What Workers Faced Asbestos Cancer Risks at John Crane?
From the company’s outset of selling industrial sealing products, John Crane manufactured asbestos gaskets and packing, which may have been handled by thousands of workers across the country, leading to the development of mesothelioma and other serious asbestos-related lung diseases. As a result, the company has been hit with numerous asbestos cancer lawsuits from former employees and independent contractors.
John Crane products were regularly used in the oil, gas, chemical, pharmaceutical, mining, paper and pulp industries, thus endangering a wide range of workers wherever their mechanical sealing systems and power transmission couplings were installed. It is important to note that the company is still active and still produces automotive mechanical seals, though they do not contain asbestos any longer. Crane has not filed for bankruptcy, never set up an asbestos trust fund like many other companies that once produced asbestos products, and they continue to litigate asbestos lawsuits through the court system.
Individuals who worked in John Crane factories and others who worked closely with the company’s asbestos-containing products may have been exposed to enough of the toxins to eventually fall ill. Even fifty years after initial exposure, new cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed on a regular basis.
Lawsuits filed against Crane have produced large verdicts and settlements for plaintiffs who developed lung cancer, mesothelioma, asbestosis or other related diseases. Among those at greatest risk of cancer risk include the following:
- Auto workers and mechanics
- Boiler workers
- Chemical plant workers
- Machinists
- Oil & Gas workers
- Paper mill workers
- Pipefitters
- Plumbers
- Shipyard workers
- Railway workers
- Navy and Air Force veterans
What Are Some John Crane Asbestos Products?
For over a hundred years, John Crane manufactured various types of industrial seals for the oil and auto industry, as well as the following:
- Chemlon braided packing
- Chemlon molded packing
- Chemlon cup and cone ring packing
- Gaskets
- Hydraulic packing
- Rope packing
- Yarn
John Crane asbestos seals and packing were used in many different industries, putting many former workers and third parties at risk of asbestos exposure. Those staff at Crane factories may have been at the highest risk of later developing a related illness. Other workers like plumbers and pipefitters who replaced valves and gaskets and worked with insulation around piping could also have been at high risk.
Asbestos inhalation at the companies warehouses and factories occurred often, as did exposure to many workers like mechanics, electricians, pipefitters, welders, Navy servicemen and others who spend a lot of time in compact and closed, badly ventilated workspaces.
