Asbestos Blogger

Boss escapes jail for silica use

2008-10-03T11:10:00.001Z

TUC Risks 20th September

A company boss whose firm used deadly silica despite the process being banned for 58 years has received a £26,000 fine but has escaped jail.

Andrew Thomson, trading as Thomson Sandblast, of Great Harwood, was also ordered to pay £24,000 costs and was told that magistrates had considered a custodial sentence.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated the company after receiving a complaint that sand containing free silica was being used for the dry sand blasting of vehicles. Blasting of articles using sand containing free silica has been banned since 1950 and can lead to silicosis, which is progressive, irreversible and can continue to develop after exposure ceases. It is also a known cause of occupational cancer and autoimmune diseases.

The firm was issued an HSE prohibition notice on 29 June 2006, requiring an end to sandblasting without adequate breathing protection for workers. When inspectors revisited the firm in February 2007 they found the notice had been ignored. HSE principal inspector Dorothy Shaw commented: 'When the premises were visited the general conditions were found to be poor. Vehicles were being dry blasted using what was suspected to be sand in a building that was not fully enclosed or had a filtered extraction unit. The respiratory protection equipment being used was in poor condition putting employees at risk from silicosis, which is a chronic obstructive, pulmonary disease characterised by breathlessness and a chronic cough.' She added: 'The dry blasting of vehicles with sand containing silica and the non compliance of enforcement notices are regarded as very serious matters by the HSE. When passing sentence on Mr Thomson, the magistrates commented that there had been a complete disregard for health and safety and that they had considered a custodial sentence.'

The asbestos industry's deadly lies

2008-10-03T11:05:00.001Z

TUC Risks August 30th 2008

The deaths of tens of thousands of UK workers from asbestos disease was not an unanticipated tragedy, but resulted from a sophisticated political and public relations campaign to prolong the use of the deadly fibre.

Ed Howker, writing in the New Stateman, reveals the extent of the support asbestos giant Turner and Newall (T&N) received from government officials and politicians.

One government medical adviser is recorded as advising T&N to keep quiet about the cancer dangers of their product.

In correspondence between two directors of the plant, the opinion of Professor Archie Cochrane, director of epidemiology at the Medical Research Council, was noted: 'In tackling a problem of this nature [mesothelioma] one should either be completely frank with everyone or maintain complete secrecy - it is the latter that he feels is best at the moment.' To assist in the cover up, the company employed public relation firm Hill and Knowlton, credited with writing the playbook on 'product defence' in its highly effective defence of the tobacco industry.

In 1968, T&N circulated a confidential five-point plan prepared by Hill and Knowlton entitled 'Putting the case for asbestos.' Its purpose was to enable staff to field questions about asbestos cancer. It began, in capital letters: 'Never be the first to raise the health question.'

The government, meanwhile, brushed aside health concerns, fearing a risk to jobs. The company also had the loyal support of then Rochdale MP Cyril Smith, a sometime company shareholder who claimed in the Commons to be basing his comments on his own detailed research, but who in fact had asked T&N to draft a speech delivered in the House. The New Statesman article brings the story up to the moment, revealing how a bankruptcy ruse and other company manoeuvring continue to deny its asbestos disease victims the compensation they are due.

Council's school asbestos warning

2008-10-03T11:02:00.001Z

TUC Risks August 23rd
Denbighshire County Council could face prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) if it fails to deal safely with asbestos in Prestatyn High School.

The council has suspended a staff member after an attempt to remove asbestos failed to meet HSE standards. The watchdog has ordered that the work must be completed by the end of September. The local authority said action was being taken and the work would not affect pupils and staff returning to school at the beginning of September.

The work relates to asbestos pipe cladding at the school. An HSE spokesperson said: 'There is an improvement notice on the removal of asbestos at Prestatyn High School. It was issued on June 27. There is a compliance date for the work to be completed by the end of September.

If the council fails to do so it is a criminal offence, and it could face prosecution.' A council spokesperson confirmed an HSE improvement notice had been served, adding: 'An action plan is already being implemented and we shall be meeting the HSE to ensure compliance with their requirements.' She said 'that a member of staff has been suspended pending the results of an internal investigation.' Earlier this year, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) called on the government to carry out a survey of all UK schools to check whether asbestos is present.

Canada: How to kill a UN convention

2008-10-03T10:58:00.002Z

TUC Risks August 23rd 2008 accused Canada of trying to kill a UN convention.

The Rotterdam Convention gives countries the right to be informed about, and to refuse, extremely hazardous chemicals and pesticides. For more than two years, the committee has called for chrysotile asbestos (white asbestos - the only form used in the world today) to be put on this 'prior informed consent' list. It meets every criterion in the convention, but in 2006, Canada brought the convention to its knees by blocking a consensus for chrysotile asbestos to go on the list.

Human rights activists are calling for Canada to stop acting like a rogue state and instead allow chrysotile asbestos to be listed under the Rotterdam Convention.

Essex companies exposed workers to asbestos risk

2008-10-03T10:55:00.001Z

TUC Risks 16th August reported that two companies in Essex have been fined after workers in their employment were exposed to asbestos containing materials.

R Maskell Ltd of Loughton was fined £150,000 with costs of £30,000 at Ipswich Crown Court while LCH Contracts Ltd of Billericay was fined £70,000 and costs of £13,821.

Both companies pleaded guilty to breaches of Regulation 15 of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002.

In 2005 R Maskell was carrying out refurbishment work and had, after discovering asbestos, sub-contracted LCH Contracts to carry out asbestos removal at St Francis Tower, Ipswich.

When HSE inspectors visited the site to inspect asbestos removal work taking place, they became very concerned over the state of the building, as there was debris on floors and in black sacks on most floors of the 15 storey tower block and some appeared to be asbestos containing materials (ACMs).

The HSE investigation found the building to be contaminated with ACMs and evidence was found that asbestos insulation board (AIB) had not been removed following adequate safety procedures.

