26/02/2008
Every week 20 workers in construction trades die simply because they have breathed in asbestos fibres during the course of their work, a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) campaign is warning. The safety watchdog says its research shows young plumbers, electricians and other site tradespeople know that asbestos is dangerous but just don't believe that they are personally at risk. Launching the "Asbestos - the hidden killer" awareness campaign, Judith Hackitt, chair of the Health and Safety Commission (HSC), said: "Every week six electricians and three plumbers die as a result of exposure to asbestos. The problem today is that we associate it with a problem that's been and gone because asbestos is now banned. People regard asbestos as something only a previous generation were exposed to but there is a real risk that the younger generation entering the workforce will think this does not apply to them - but it does. If they work on any building built or refurbished before the year 2000 it could contain asbestos." Exposures early in life are continuing to claim the lives of workers.

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