Global: New push for global asbestos ban
Global: New push for global asbestos ban
A global trade union organisation has called for a renewed push for a global asbestos ban. Anita Normark, general secretary of the building unions' global federation BWI, said: 'Today's exposures guarantee an epidemic lasting at least another generation, with the asbestos graveyards shifting from the developed to the developing world.' She added: 'At the moment, there is at least one death every five minutes, and some jobs are effectively a death sentence. There is no safe level of exposure, so there is no acceptable level of exposure.' Normark added that last year, thanks to an international trade union campaign, 'we were able to convince the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) to call for a ban on asbestos in all countries. But words and resolutions are not enough. We need clear action from the ILO and the WHO to achieve a global prohibition of this deadly material and to prevent the terrible diseases it causes.' BWI is asking all trade unions to write to their national governments, asking for a meeting to discuss a national action plan to prevent asbestos related diseases. It is also appealing for a renewed international effort to convince the Canadian government to recognise that asbestos is the world's biggest industrial killer and that it should be banned in all countries. 'Canada is one of the largest exporters of asbestos,' said Normark, 'and we aim to show its government that workers in a large number of countries are concerned about Canada's disdain for the occupational and public health of citizens and workers throughout the world.' She said while 40 industrialised countries have banned asbestos, and are using alternative materials, developing countries are targeted by the asbestos salesmen who will deny the health hazards in order to make profits.
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