The HSE launches a web video about asbestos

In keeping with other National Action Mesothelioma Day efforts, the Health and Safety Executive launched an internet video titled, “Asbestos, the hidden killer” as part of the organization’s ongoing campaign to promote awareness of asbestos.

Mesothelioma, caused by exposure to asbestos, is an incurable and fatal cancer that typically takes 30 to 50 years to appear in a person after initial exposure with the substance. According to a chair member of the HSE, Judith Hackitt, twenty tradesmen on average die every week from the disease because they had breathed asbestos fibers in during the course of their work.

The online video features Tom King, who developed mesothelioma as a result of his exposure to asbestos during his career as a carpenter. In Great Britain, asbestos-related conditions claim the lives of about 4000 victims every year, more than the number of deaths caused by automobile accidents. Scientists estimate that during the peak period of when the majority of people are diagnosed, asbestos will be responsible for the lives 5,000 people a year.

A recent study conducted by the HSE revealed that many young tradesmen, such as electricians and plumbers, did not believe they were at risk for becoming exposed to asbestos even though it is reported that any building in the U.S. constructed or refurbished before the year 2000 has a significant chance of containing the material. The HSE hopes to educate and warn these tradesmen to take action to prevent them from being exposed.

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