Overview
Furnace workers, employees who operate and maintain industrial furnaces in steel mills, foundries, and other heavy industries, faced extreme asbestos exposure. Furnaces required extensive asbestos-containing refractory materials, insulation, and heat shields, and workers wore asbestos protective clothing.
Furnace workers were surrounded by asbestos, in the furnace lining, in their protective clothing, in the dust throughout the facility. This created among the highest asbestos exposures in any occupation.
Asbestos in Furnace Operations
| Exposure Source | Description | Exposure Level |
|---|---|---|
| Refractory lining | Furnace interior lining | Extreme |
| Protective clothing | Heat-resistant suits, gloves | Very High |
| Insulation blankets | Furnace exterior insulation | Very High |
| Heat shields | Worker protection barriers | High |
| Door gaskets | Furnace door seals | High |
How Furnace Workers Were Exposed
Furnace Maintenance
The most intense exposure occurred during furnace maintenance:
- Entering furnaces to remove damaged refractory
- Installing new refractory brick with asbestos mortar
- Patching furnace linings with asbestos cement
- Working in enclosed spaces filled with refractory dust
Daily Operations
Even routine operation involved exposure:
- Wearing asbestos protective suits and gloves
- Working near deteriorating furnace insulation
- Handling tools wrapped with asbestos
- Breathing air contaminated with facility-wide asbestos dust
Ironically, the asbestos protective clothing designed to protect workers from heat became a source of asbestos exposure. Handling, wearing, and maintaining these suits released fibers.
Industries with Furnace Workers
Furnace workers staffed steel mills running blast furnaces and reheat furnaces in Pennsylvania and Indiana, foundries casting metal, glass-manufacturing plants melting batch, ceramics kilns, and Kaiser Aluminum reduction cells. Between 1940 and 1980, refractory brick and Johns Manville insulation lined nearly every high-temperature vessel in these plants.
Related Occupations
Furnace workers worked alongside:
- Bricklayers, Refractory installation
- Boilermakers, Industrial equipment
- Laborers, General assistance
- Maintenance workers, Equipment repair
- Welders, Furnace repairs
Related Industry
Health Consequences
Furnace workers face elevated risk of mesothelioma, a cancer of the chest or abdominal lining; asbestosis, with severe lung scarring from prolonged high exposure; lung cancer from inhaled fibers; and pleural disease that thickens the lining around the lungs.
Legal Options
Furnace workers diagnosed with mesothelioma typically pursue several tracks in parallel. Refractory and protective-equipment manufacturers including Johns Manville, Owens Corning, and Eagle-Picher established asbestos trust funds through bankruptcy reorganization. Trust claims often run alongside product-liability suits against solvent refractory manufacturers, premises-liability claims against facility owners, VA benefits for military service exposure, and workers’ compensation through a former employer.