History of Asbestos in B.C.

Important video that looks at the history of asbestos and the continued impact of exposure.

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Having had serious asbestos exposure in three different workplaces (that I know of), I consider myself very fortunate, after 35 years, to have not been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease. I worked in the mine garage atop the mountain in Cassiar. The ore haul trucks would come into the shop for maintenance. A regular task was replacing the abrasive-resistant steel plates in the boxes of the trucks. This was done with an air arc, which filled the air with asbestos fibres for days on end. This was compounded by the run-up of diesel engines during servicing which added diesel smoke so thick that it obscured vision, choked and burned. No protection was provided. In another workplace, the massive automotive garage at Yukon Highways was insulated with asbestos, which fell from the walls and roof in clumps. I spend days sweeping the floor of this fibre for years before I knew it to be asbestos. Even then, it was years before the workplace was cleaned up. It has been a shadow over my life, fearing an early, needless death. There is no preventative monitoring taking place, despite my substantially elevated risks.