HSE Inspector, Nicola Surrey said, "Every year 1000 people who worked in building maintenance and repair trades die from past exposures to asbestos fibres. The exposure of employees from R Maskell Ltd and LCH Contracts Ltd to asbestos could and should have been avoided by straightforward safety precautions. HSE will not hesitate to take action against those who fall short of the law in such a way. Asbestos must be properly managed to prevent people dying from asbestos diseases in the future. If you are responsible for managing the maintenance and repair of a building, you must manage any asbestos in it. HSE has provided guidance to help people understand what they have to do to comply with their legal obligations."

Asbestos report withheld for giving wrong view

2008-10-03T10:52:00.002Z

TUC Risks August 16th 2008 reported that the Canadian Government is withholding a damning report on asbestos on the eve of an international conference at which Canada plans to defend its export of the carcinogen.

The report was commissioned by 'Health Canada' to support the Conservative government's long-standing fight to keep chrysotile asbestos off a UN watch list, a position federal officials plan to argue at a convention in Rome this October. But, according to 'The Star', members of an expert panel that produced the $100,000 report say the findings justify a ban on production and use in Canada.

Health Minister Tony Clement commissioned the report last year to determine the relative carcinogenic potency of chrysotile asbestos, which is linked to lung cancer and mesothelioma, which this week lead to the death of British MP John MacDougall. The panel's findings were made final in March but have yet to be released. A Health Canada spokesman said in an email the department is reviewing the report to "help further its knowledge of chrysotile asbestos fibres in relation to human health ... (and the report) will be made available to the public after the department has reviewed the findings."The panel was originally criticised by opposition parties because it was believed some of its members were so-called asbestos supporters, however the report seems to back the position of asbestos campaigners world-wide. That asbestos of all kinds are a killer.

New Democrat MP Pat Martin, a supporter of a Canadian ban on asbestos, said "They want the world to believe that Quebec asbestos is somehow magically benign. ... It's cowardly and it's the very antithesis of transparency and accountability." At a UN convention in 2006, the Canadian government successfully blocked a decision by more than 100 governments that would have required all exporters to label the product as hazardous. There is only one mine still producing chrysotile asbestos in Canada which produced 13,000 tonnes in July, a four-year high. Global consumption has increased almost 25 per cent in the last five years as a result of demand in developing countries such as India.

Asbestos in schools and hospital

2008-10-03T10:45:00.002Z

Bedford Today, 25 September 2008 reported that asbestos had been found in 192, (almost 90 per cent) of schools across the county and in Bedford Hospital.

Teachers and hopsital workers exposed to asbestos fibres have a high incidence of deaths from asbestos related diseases.

A spokesman for Bedford Hospital, confirmed there was asbestos at Bedford Hospital. He said: "A number of buildings at Bedford Hospital contain asbestos which is well managed and closely monitored in line with the 'Control of Asbestos Regulations' (Health & Safety Executive, 2006)."

To read the full story please click on the link below:
http://www.bedfordtoday.co.uk/bed-news/Asbestos-in-schools-warning.4527267.jp

Cyril Smith accused of being part of asbestos cover up

2008-10-03T10:28:00.002Z

Rochdale on Line 28th August 2008 reported that former MP Sir Cyril Smith had lobbied on behalf of the world's largest asbestos factory, Turner and Newall.

Smithe tried to help the Rochdale based company to supress knowledge of the dangers of asbestos.

An article in the New Statesman magazine reveals that Rochdale's former MP wrote to the head of personnel at T&N during a summer political recess in 1981 to tell him that the House would debate EEC regulations on asbestos in the next parliamentary session and asked what the factory would like him to say

The letter reads: "Could you please, within the next eight weeks, let me have the speech you would like to make (were you able to!), in that debate?" The T&N draft response is almost identical to what the Rochdale MP said in his house of commons speech, which stressed the need for less regulation on asbestos and that other products should be approached 'with caution'.

Sir Cyril said: "The public at large are not at risk. It is necessary to say that time and time again." T&N exposed millions to asbestos fibres in full knowledge of the dangers and used Sir Cyril to cover a truth that it had secretly admitted to in 1961, namely that "the only really safe number of asbestos fibres in the works environment is nil".

To read the full account click on the link below
http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/print/13421

Legal challenge to French warship dismantling in Britain

2008-10-03T10:17:00.002Z

AFP Sep 3, 2008
Environmental campaigners are to go to court to try to stop an asbestos-contaminated French aircraft carrier from being broken up in Britain.

The 32,700-tonne Clemenceau has spent the past five years being moved around the globe as officials tried to find a final resting place for the vessel, which contains 700 tonnes of asbestos.

The 51-year-old vessel was towed to India in a failed bid to have it dismantled there before it was announced in July that she will be scrapped by British company Able UK in Hartlepool, northeast England, after it was granted a waste management licence by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Campaigner Iris Ryder said the Friends of Hartlepool group had lodged a High Court challenge to the decision to bring the ship to Britain from its current base in Brest, western France.

"Today's legal challenge is the beginning of a new stage in the fight by Hartlepool residents to prevent our community from becoming the international toxic waste dumping ground of choice of both governments and polluting industries," she said.

"The Clemenceau was considered too toxic to be broken and dumped in India and Turkey and was even refused permission to be towed through the Suez Canal on its voyage of shame back to France.

A HSE spokesman confirmed that a legal challenge had been lodged.
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iPEWt24Fayg03gKJo9jobwjoA3NQ

‘Sandwich panels’ as deadly as asbestos

2008-10-03T09:57:00.001Z

Property Week .com 29.08.08 reported that the construction industry could be facing huge costs to remove a commonly used substance when demolishing buildings after experts warned it was as hazardous as asbestos.

CA Group, a UK industrial buildings manufacturer, said foam insulation ‘sandwich panels’ that are used in many buildings posed an environmental hazard risk and a pollution threat to the water table, and their removal would financially hit the property industry.

Brian Watson, commercial director at CA Group, said the project removal costs would affect funders, owners, manufacturers, specifiers and demolition contractors because the removal would be ‘massive and expensive’.

However, it is unclear who would be required to pay the clean-up costs. Watson said foam panels could no longer be disposed through crushing or burning but must conform to the same costly recycling regulations as refrigerators.

