold Bond joint compound, which contained asbestos as a reinforcing agent, are documented in occupational health literature as having been routinely used in commercial and industrial construction. Ironworkers working on the same floor or in adjacent areas breathed the same air.

Asbestos-Containing Electrical and Welding Insulation

Some electrical insulation materials, welding rod coatings, and protective blankets used during the mid-twentieth century reportedly contained asbestos. Ironworkers who welded regularly or worked near electrical installation may have had additional exposure through these pathways.

Specific Facilities and Asbestos Exposure in Northeast Ohio

The following facilities are identified based on their documented history as major construction or industrial sites in northeastern Ohio, the operations conducted at each, and their documented or widely reported use of asbestos-containing materials.

Power Generation Facilities

Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company (CEI) / FirstEnergy Generating Stations

Local 17 members are documented as having performed construction, expansion, and maintenance ironwork at multiple CEI and successor generating stations, including:

Avon Lake Power Plant (Avon Lake, Ohio)
Lake Shore Power Plant (Cleveland, Ohio)
Eastlake Power Plant (Eastlake, Ohio)

Power generating facilities of this era are extensively documented in OSHA inspection data and EIA Form 860 plant records as heavy users of asbestos-containing materials. Boiler casings, steam turbine insulation, and pipe insulation manufactured by Johns-Manville and Armstrong World Industries are alleged to have contained asbestos-containing materials throughout these plants. Ironworkers erecting turbine hall structures and rigging equipment at these facilities may have been exposed to asbestos insulation on boiler systems and high-pressure steam pipes.

Heavy Industrial and Steel Manufacturing

Republic Steel / LTV Steel (Cuyahoga Valley)

The Republic Steel complex along the Cuyahoga River — later operated as LTV Steel — was one of the largest steel-producing operations in the United States and a documented source of work for Local 17 ironworkers across multiple generations. Members are documented as having performed structural ironwork during the construction, modification, and maintenance of blast furnaces, coke ovens, rolling mills, and associated industrial structures.

Integrated steel facilities are well-documented in occupational health literature as among the highest-asbestos-concentration environments in American industry. Pipe and boiler insulation manufactured by Johns-Manville, Owens-Corning, and Armstrong World Industries, along with refractory materials and equipment insulation throughout these facilities, are alleged to have contained substantial quantities of asbestos.

Oil Refining Operations

Standard Oil / BP / Sohio Refinery Facilities (Northwestern Ohio)

Northeastern Ohio ironworkers, including Local 17 members, reportedly traveled to perform construction work at Ohio refinery facilities. Petroleum refineries are extensively documented in occupational health literature as high-asbestos environments:

Insulated high-temperature piping systems reportedly used asbestos insulation and fittings
Process vessels and heat exchangers are alleged to have carried asbestos-containing insulation
Equipment supports and structural frameworks required asbestos fireproofing

Ironworkers erecting structural steel frameworks for refinery units, installing equipment supports, and performing rigging in these environments may have been exposed to asbestos insulation on process piping and equipment throughout the facility.

Disease Latency and Health Risks for Ironworkers

Mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases do not appear immediately after exposure. The latency period — the time between first asbestos exposure and the onset of diagnosable disease — typically ranges from 20 to 50 years.