International Workers Memorial Day: End the threat of Asbestos at work

It is also a day to demand improvements to workplace health & safety. A term often unfairly maligned. This year we are focusing on the ongoing threat of asbestos a substance responsible for more deaths than road traffic accidents each year.  

All over the world on Workers Memorial Day wreaths will be laid at events to commemorate those who lost their lives at work. From chapels, and workplaces to town halls and cathedrals. Across the North East hundreds come together to mark this important day each year. The sad fact is that many will be remembering loved ones that died as a direct result of exposure to asbestos.  

In 1906 Dr Montague Murray gave evidence to Departmental Committee on Industrial Diseases on asbestos related deaths. By 1924 the first death due to Asbestosis was registered, a young worker by the name of Nellie Kershaw from Rochdale. Yet 100 years on some 5,000 workers still die each year in the Uk from asbestos related illnesses, according to the Health and Safety Executive.  

Asbestos is still the biggest cause of work-related deaths in the UK, with more people dying from asbestos related cancers in year than in road traffic accidents. Yet we lag behind other countries in asbestos removal, and it is still present in 80% of school buildings. 

As the TUC we are calling for a new legal duty to safely remove asbestos, with a clear 40-year timetable for its removal from all public buildings. 

The damage of asbestos to our national and regional economy is huge, but the effect its impact has on the families of those which it takes away is incalculable. Every worker should expect to be safe at work. Yet many remain exposed to asbestos. The sooner this is faced up to, the more lives can be saved.  

On Workers Memorial Day the Trade Union movement has a saying; mourn the dead, and fight like hell for the living. That is exactly the level of commitment that is required to deal with the scourge of asbestos. Both employers and policy makers must be bold because the thousands of workers who die each year, and their families, deserve so much more. We certainly can not wait another 100 years.

Originally published 28 April, Chronicle Live