CA Group estimates that removal costs range between £1/sq ft to nearly £3/sq ft and, ‘when multiplied by the quantities of foam that hides in roofs and walls nationwide, runs into the billions’.

http://www.propertyweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=274&storycode=3121081&c=3

Dead MP was suing government over asbestos

2008-10-03T09:46:00.002Z

Dunfermline Press 28th August 2008

AN ASBESTOS support group hopes the tragic death of former Rosyth Dockyard worker and MP John MacDougall will force a change of heart from the UK Government on compensation awards.

Labour MP Mr MacDougall (60) was suing his own Government over his terminal lung cancer at the time of his death.

He believed the cause of the incurable mesothelioma was exposure to asbestos when he was working at the dockyard in the 1960s.

His friend, Prime Minister Gordon Brown, paid tribute to Mr MacDougall at the funeral and described his illness as a “cruel legacy”.

Defence secretary Des Browne and a predecessor in that role, John Reid, were also present.
However, it has now emerged that Mr MacDougall launched a court action against the Ministry of Defence in November after the Government turned down his request for £300,000 in compensation.

And whereas the Scottish Government is bringing forward legislation to help workers suffering from asbestos-related conditions, the same is not true at Westminster, where Mr MacDougall served for seven years.

The campaign group Clydeside Action on Asbestos will give evidence at the Scottish Parliament next week in a bid to make it easier for victims to claim.

In June, the Government at Holyrood unveiled a new bill aimed at entitling anyone in Scotland to raise an action if they contract pleural plaques.

The move would overturn a House of Lords ruling last year that workers were not entitled to compensation because the condition itself is not a disease.
To read the full stroy please click on the link below:
http://www.dunfermlinepress.com/articles/1/27840

HMS Intrepid final voyage to be recycled in Liverpool

2008-10-03T09:35:00.003Z

September 18th 2008 , IC Liverpool reported that the first warship to be recycled in the UK for more than a decade doccked in Liverpool.

HMS Intrepid, a Royal navy ship which saw service in the Falklands sailed Canada Graving Dock, where it will be dismantles over the next five months.

Ninety five percent of the material on board will be recycled though the union UNITE expressed concerns about safety conditions and the presence of asbestos on board.

It is hoped that this will be the first of many such projects at the Liverpool facility and that many more ships will be broken up responsibly. The Royal Navy has disposed of the waste on board apart from a small amount of asbestos which remains within the frame of the ship and which the yard can handle.

To read the full story please click on the link below:
http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/tm_headline=hms-intrepid-final-voyage-to-be-recycled-in-liverpool&method=full&objectid=21846498&siteid=50061-name_page.html

The patron saint of charlatans is again spreading dangerous misinformation

2008-09-23T13:24:00.002Z

Writing in the Guardian on 23rd September 2008, columnist George Monbiot takes the Telegraph columnsit Christopher Booker to task over his misleading articles, (38 of them so far), where he claims that chrysotile asbestos, (white asbestos) is safe.

He wrote 'Mr Booker champions the work of John Bridle, who has described himself as "the world's foremost authority on asbestos science". Bridle has claimed to possess an honorary professorship from the Russian Academy of Sciences, to be a consultant to an institute at the University of Glamorgan, the chief asbestos consultant for an asbestos centre in Lisbon, and a consultant to Vale of Glamorgan trading standards department. None of these claims is true. Neither the institute at the University of Glamorgan nor the centre in Lisbon have ever existed. His only relationship with the Glamorgan trading standards department is to have been successfully prosecuted by it for claiming a qualification he does not possess.'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/sep/23/controversiesinscience.health

Probe into 'dangerous' housing association

2008-07-28T15:56:00.001Z

TUC Risks 12th July reported that an official investigation has been launched into union claims that a housing association flouted rules on handling deadly asbestos.

William Whalen, an official with the construction union UCATT, presented a petition at a drama filled meeting of Carlisle City Council last week calling for Carlisle Housing Association to be wound up and its 6,140 homes handed back to the council.

He produced a lump of asbestos, safely wrapped, and brandished it at councillors. Mr Whalen said: 'This is asbestos taken from one of the houses. It was swept up with a shovel, thrown onto a flat wagon and taken to a dump. If that's not dangerous, I don't know what is.'

The union officer added: 'It shows the [lack of] care this housing association has for its employees and the people of this city.' Councillor Ray Bloxham, the environmental portfolio holder, told the meeting an investigation would be launched.

Mr Whalen failed to persuade councillors to reverse the transfer of council houses to Carlisle Housing Association that took place in 2002, after a council official said legal, financial and contractual issues would make the reversal of the housing transfer 'non feasible'. Mr Whalen said he intended to raise the issue at the autumn Labour Party conference. He said: 'I will be asking Gordon Brown to investigate this

Jail for asbestos dumpers

2008-07-28T15:54:00.001Z

RISKS 21ST June 2008, reported that two men have been jailed for a £1.2 million flytipping scam which saw thousands of tonnes of hazardous waste including asbestos dumped at bogus construction sites emblazoned with mock health and safety notices.

James Kelleher, from Dagenham and Patrick Anderson, from the Irish Republic, were accused of dumping over 14,600 tonnes of waste - the equivalent of 750 lorry loads - at 15 sites in London and Essex.

Kelleher, 40, and Anderson, 51, were sentenced to 14 months and 22 months respectively, for conspiracy to unlawfully deposit controlled waste.

Mr Justice Philpott ordered the men to spend half their sentences in custody and half on licence.

For the first time, the Environment Agency employed forensic techniques used in other criminal cases - financial and handwriting analysis - to make the link between payments, lorries and people. The techniques were needed because the scam was highly sophisticated, including the use of false identities.

Kelleher and Anderson broke in to waste ground awaiting development, where they put up hoardings with fictitious company names, health and safety notices and a mobile phone number for members of the public to call if the so-called construction work bothered them. The pair wore reflective jackets, hard hats and carried surveying equipment. Behind the official-looking exterior, however, there was no construction work - just more tipping.

RELEASE OF ASBESTOS FIBRES IN SYSTEM BUILT SCHOOLS

2008-07-28T15:49:00.002Z

Asbestos in Schools, 25th June reported that twenty years ago the ILEA found slamming a door five times in a "System build" school in Wandsworth resulted in measurements of asbestos 33 times higher than the Clearance level a safety limit set by the Health and Safety Executive. Advice was given nationally but little effective action taken. In July 2006 the problem was rediscovered in many schools.

