As a perfect example of the American Dream, this company was founded in 1889 by Thea Foss, a young Norwegian immigrant, in Seattle, Washington. She managed to turn a simple rowboat into what eventually became a world-class fleet. However, because the shipbuilding would take place during the last century, asbestos was present, which means that most workers of Foss Seattle Shipyard were exposed to the carcinogenic mineral. Perhaps the occupational group with the highest risk of asbestos exposure was insulators, as they had to work with raw asbestos to insulate boilers, hot pipes, gaskets, steam pipes, and the structure of the ship itself. Another way employees came in contact with asbestos was by cutting and sanding asbestos building products.
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