Search

Attention: health, national and regional industrial, social affairs correspondents, health and safety press

TUC puts bosses on the spot over asbestos

Asbestos may be banned, but the fatal fibres can still be found in around 850,000 commercial buildings across the country.

Today (Wednesday) is National Asbestos Inspection Day, and the TUC is calling on the 200,000 union safety reps across the country to use the day to put their employers on the spot regarding the location and quantity of asbestos in the factories, hospitals and offices in which they work, and on how they intend to manage the risks that asbestos poses to workers and the public.

For Inspection Day - one of the many events taking place this week as part of the European Week of Safety and Health - the TUC and the Health and Safety Executive have drawn up a five-point checklist to allow safety reps to challenge their employers, or the owners of the buildings in which they work, over how any asbestos risks are being managed. The theme of this year’s Safety Week is dangerous substances.

New regulations come into force at the beginning of next year which require employers to be aware of how much asbestos is present in their company buildings, to know exactly where it is, and to manage the risks it poses so that those risks are reduced as far as possible.

The TUC estimates that over 5,000 people die every year from asbestos-related diseases, and by 2020, it is estimated that asbestos will be responsible for at least 10,000 deaths a year. The TUC has long campaigned to raise awareness of the dangers of asbestos, and believes that a sensible approach can help prevent any more workers being needlessly exposed to the fatal fibres.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: 'Asbestos was the industrial plague of the 20 ^th century, and its legacy will plague the 21 ^st . Union campaigns rightly secured a national ban on asbestos, but no one can afford to be complacent about the risks it still poses.

'Managing the risks of asbestos properly will prevent thousands of deaths. What employers do today will determine whether the asbestos epidemic gets better or worse, and whether tens of thousands of workers live long and healthy lives or not. Safety reps have a major part to play in keeping employers on their toes over asbestos, and keeping their colleagues fit and free from the fear of asbestos-related diseases.'

The TUC/Health and Safety Executive checklist urges union safety reps to ask their employer five key questions, and suggests the sort of answers that mean employers are doing the right thing. It warns that if an employer fails to answer any of the questions satisfactorily, the employer might not be doing enough to manage asbestos safely:

· Have they checked whether asbestos is present in their buildings? Has an asbestos survey been planned?

· Have they got a record or drawing that clearly shows where in their buildings the asbestos is and what condition it is in?

· How are they managing the asbestos in their buildings? Has any badly damaged asbestos been removed or sealed to stop fatal fibres being released? Will maintenance workers be told where the asbestos is before they start any work? Is the asbestos being checked annually to see that it has not deteriorated or been damaged?

· How are they warning people who might work on or damage asbestos in their buildings? Have employees been given awareness training so that they do not disturb or damage any asbestos and do they know what to do if they find any?

· How are they checking that their management systems that are meant to prevent exposure to asbestos actually work?

Notes to Editors:

Over the past 100 years, asbestos has been used in a variety of different products, from gas masks to ironing boards, hairdryers to overalls, brake linings to pipe lagging, and roofing materials to cement products. And although it was finally banned in the UK in 1999, there are still millions of tonnes of the fatal fibres in buildings across the UK.

You can access the asbestos checklist designed by the TUC and HSE for National Inspection Day at http://www.tuc.org.uk/h_and_s/tuc-7194-f0.cfm

- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk

- Register for the TUC's press extranet: a service exclusive to journalists wanting to access

pre-embargo releases and reports from the TUC. Visit www.tuc.org.uk/pressextranet

Contacts: Media enquiries: Liz Chinchen 020 7467 1248 or 07699 744115 (pager) or email media@tuc.org.uk

Press release (800 words) issued 15 Oct 2003