The asbestos present in such schools and the lack of action has left a 20 year legacy of exposure of children and teachers that could and should have been avoided and is embarassing to the HSE, local councils and the Government. The legacy includes many schools today with asbestos that has had twenty years and, at times, more than fifty years in which to deteriorate and so is no longer "in good condition" - a prerequisite for the safe management of asbestos.

Children are more susceptible to asbestos fibres than adults but HSE standards are set for adults so, for instance, HSE standards for reoccupation of schools after an asbestos incident is the "Clearance Level" - a level that ILEA asbestos working group say "is very dangerous for children" and the 2006 Control of Asbestos Regulations state: “........ should be taken only as a transient indication of site cleanliness .. and is not an acceptable permanent level”

USA: Watchdog complicit as firms bury victims

2008-07-28T15:47:00.000Z

Risks July 19th reported that the US system for measuring workplace safety is flawed and misses up to half of all workplace injuries, according to a report presented last week at a hearing on OSHA, the federal agency charged with protecting workers' safety and health.

The committee report said both employers and OSHA have incentives to report and use faulty data. The fewer injuries and illnesses an employer reports, the less likely the employer will be inspected by OSHA and the more likely it will pay lower premiums for workers' compensation.

Bob Whitmore, former chief of the OSHA recordkeeping division, is highly critical of the safety watchdog. 'I contend that the current OSHA injury and illness information is inaccurate, due in part to the wide scale underreporting by employers and OSHA's willingness to accept these falsified numbers,' he said. 'There are many reasons why OSHA would accept these numbers, but one important institutional factor has dramatically affected the agency: steady annual declines in the number of workplace injuries and illnesses make it appear that OSHA is fulfilling its mission.' OSHA has dramatically reduced its enforcement programme, instead promoting a series of voluntary approaches, including industry 'alliances' and 'voluntary protection programmes'.

Asbestos lorry smash shuts road

2008-07-28T15:19:00.002Z

The A 127, London to Southend road was closed at Laindon for seven hours on 23rd June when a heavy goods vehicle ran into the back of another lorry, knocking a metal container holding 14 tonnes of asbestos off its trailer and shedding the contents over the road.

Top medical journal backs nano precaution

2008-07-28T15:04:00.001Z

Risks 12th July reported that Lancet Oncology, one of the world's top cancer journals, has called for the precautionary principle to be used when dealing with nanotechnologies.

Responding to research this year that suggested a possible mesothelioma risk from exposure to carbon nanotubes an editorial in the July edition of the journal says until 'knowledge has caught up with the technological advances, it would be wise to invoke the Precautionary Principle to ensure health and safety measures are sufficiently rigorous to decrease the possibility of health risks to industry workers.' The editorial continues: 'These actions would prevent a repetition of the pitiful response seen in the 20th century to evidence linking asbestos with various lung diseases.

Asbestos Industry Gets Heavy

2008-07-28T14:56:00.002Z

The Canadian Chrysotile Institute, which is largely funded by the Canadian federal and Quebec provincial governments, is attempting to to bring a libel suit against French asbestos campaigner Francois Desriaux.

This attitude towards chrysotile is in sharp contrast to official concerns about nano technology. Canada is a leading producer of chrysotile asbestos, and though it has reduced the use of the material in Canada, it is happy to export the material to emerging economies in the far east.

Mesothelioma Lump Sum Payments

2008-07-28T14:47:00.002Z

The Government has approved a law that will benefit mesothelioma sufferers.

A loophole existed previously which meant that benefits were only available to those who had been exposed to asbestos at work. Non occupational mesothelioma, for example when family memebrs were exposed to asbestos fibres on workers' clothing did not qualify for a lump sum payout.

Now they will be entitled to a lump sum compensation payout, in the region of £10,000 per case. The Mesothelioma Lump Sum Payments (Conditions and Amounts) Regulations 2008 set out how and when a claim must be made. This is the latest in a series of measures extending asbestos compensation to differing groups.

Government u-turn hits disease sufferers

2008-07-28T14:37:00.003Z

TUC Risks, - Hazards , 12 July 2008, reported that workers developing occupational diseases could lose out as a result of a government u-turn on retention of insurance records by employers.

The government is pressing ahead with a move to drop the requirement on firms to keep their employers' liability insurance records for 40 years - despite opposition from workplace health groups, lawyers, unions and insurers.

It has instead laid before parliament an order to revoke the record keeping requirement.

Critics argue that many occupational diseases, for example occupational cancers, may only develop decades after a worker was exposed to risks. The current requirement on firms to retain their Employers' Liability Compulsory Insurance details for 40 years was designed to ensure the insurer responsible for a payout for one of these 'long-tail' diseases - the one covering the firm at the time the negligent exposures occurred - could be identified.

Tony Whitston, chair of the Asbestos Victims Support Groups Forum UK criticised 'the government's manic determination to reduce administrative burdens on business', which he said was hurting occupational disease victims. 'Retaining insurance records costs each employer next to nothing but the burden and the cost of losing compensation is incalculable: it is not simply a question of financial compensation, but a question of justice and fairness.' He added: 'Introducing voluntary measures rather than a statutory central database for employers' liability insurance instead of the current regulation is totally unsatisfactory: there has to be a statutory requirement to retain and to record employers' liability insurance in a central register.'

The Government's approach would appear to be perverse given the raised awareness of chronic occupational diseases.

Micro materials could pose major health risks

2008-07-28T14:29:00.003Z

19th July 2008 TUC Risks reported that potential dangers were posed by the rapidly expanding number of products containing nanomaterials.

The warning comes from the Council of Canadian Academies in one of the most authoritative reports to date about the risks of engineered nanomaterials.

These materials are added to a wide range of products ranging from sunscreens to diesel fuels. The Council cautions that the tiny substances might be able to penetrate cells and interfere with biological processes.

The Council, which was asked by Health Canada and several other federal agencies to study the state of knowledge about nanomaterials and the regulatory changes needed to oversee their use, concluded that "there is inadequate data to inform quantitative risk assessments on current and emerging nanomaterials." Their small size, the report says, may allow them "to usurp traditional biological protective mechanisms" and, as a result, possibly have "enhanced toxicological effects."

