We had very little safety equipment, and used leaded exclusively. Vent hoods, but that's about it. Many people turned them off because the shake and rattle of the fans made it difficult to work on precise things like surface mount components. There was even a big CPU changing station which was effectively a molten vat of solder that you'd dip all 144 leads into to remove huge square I.C.s
This was in my early 20's, and I had that job for about 2 years. Despite perfect dental hygiene, most of my teeth had decayed and had to be crowned or replaced by the time I was 30. Most people I still talk to from that time in my life have chronic problems directly associated with lead poisoning (tooth decay is sort of loosely correlated, and I don't have any other typical symptoms into my 40s)
All of this is to say, the US Navy barely even mentioned lead safety in school, and a billion dollar (at the time) company didn't seem to care enough to train its employees, so the attitude that it's "not a big deal" was well and alive in the 90s, and I wouldn't be surprised if it still is today.
Also - Why is rosin-core solder so popular? I never used anything but raw spool solder and liquid flux. Rosin core makes a huge mess.