Trades Union Congress - Workplace Issues

For more information on Asbestos click here for the relevant chapter of the TUC guide to health and safety "Hazards at Work

Asbestos is the UK's biggest workplace killer.

The three main types of asbestos - blue, brown and white asbestos - can still be found in the workplace. There is no safe level of exposure and all types are dangerous.

Around 4,000 people die each year from mesothelioma and asbestos related lung cancer - 11 people for every day of the year. This is greater than the number of road accident deaths. Before the death rate declines, up to a quarter of a million people in Britain may have died from asbestos exposures.

There are up to six million tonnes of asbestos in schools, hospitals, ships, offices and factories - and the homes we live in. The importation, supply, and use of all asbestos throughout Britain is prohibited.

The TUC and HSE have jointly produced guidance for safety representatives on managing asbestos and what the law says. It can be found at http://www.tuc.org.uk/h_and_s/tuc-12793-f0.cfm

Links

British Asbestos Newsletter

TUC Safety Reps' checklist on the duty to manage asbestos

TUC managing asbestos factsheet

Russia's support for global asbestos trade has been exposed by Putin-masked protesters in a union-backed action outside its London embassy. Russia is the world's largest asbestos exporter, accounting for 75 per cent of all exports worldwide.

Unions this week sent an urgent warning to schools, urging them to check whether they have warm air cabinet heaters that could contain asbestos.

Pontypridd AM Mick Antoniw has introduced a bill aimed at introducing a law to force businesses and insurers to foot NHS medical bills for asbestos victims.

Teaching union NASUWT has set up an asbestos exposure register 'to assist those worried about exposure to asbestos in Welsh schools'.

Union pressure has led to the government publishing new online asbestos guidance for school chiefs.

There are almost 2,500 new cases of mesothelioma in the UK each year. This number is expected to rise by 100-120 a year until at least 2015. An estimated 250-300 of these new cases each year will be in the Northern region. For decades asbestos p...

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Telephone 020 7636 4030, Email

Trades Union Congress: Workplace Issues

Asbestos