Editor's Note: It is worthy of note that Canadian attitudes towards nanomaterials is markedly different from many official attitudes towards chrysotile asbestos. As a major producer and exporter of chrysotile Canada has consistently played down the risks posed by the material.

Pleural Plaques battle continues

2008-07-28T14:26:00.001Z

TUC Risks 19th July 2008 reported that Construction Union, UCATT, have kept up their campaign for compensation for those with the asbestos related condition, pleural plaques.

Last October the Law Lords overturned over 20 years of common law and ruled that pleural plaques should no longer be a compensational illness and last Wednesday (July 9) the Government released a consultation document on the various options, including changing the law, setting up a scheme or doing nothing.

UCATT said it was pleased that the Government was actively considering the issue, but they were disappointed that the document says the 'Government is not minded' to overturn the Law Lords decision.

This potentially places the Government at odds with the Scottish Parliament, who have already brought forward a Bill to overturn the Law Lords judgement.

In an attempt to place further pressure on the Government to overturn the Law Lords ruling, UCATT have decided to campaign in the seats of Cabinet Ministers where there is a high level of asbestos illness. On July 18 UCATT will be targeting the seats of John Hutton and also the South Shields constituency of foreign secretary David Miliband.

Alan Ritchie, general secretary of UCATT, said: 'While I welcome that the Government is seriously examining this issue, it would be unfair and intolerable if pleural plaque victims north of the border received compensation, while those in England did not.'

Miner’s death linked to work

2008-06-12T14:30:00.003Z

icwales.couk June 12th 2008

Glamorgan coroner Philip Walters recorded a verdict of death due to industrial disease on an 84 year old ex miner.

Emrys James died on November 28 last year after being taken to Royal Glamorgan Hospital.

Pathologist Dr Joanne Roach told the hearing that a post mortem found embedded coal dust, known as “coal workers’ pneumoconiosis” and traces of asbestos in his lungs. She also found evidence of chronic bronchitis, but gave heart disease as the eventual cause of death.

The coroner said: “While Mr James had significant natural causes of death, it has always been my practice to record a verdict of death due to industrial disease, so the coal workers’ pneumoconiosis and asbestos are recognised as contributory factors.”

Fears over asbestos find delays centre reopening

2008-06-12T14:06:00.002Z

Glasgow Evening Times June 10th 2008:

ASBESTOS has been found at a controversial community centre - further delaying its planned re-opening.

The discovery of the toxic material at the Chirnsyde facility, which was run by alleged gangland figure Eddie Lyons, today led to calls for a full safety probe.The centre, which was built in 1967, was shut down in the wake of the 2006 murder of Eddie's nephew Michael Lyons.

It had been due to re-open this month under council management with a new name - Ashgill Recreation Centre - following a £260,000 facelift.

But because of the discovery of asbestos in the floor of the gym, and delays appointing a contractor for refurbishment work, the date has been pushed back to July 19.

Councillor Billy McAllister said he wants a full health and safety investigation carried out, despite the fact he understands that the centre was first due to reopen in May and the date has already been pushed back several times.

He said: "The building could be riddled with asbestos. I will insist on a full check of the whole structure before people are allowed back in.

To read the full article please click on the following link:
http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/display.var.2327282.0.fears_over_asbestos_find_delays_centre_reopening.php

Hospital to isolate asbestos

2008-06-12T13:59:00.002Z

Safety and Media Limited 11th June 2008

The Royal Shrewsbury Hospital is undergoing work to isolate asbestos in the maternity unit of the building. The work is essential to ensure the safety of patients, staff and visitors.

It is planned to encapsulate the substance rather than to remove it. This is in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the Health and Safety Executive, (HSE).

To read the full article please click on the link below.
http://www.safetymedia.co.uk/news/asbestos/hospital_to_isolate_asbestos/147721

Fears over dumped asbestos pipes

2008-06-12T13:35:00.002Z

The Wiltshire Times reported on 11 June 2008 that residents of Trowbridge are campaigning to get dumped asbestos pipes removed from a patch of land that is often used by children. The cracked concrete drainage pipes, containing asbestos, have been illegally dumped on ground behind Wickes building supplies store in Kennet Way Trowbridge.

The patch of ground behind the store is accessible by a path off Wyke Road and is used by children and teenagers to make dens.

The rear yard of Wickes abuts directly on to the piece of ground and is easily accessible because it is not fenced off. The pipes are on the border between public ground and the Wickes yard.
Although the locals reported the location of the pipes to West Wiltshire District Council months ago, no action has yet been taken and the pipes remain exposed on the ground.

A spokesman for the district council said: "The number of reported fly-tipping incidents has almost doubled across the district in recent months, which has heavily increased the workload of environmental enforcement officers.

"This rise is partly due to the start of the car boot sale season as excess, unsold items are often dumped in laybys.

To read the full report please click on the link below:
http://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/latestheadlines/display.var.2333698.0.fears_over_dumped_asbestos_pipes.php

New research body targets cure for asbestos illnesses

2008-06-12T13:30:00.002Z

ABC News Australia reported on June 11th 2008 that a new Brisbane-based research group hope to improve treatments and quality of life for people with asbestos-related diseases.

The Asbestos Research Group, based at Brisbane's Wesley Hospital, will examine the progression of diseases like mesothelioma and the impact of reduced lung capacity.

Karen Banton, the widow of mesothelioma victim and campaigner Bernie Banton, says while a cure for the disease is a long way off, more can be done in the short term.

"To give better quality of life, improved quality of life to asbestos sufferers and also to make it easier for their families," she said.

"Just to give them hope really that what they're going through will not befall other families and that one day there will be a cure for these insidious diseases."

Dr Roger Allen says about 27,000 Australians will die from mesothelioma in the next 40 years and researchers are hoping to find a cure.

"I think that's a long way off but we have to start somewhere," he said.

"We don't even know why certain types of asbestos cause mesothelioma - they occur in various ratios so that some types of asbestos fibres are more virulent than others, are more likely to produce cancer.

"They're really basic questions that we can't even answer, let alone treat it."

