Out of all the things you have to worry about at work, one of the things you probably never consider is asbestos exposure. However, given the age of many commercial buildings, asbestos exposure in the workplace is more common than you’d think.
To help protect your health and your financial stability, it’s important to know how to respond to asbestos exposure before it happens. So that you can take steps to be properly prepared, here are four protections to take when asbestos is discovered in your workplace.
Speak to Your Supervisor
If you believe that you have been exposed to asbestos as a result of your normal work activities, it’s important to speak to your supervisor as soon as possible. Not speaking to your supervisor and filing an official report will make it much harder for you to receive any time off or compensation down the road. When you speak to your boss, remember to keep the conversation respectful, as they likely did nothing to cause your exposure directly.
Get Time Off
In the course of speaking with your boss, one of the things you’ll want to discuss is time off of work. Having an adequate amount of time off is crucial to ensure you’re able to be seen by healthcare providers and to allow yourself time to breathe fresh air away from the workplace. Given the cause of your time off, you may be able to be compensated while you’re away to help ease your financial burden.
Seek Compensation for Lung Damage
Unfortunately, your discovery of asbestos exposure may only be the last event in a long period of exposure. Therefore, your exposure to asbestos at work may lead to lung damage. If this happens to you, it is important to partner with a lung disease lawyer to ensure you receive the compensation that you’re due. Partnering with an attorney early in the process will help you build a better case as you seek to bring justice against your company.
See A Doctor
Any level of exposure to asbestos, even for a short time, should result in a visit to the doctor. Your doctor can run scans to determine the extent of the damage that the asbestos has caused so that you know how to best proceed. Plus, they can begin treatments to help prevent further damage that could be life-threatening.
When you discover that you’ve been exposed to asbestos, it can be tempting to give up hope and become frustrated with what you will have to face in the future. Worrying about the past, though, will do little to help you in the future. Therefore, it’s best to keep trying to put one foot in front of the other so you can keep moving forward in a way that allows you to get back to a new normal as quickly as possible.
Author information: Meghan Belnap is a freelance writer who enjoys spending time with her family. She loves being in the outdoors and exploring new opportunities whenever they arise. Meghan finds happiness in researching new topics that help to expand her horizons. You can often find her buried in a good book or out looking for an adventure. You can connect with her on Facebook right here and Twitter right here.
