UK: TIME FOR ACTION ON ASBESTOS
The British Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has called for the British Government to act on raising asbestos awareness. IOSH claims that the Government is not doing enough to make sure that people aren’t exposed to asbestos. While asbestos was banned more than two decades ago, there are still 300,000 non-domestic buildings with suspected asbestos.
Readers will remember in SafetyNet Journal 622, the Work and Pensions Committee’s recommendation, backed by the UK’s Trade Union Council, recommended that the Government commit to a 40-year deadline to remove asbestos from public and commercial buildings. The recommendation was based on the unreliability of individuals such as employers, managers, and building owners to follow regulations.
However, the Government rejected this recommendation despite more than 5,000 workplace deaths being associated with asbestos in 2019 alone.
IOSH’s call for a real commitment from the Government is associated with the launch of IOSH’s campaign No Time to Lose – Working Together to Beat Occupational Cancer back in 2019. IOSH would like to see strategic plans based on the responsibility of duty holders and government enforcement.
Source: Institution of Occupational Safety and Health 27 July 2022, Independent UK 21 April 2022.