Court rules asbestos causes lung cancer

2008-06-10T13:32:00.003Z

TUC Risks 24th May, reported that a High Court ruling has confirmed the lung cancer and asbestos link. Although it has long been accepted asbestos causes lung cancer, proving the link in court has been difficult because, unlike mesothelioma, the condition can be caused by a wide range of other factors, including smoking.

The new ruling involves the case of John Joseph Shortell, who died of lung cancer on 8 July 2006 aged 74. The defendant was his former employer, BICAL Construction Ltd. It is believed this is the first case successfully contested in court, establishing that exposure to asbestos caused lung cancer in a worker without pre-existing asbestos disease. Other cases have been settled out-of-court, so not establishing a legal precedent.

Electrical jointer Mr Shortell - who had also smoked until the age of 53 - had been exposed to asbestos for the majority of his working life at a number of power stations. He working closely with laggers as they handled asbestos. Judge Mr Justice Mackay ruled that the exposure to asbestos more than doubled the claimant's risk of developing lung cancer and the fact that Mr Shortell smoked, he said, did not impact on the negligence and breaches of duty that the defendant showed over many years.

Personal injury lawyers believe the case will have huge implications for lung cancer sufferers throughout the UK who have been exposed to asbestos. Roger Maddocks of law firm Irwin Mitchell commented: 'Although the claimant was an ex-smoker, his employers repeatedly breached their duty of care towards him by exposing him to asbestos during his work and the claimant's contributory negligence, by reason of his past smoking habit, was rated at only 15 per cent. It is the first such case ever to succeed on behalf of a lung cancer sufferer who did not also have asbestosis.'

John Shortell (executor of the estate of John Joseph Shortell deceased and litigation friend of Eileen Shortell) v BICAL construction Ltd (sued as successor to BIC Construction Ltd), in the High Court of Justice (Queen's Bench Division), Liverpool District Registry, Case No: 7LV30059, 28 April - 1 May 2008.

Canada: Pro-asbestos lobby gets caught out

2008-06-10T13:23:00.001Z

TUC Risks 31st May 2008 reported that Canada's pro-asbestos lobby has faced stern criticism for wrongly implying a long-delayed government commissioned report opposes a ban on asbestos.

Critics including the chair of the Health Canada panel of experts that prepared the report have denounced both the delay and the misrepresentation of their findings.

Health Canada hired seven scientific and medical experts from around the world last November to examine the risks of chrysotile, or white asbetsos. Leslie Stayner, head of the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois, as well as UK occupational hygiene expert Trevor Ogden, the chair of the panel of experts, have each written letters to federal health minister Tony Clement decrying the delay in publishing their findings. 'It is simply unacceptable for this report to continue to be withheld from the public, while individuals who have seen the report and our comments make erroneous allegations about what it contains to suit their political objectives,' Stayner wrote in his letter.

Last week, Bloc Québécois MP André Bellavance rose in Canada's House of Commons to argue against growing calls to ban chrysotile, implying Health Canada's new study supports his view. 'I want to make the record clear that nothing in the report would argue against the sensibility of an asbestos ban in Canada or for that matter anywhere else in the world,' Stayner told CBC News.

In his letter, Stayner said that while the panel was not asked to rule on whether chrysotile asbestos can be used safely, 'from a pragmatic point of view, my answer to this question would be that it [safe use] is simply not possible.' The controversy comes as the executive of CLC, Canada's national union federation, is recommending a policy that will see the gradual closure of the country's asbestos mines, alongside measures to address the impact of the shutdown on the affected miners.

MPs criticise insurance industry on asbestos claims

2008-06-10T13:03:00.001Z

Legal and Medical, 6th, June 2008:

MPs spoke out in disapproval of the insurance industry’s treatment of asbestos victims.
Michael Clapham MP described the insurance industry as acting like “jackals” in their concentrated attack on paying compensation to victims of industrial illnesses.

After Excess Insurance Company Limited’s ‘trigger issue’ High Court challenge that could dramatically reduce the likelihood of mesothelioma sufferers being compensated. Mr Clapham accused the insurance industry of gross “hypocrisy” saying that on the one hand their representatives make statements that they want to ensure that payments to mesothelioma victims easy and straightforward, then in the next breath they launch expensive legal cases to deny victims compensation.

MP Jim Sherdan described asbestos victims as “being treated worse than cattle”. He argued that if animals experienced the same diseases, then the middles classes would demand that swift action was taken.The MPs were speaking in a Westminster Hall debate about the fight to restore compensation to victims of pleural plaques.

Pleural plaques are scarring of the lungs caused by heavy and long term exposure to asbestos. Pleural plaque victims are a thousand times more likely than other people of contracting the fatal lung cancer mesothelioma which kills 2,000 people a year.

A medical expert on pleural plaques, and Consultant Physician, Robin Rudd has stated that pleural plaques are a pathological change in the membrane which surrounds the lung, victims of pleural plaques are liable to pleural thickening causing breathlessness, lung cancer and mesothelioma.

Dr Rudd also found that pleural plaque sufferers suffer severe mental anxiety following diagnosis, as they fear that they will die from mesothelioma, which is incurable. During the debate it also emerged that a leading accountancy firm has estimated that the Law Lords decision on pleural plaques will save the insurance industry £1.4 billion.

Fifth 'Ghost Ship' sparks new storm

2008-06-10T12:58:00.002Z

Northern Echo 10th June 2008 reported that the row over the so-called "Ghost Ships" is about to reignite after it was revealed another ship containing hundreds of tonnes of asbestos-contaminated material is on its way to the North-East.

Teesside company Able UK confirmed last night that it had a contract to dismantle a ship containing more asbestos-contaminated material than all four previous ships combined.

The row over the Ghost Ships - decommissioned US naval vessels - sparked an international row when they sailed across the Atlantic to be scrapped at Able's facilities in Hartlepool.

Critics said the US should not be exporting toxic materials, but supporters said Able was facing a classic "environment v economy" dilemma.

If Able's operations take off, the business could create hundreds of jobs. The company also has world-class facilities to carry out such a contract.

The Northern Echo can reveal that the Hartlepool firm has applied for an exemption from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) so the latest vessel can be dismantled and recycled.
Able needs permission because the ship, which is arriving from Europe, contains about 700 tonnes of contaminated materials and it is illegal to import asbestos to the UK.

