By Benjamin R. Couture on February 7, 2010

For decades, members of local branches of the Asbestos Workers Union labored across the country to install asbestos insulation products at shipyards, power plants and countless other industrial sites. Now hazardous materials removal workers must go in and take the products back out again. As is now well known, exposure to asbestos insulation and other asbestos containing products may cause mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis. The demand for asbestos removal and the removal of other hazardous materials is so great that employment of such workers is anticipated to increase 15 percent from 2008 to 2018, a rate which is faster than average for other occupations. In the Seattle-Bellevue-Tacoma area, there were 1,010 hazardous materials removal workers in 2008, whose median wage was $46,350 per year.

Hazardous materials removal workers are also referred to as abatement, decontamination or remediation specialists. The workers identify, remove, contain, transport and dispose of asbestos, as well as arsenic, lead, mercury and radioactive and nuclear waste. And unlike the workers who installed the dangerous asbestos products without knowledge of its hazards, today’s hazardous materials removal workers are trained to protect themselves from the dangers with on-the-job training as required by federal, state and local government standards.

For more information, go to http://blog.marketplace.nwsource.com/careercenter/hazardous_materials_removal_workers_are_essential_in_keeping_our_environment_safe.html?cmpid=2694.