Today, the risks associated with asbestos are well and widely known. We know that even a single airborne fibre risks triggering the development of a range of respiratory conditions, years or even decades later. Whilst the risks from asbestos were well known by the medical field as early as the mid-1920s, public awareness of risk (and therefore our wider societal response) remained low until the early 1990s. The UK went on to ban asbestos in 1999, almost seventy years after its first use.
In the UK, around 5,000 people die from asbestos-related conditions [1] (chiefly lung cancers and Mesothelioma) each year. While annual fatalities have remained around the 5000 mark for several years, the long shadow cast by asbestos has not yet reached its full height.
We know that, since the introduction of regulation and legislation around the use, maintenance, and management of asbestos, public exposure has been reduced. Additional provisions and precautions should be in place, from PPE and respiratory equipment to physical barriers preventing access to spaces where work is being undertaken.
Many asbestos-related conditions present decades later (known as long-latency) meaning that the bulwark of the cases being diagnosed today come from the 1960s-1980s.
Many health and safety practitioners expect an asbestos-related time bomb which sees presentation numbers, and therefore fatalities, rise sharply to cover asbestos exposure in the late 1980s and 1990s – before the UK ban was introduced. Today the UK has the highest global presentation of Mesothelioma [2] and a sharp rise in asbestos-related illnesses will only contribute to worsening public health outcomes across the UK.
Still present in workplaces across the UK, the risks from asbestos exposure have not changed, what has changed is our level of knowledge, our response, and our vigilance around the safe management and maintenance of asbestos.
Anecdotally, we see a higher presentation of Asbestos in residential buildings not covered by the same regulatory regime as commercial buildings. While your home may not be a workplace day to day, it may be (or become) someone’s workplace; from electricians installing smart meters to glazers refitting windows. These considerations, not picked up by legislation, risk exposing workers to asbestos in a residential postcode lottery that is likely to continue to contribute to the presentation of asbestos-related conditions for years to come.
This week, for Global Asbestos Awareness Week, we support HSE’s call on businesses occupying older buildings to properly manage the risks associated with the presence of and exposure to asbestos .
Running from 1 to 7 April, HSE says asbestos can still be found in a wide variety of materials in factories and manufacturing premises built before 2000.
HSE’s and others’ work is central to raising public awareness, reducing risk, and, we hope, reducing future cases of asbestos-related issues.
Asbestos-related diseases are the single biggest cause of work-related deaths in Britain, though their historic nature often means that they are overlooked in year-on-year comparisons. That’s a shocking statement and one that we cannot let continue.
[2] Asbestos-related cancer deaths fall but ‘time-bomb’ threatens
Related items
Asbestos Awareness
Our comprehensive Asbestos Awareness Online Course is designed to help you understand this hazardous material, educate you on its history and usage, and equip you with the knowledge to protect yourself and others from its dangers.
Find out more
Webinar: Indoor air quality and the impact on cognitive function, productivity and wellbeing
We presented this live lunchtime webinar on indoor air quality and the impact on cognitive function with our own by Dr Julie Riggs, Senior Head of Education at British Safety Council. The session explored how poor air quality can affect the brain, cause chronic health issues and decrease productivity levels, and how we can combat this to create healthier work environments.