Environmental group The Friends of Hartlepool attacked the move and said it had not been consulted.

The HSE has given the group an extra two weeks to comment on Able's application.
A spokesman for the Friends of Hartlepool said: "We have had major concerns over the consultation on this matter, having not been made aware of Able UK's application for an exemption."

The amount of asbestos-contaminated material contained in the unnamed ship dwarfs that contained in each of the first four of the 13 ships that made up Able's original £11m contract with the US maritime administration, Marad.

According to the Environment Agency, the four vessels, which have remained moored at Able's Teesside Environmental Reclamation and Recycling Centre (Terrc), at Graythorp, near Hartlepool, since 2003, contain about 633 tonnes of asbestos contaminated material between them.

Able already has a similar exemption granted by the HSE to import asbestos, applying to the 13 former US Navy ships.

In a letter passed to The Northern Echo, Chris Gillies, principal inspector of health and safety for the HSE, states of the application: "Our intention is that any exemption granted would take effect only when Able UK had secured all necessary permissions and requirements from other regulatory agencies, in particular the Environment Agency."

In November, the company was fined £22,000 by magistrates after it failed to dispose of asbestos in the correct manner on two occasions at its Seaton Meadows landfill site in Hartlepool.
The firm blamed a bulldozer operator, working on behalf of one of its subcontractors, who had failed to follow instructions.

To read the full report please click on the link below:
http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/display.var.2329851.0.fifth_ghost_ship_sparks_new_storm.php

Mother and son died of asbestos-related cancer

2008-06-10T12:47:00.001Z

Epping Forest Guardian reported on 9th June that an elderly woman died from a rare asbestos-related cancer - three years after her son passed away from the same condition.

Joan Squires, 92, of Ilford, died from mesothelioma on April 8, an inquest heard.
Mrs Squires, a retired clerical worker, had never worked in factories and had not knowingly come into contact with asbestos.

But five years ago, her son John an electrical engineer also died from the cancer aged 59.

Mrs Squire's other son Howard told Walthamstow Coroner's Court that his mother and brother may have inhaled asebstos fibres while dismantling and fixing a storage heater in their Wensleydale Avenue home in the early 1970s.

He said: "I thought it was a bit mad at the time, I thought we should have got a new storage heater rather than fix it but obviously I did not know how serious it would turn out to be."
Mesothelioma is a a rare and virulent form of cancer that affects the lining of the lung, lining of the abdominal cavity or lining around the heart. The average time between diagnosis and death is only 18 months.

It occurs in people who have breathed in asbestos fibres, in many cases 20 to 50 or more years ago.

In most cases, mesothelioma is contracted by people working on building sites, although some inhale the fibres second hand through other peoples' clothes, hairs or skin.

On March 18 this year Mrs Squires was admitted to Whipps Cross Hospital with breathing difficulties.

Following a scan doctors noticed a grey shading on her lung and she was later diagnosed with the incurable cancer.

To read the full report please click on the link below:
http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/topstories/display.var.2329241.0.ilford_mother_and_son_died_of_asbestosrelated_cancer.php

Spain workers can sue over ship asbestos

2008-06-03T15:55:00.001Z

The Associated Press
Published: May 27, 2008

Fifteen Spanish workers can sue an American company in a New Jersey state court for asbestos-related illnesses they claim were caused while working on U.S. Navy ships in Spain, a state appellate panel ruled on Tuesday.

The 3-0 ruling revived the workers' lawsuit by reversing a lower court ruling that had dismissed the lawsuit against manufacturer Owens-Illinois Inc. on jurisdictional grounds.

The workers claim they were exposed to asbestos insulating products from 1950 to 1998 that were made at Owens-Illinois plants in New Jersey. Owens-Illinois is based in Perrysburg, Ohio, and incorporated in Delaware.

A lawyer for the company, John C. Garde, said no decision had been made on whether to appeal the ruling, but he questioned why the court would allow the case to be tried in New Jersey given that the injuries are alleged to have happened overseas.

"I find it difficult to believe that any New Jersey court would countenance claims remaining in New Jersey that have nothing to do with New Jersey, with plaintiffs who have never even set foot in New Jersey," Garde said.

The lawyer for the workers, Mitchell S. Cohen, said the judge who dismissed the case initially should have considered that New Jersey was the only court where the case can be tried before dismissing it.

"Spanish law will not allow, under the facts of these cases, to file a claim in Spain," Cohen said. That's because the injuries took place on sovereign U.S. territory — the Navy warships, he said.
The Spanish tradesmen said they were employed by private contractors or the Navy, and worked at the jointly owned U.S.-Spanish military installation in Rota, Spain, or at neighboring private shipyards in Cadiz, Spain. They sued in 2004.

The appellate decision, written by Appellate Judge Anthony J. Parrillo, said the lower court judge should have given more consideration to the workers' choice of court.

"We agree and conclude that the determination to dismiss plaintiffs' actions in favor of a foreign jurisdiction was a clearly mistaken exercise of the court's discretion," the opinion said.

The panel said Owens-Illinois would not be overburdened by a case in the United States because "key corporate evidence and witnesses relating to the development, testing, marketing and sale of (asbestos products) to the U.S. government or military are more likely available in this country."

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/05/27/america/NA-GEN-US-Spain-Asbestos.php

Storm over asbestos waste site proposals

2008-06-03T14:13:00.002Z

02 June 2008
A STORM of opposition has blown up over plans to build an asbestos waste site just yards from homes.

Aspect Contracts has submitted a planning application to Derbyshire County Council for a 'waste transfer station' on Whitting Valley Road, Whittington Moor in Chesterfield.The Essex-based firm has earmarked the former Haydon Concrete depot to store construction and demolition rubbish before moving it on to landfill tips. Uncontaminated waste would be taken to recycling centres.

The plan has alarmed and angered residents who fear it could endanger their health. They have launched a campaign to stop the development going ahead.

The Residents Against Asbestos Waste - or RAAW - campaign says as much as three-quarters of the waste will contain asbestos.

Chesterfield councillors have already unanimously recommended to Derbyshire County Council that the plan be rejected as "the site is not considered to be an appropriate site for waste transfer uses because of its proximity to residential properties", and Chesterfield MP Paul Holmes has also slammed the plans.

