Elevator constructors installed and maintained elevators in high-rise buildings, factories, and hospitals — work that surrounded them with asbestos. The hoisting machines they serviced used asbestos brake shoes, the machine rooms and shafts were insulated and fireproofed with asbestos, and the buildings under construction around them were full of asbestos materials.
How Elevator Constructors Were Exposed
The most direct exposure came from elevator brake work: the electric hoisting machines that raise and lower elevator cars are stopped by friction brakes that were allegedly lined with asbestos. Adjusting, relining, and cleaning these brakes released asbestos dust into the machine room. Elevator constructors also worked inside shafts sprayed with asbestos fireproofing, ran through mechanical spaces wrapped in asbestos pipe insulation, and worked alongside other trades installing asbestos materials in buildings under construction.
The Asbestos Materials — and the Products They Came In
Exposure tracked to a handful of material types. Each links to products documented in the AsbestosIndex as allegedly asbestos-containing:
Brake linings & friction materials (on elevator hoisting-machine brakes):
Sprayed fireproofing (on structural steel in shafts and machine rooms):
Pipe & block insulation (in machine rooms and mechanical spaces):
Take-Home Risk to Families
Like other dusty trades, elevator constructors carried asbestos fibers home on their clothing, skin, and tools — exposing spouses and children who never worked with asbestos. See take-home asbestos exposure.
If you worked as an elevator constructor or elevator mechanic and were diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease after exposure to asbestos on the job, you may have a legal claim.
Product references reflect allegations documented in publicly filed asbestos litigation. This information is published by an independent media organization — not a law firm — and is educational only. It does not constitute legal advice or provide legal services.