Bird Asbestos Flooring Products — Bird & Son, Inc.

Product Description

Bird & Son, Inc. was a Massachusetts-based manufacturer with roots stretching back to the nineteenth century. The company built a broad industrial portfolio over its operating history, producing roofing materials, flooring products, and related building materials that were sold widely across commercial, industrial, and residential construction markets in the United States. Bird & Son’s flooring line included resilient floor tiles, sheet flooring, and associated underlayment and adhesive products that were marketed to contractors, builders, and industrial facility operators throughout much of the twentieth century.

Like many building material manufacturers of the era, Bird & Son incorporated asbestos into its flooring product formulations during the decades when asbestos was considered an ideal industrial additive. The mineral offered durability, dimensional stability, resistance to heat and moisture, and a relatively low material cost, all properties that made it attractive for flooring products expected to withstand heavy foot traffic and demanding industrial environments. Bird & Son’s flooring goods were distributed nationally and were installed in factories, warehouses, commercial buildings, and public facilities across the country.

The company’s involvement in asbestos-containing product manufacturing eventually led to substantial personal injury litigation and the establishment of a dedicated asbestos settlement trust to compensate workers and others harmed by exposure to its products.

Asbestos Content

Bird & Son’s flooring products contained asbestos as a functional component of their manufactured composition. Resilient floor tiles of the type produced during Bird & Son’s operating years commonly incorporated chrysotile asbestos — the most commercially prevalent asbestos fiber type — bound within a matrix of vinyl, asphalt, or resin binders. This construction gave the finished tiles their characteristic durability and resistance to cracking or deformation under load.

Sheet flooring products from the same period used asbestos fibers as a reinforcing layer within multi-ply constructions, often embedded in backing materials or felt underlayment. Asbestos fibers in these backing and felt layers could be loosely bound compared to the surface wear layer, making the material more susceptible to fiber release under disturbance.

The Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA), administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, identifies resilient floor tiles and sheet flooring as categories of asbestos-containing building materials (ACBMs) subject to inspection and management requirements in schools and other regulated structures. Products in these categories were routinely manufactured with asbestos content throughout the mid-twentieth century, and Bird & Son’s flooring line falls within this documented product class.

How Workers Were Exposed

Asbestos exposure connected to Bird & Son flooring products occurred at multiple points across the product’s lifecycle — during manufacturing, during installation, and during maintenance or removal activities in buildings where the flooring had been placed.

Manufacturing workers employed at Bird & Son production facilities handled raw asbestos fiber as a direct input material. Workers in mixing, forming, pressing, and finishing operations could be exposed to airborne asbestos dust generated during the blending of fiber into product formulations and the cutting or trimming of finished tiles and sheet goods. Industrial workers in manufacturing settings of this type faced ongoing, repeated exposure during the course of their regular duties.

Installation trades including floor layers, tile setters, and general construction laborers encountered asbestos-containing Bird & Son flooring during new construction and renovation projects. Cutting floor tiles to fit around obstacles, doorways, and irregular room dimensions released asbestos dust into the breathing zone of workers performing the work. Dry-fitting, scoring, and snapping tiles were all operations that could disturb the asbestos-containing matrix and release respirable fibers.

Maintenance and custodial workers in industrial and commercial facilities where Bird & Son flooring had been installed were exposed during routine upkeep activities. Buffing, sanding, and stripping worn floor surfaces — common janitorial tasks — could abrade the tile surface and release fibers. Workers repairing damaged sections of tile, or removing old flooring to install replacement materials, faced particularly high-intensity exposures because disturbance of aged, brittle asbestos-containing tiles tends to generate significant quantities of airborne dust.

Demolition and renovation workers involved in the tear-out of structures containing Bird & Son flooring products also faced documented exposure risk. Asbestos-containing floor tiles removed during building renovation or demolition, particularly when broken or pulverized rather than carefully lifted intact, release substantial quantities of fiber. OSHA’s asbestos standards for the construction industry specifically address floor tile removal as a regulated activity requiring engineering controls and respiratory protection, reflecting the established hazard.

OSHA’s permissible exposure limit (PEL) for asbestos is 0.1 fiber per cubic centimeter of air as an eight-hour time-weighted average, with an excursion limit of 1.0 f/cc averaged over any thirty-minute period. Operations involving cutting, grinding, or removal of asbestos-containing flooring materials have the potential to generate concentrations exceeding these thresholds without appropriate controls in place.

Diseases associated with occupational asbestos exposure include mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer, and other asbestos-related conditions. These diseases typically have long latency periods, often emerging decades after the initial period of exposure, which means workers exposed to Bird & Son flooring during the mid-twentieth century may only now be experiencing diagnosis.

Bird & Son’s Asbestos Settlement Trust was established to compensate individuals who suffered harm as a result of exposure to asbestos-containing products manufactured by Bird & Son, Inc. The trust provides a formal, structured mechanism for eligible claimants to seek compensation without the need to pursue active courtroom litigation, though litigation pathways remain available to claimants who do not resolve their claims through the trust process.

Individuals who may be eligible to file a claim with the Bird & Son’s Asbestos Settlement Trust include:

  • Workers directly employed by Bird & Son, Inc. in manufacturing roles involving asbestos-containing flooring products
  • Industrial workers generally who were exposed to Bird & Son flooring products during installation, maintenance, repair, or removal activities in facilities where those products were used
  • Surviving family members filing on behalf of a deceased worker who died from an asbestos-related disease connected to Bird & Son product exposure

Typical claim categories recognized by asbestos settlement trusts include mesothelioma, lung cancer, other asbestos-related cancers, asbestosis, and other significant asbestos-related diseases. Supporting documentation for a trust claim generally includes occupational history establishing exposure to Bird & Son products, medical records confirming a qualifying diagnosis, and, in wrongful death cases, documentation of the decedent’s work history and cause of death.

Claimants filing with the Bird & Son’s Asbestos Settlement Trust should work with an attorney experienced in asbestos trust fund claims to ensure that all exposure history is properly documented and that claims are filed within applicable time limitations. Statutes of limitations governing asbestos claims vary by state and typically begin running from the date of diagnosis or the date a claimant knew or should have known of the connection between their illness and asbestos exposure.

Individuals who were exposed to Bird & Son flooring products in any occupational capacity and who have received a diagnosis of mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease are encouraged to seek legal consultation promptly to understand their options under the Bird & Son’s Asbestos Settlement Trust and any applicable civil litigation avenues.