Raising awareness of the risks of asbestos

Asbestos. The word does strike a level of fear in those that know the risks of exposure – and that is good; it is what drives workers to find out more about the risks and how to protect themselves, but worryingly there are still those who chance it, are ignorant or consider it a risk of bygone days linked to Britain’s industrial past of shipbuilding and the manufacturing of a wide range of products containing asbestos. However, asbestos can be present in all buildings built or refurbished before the year 2000. That’s around 500,000 public buildings and many thousands more domestic dwellings and private buildings.

HSE’s ‘Hidden Killer’ campaign initially aimed to raise awareness of the risks of asbestos, particularly among tradesmen who may come across it and disturb it as part of their every day work – around 20 a week lose their lives to asbestosrelated diseases. The media campaign returned encouraging results with more than 80 per cent of tradesmen having seen or heard it. Of these, 90 per cent said it had made them think about their own exposure and 60 per cent said that they had taken more precautions as a result.

Hidden Killer, however, has always been about more than media advertising. HSE has been working with a range of bodies on the ground, such as victims support groups, trade associations and suppliers to see what can practically be done to raise awareness and influence the behaviour of those working with asbestos. We’ve commissioned the development of an asbestos learning package for delivery by college lecturers and vocational educational providers, aimed at those going into the trades and we are continuing to work with a range of PPE suppliers so that they can encourage tradesmen to get hold of the right protective equipment and know how to use it.

Free asbestos awareness training
Meanwhile, more than 4000 tradesmen are taking up the offer of free asbestos awareness training this autumn thanks to an overwhelming response from training companies to HSE’s Asbestos Training Pledge, launched in partnership with the training industry – IATP, UKATA and ASHEeLA. The original target of 8000 donated hours was smashed by more than 50 per cent, with more than 13 and a half thousand hours of classroom-based courses and online training made available.

While the Hidden Killer messages are aimed primarily at tradesmen who risk direct exposure, it’s important to remember that others have responsibilities in relation to asbestos too- from the employer of a building maintenance team who needs to check what training he and his workers require, to the person responsible for the maintenance and repair of an office building. Do people doing work on the building have ready access to the information on the location and condition of any asbestos?

There is sadly little we can do to help those who are already suffering the often fatal effects of asbestos exposure in the workplace, but we can prevent this hidden killer claiming another generation. We can all do something practical to ensure that the risk to workers is minimised.

For more information on asbestos and training visit www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/

Mike Johnson of HSE’s Long Latency Health Risks Division