He said: "I simply cannot understand why anyone would choose to locate such a site not only very close to a residential area and a children's play area, but in a flood zone at the centre of a large urban population."Every single lorry load of asbestos contaminated waste - 7,000 tonnes of material a year - would have to be trucked through the streets of Chesterfield, with its 100,000 plus population, and then out again."

In its application the company says an estimated 73 per cent of stored material would contain asbestos and the remaining 27 per cent would be non-hazardous household, construction and industrial waste.

Proposed lorry routes could include Whitting Valley Road, Whitting Hill Road, Chesterfield's ring road, the A61, the A617, the M1 motorway and Chatsworth Road.The company claims the operation would be completely safe, with waste in enclosed lockable containers sealed at all times while not in use. They say the development would fulfil a waste management need as the only one of its type in the area, and that it would reduce landfill. An Aspect spokesperson said: "All asbestos waste is inspected and packaged and sealed in accordance with legislation and, as a result, no escape of waste, dust or debris occurs."The application is due to be heard by Derbyshire County Council in the next few weeks.
http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/Storm-over-asbestos-waste-site.4139409.jp

UK MP To Hold Open Advice Surgery For Asbestos Victims

2008-06-03T14:09:00.002Z

Bloggernews reported on June 2nd 2008 that an MP from Norwich is getting together with a leading solicitor in order to hold open advice surgeries for people that have suffered from asbestos related illnesses.

Dr Ian Gibson, MP for Norwich North, has got together with David Cass from Irwin Mitchell solicitors in Sheffield to implement the advice service.

The MP wants the surgery to be held at some point in the coming months. He has recently been campaigning for victims of pleural plaques to be able to get compensation for their illness.
Gibson stated: “David and I agreed that we would set up a surgery meeting in Norwich , so that people who were exposed to asbestos and had pleural plaques or other asbestos-related illnesses or their families did, could get legal advice. We’re hoping to set it up within the next month. I will also have to talk to the Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians and the Transport and General Workers Union who will have their own lawyers, to see if we could either set up a separate meeting with them or use the same one with David.”

To read the full account please click on the link below:
http://www.bloggernews.net/116005

Asbestos inquiry chairman defends decision on names

2008-06-03T14:06:00.001Z

The Northern Echo 3rd June 2008 reported that the chairman of the inquiry into the asbestos scandal at a council has defended the decision not to name the people behind the incident.

Staff at a County Durham sports centre were left to work unprotected with the toxic materials for five years after their bosses were warned about the danger.

A report into the incident was published last week, but the Wear Valley District Council officials involved are not named, despite calls from victims to bring their bosses to account.

Peter Kemp was appointed the inquiry's independent chairman last year. The retired council chief executive, from Northumberland, was asked to find out what happened to a 2001 asbestos report for Woodhouse Close Leisure Centre, in Bishop Auckland.

He concluded that the warning was never acted on because officers did not know who was supposed to take responsibility for asbestos. Mr Kemp said none of the officials who were interviewed about the incident were named, because the council did not ask the inquiry panel to do so. Mr Kemp said: "We were not asked to name anybody. We were asked to find the root cause of the incident. "We stuck firmly to the terms of reference set by the council and we had no problem with them."

The council did not act on the warning until a member of staff reported the authority to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in 2006.

The HSE took the case to court in August last year, and the council was fined £18,000. After guilty pleas to six offences, the court was told that all the senior officers in charge in 2001 had since left the council.

To read the full report please click on the link below.
http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/topstories/display.var.2314062.0.asbestos_inquiry_chairman_defends_decision_on_names.php

Cancer patient wins £5,000 bet

2008-06-03T14:02:00.003Z

The Guardian 2nd June 2008 reported that a terminally ill man, who was told he had a few months to live after being diagnosed with cancer, collected £5,000 from the bookmakers yesterday.

Doctors had told Jon Matthews it was unlikely he would live to see Christmas after discovering he had mesothelioma - a cancer linked to asbestos. The 58-year-old, from Milton Keynes, placed a £100 bet that he would still be around in a year. Matthews, who was diagnosed in April 2006, was told the longest anyone had survived was 25 months.

"Today is 25 months and a week, so I've beaten that record. I do get bad days, obviously, but I'm feeling fine today. Everyone's feeling fine if they're going to pick up five grand," he said.
He said half the money would go to the cancer charity Macmillan. "The other half I'm going to spend on myself - booze and fags probably - I don't have anything to lose."

Families seek compensation ruling for deaths linked to asbestos

2008-06-03T13:57:00.002Z

The Guardian 2nd June 2008 reported that redress for the families of thousands of workers killed by the fatal asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma hinges on the outcome of a nine-week high court battle which starts on 3rd June.

Families of those who have already died from the disease and of those who develop it in future could be left without any compensation, depending on how the court interprets the wording of employers' insurance policies.

Lawyers say the six test cases, which go to the high court in London tomorrow, are the most important in the current wave of litigation stemming from insurers' attempts to hold back the tide of liability claims. Some 2,000 people a year are diagnosed with mesothelioma in the UK, and actuaries believe the numbers have not yet peaked.

Asbestos was widely used in many industries between 1950 and the early 1980s and was finally banned in 1999. But mesothelioma can take 40 years or more after exposure to develop.
In the meantime, many employers have gone out of business and in some cases their insurers have become insolvent.

In one of the test cases, the family of Charles O'Farrell, who died from mesothelioma in 2003, won a court judgment for £152,000 in compensation. But Excess, which insured his now-defunct employer, Humphreys & Glasgow, when he worked for them as a steel erector in the 1960s, has refused to pay up.

The insurers say his injury occurred not when he was exposed to asbestos in the 60s, but when the cells in the lining of the lung began to turn malignant. Medical evidence is that this happens roughly 10 years before symptoms appear. At that point the company was no longer trading and was not covered by insurance.

Another test case is being brought by the family of Leslie Screach, who was exposed to asbestos in the mid-60s as an industrial painter and died from mesothelioma in 2003.

They have been unable to enforce a £92,000 compensation award.

The company which employed him in the 60s had gone out of business by 1993, 10 years before his illness was diagnosed, and therefore no insurance was in force then.

For decades insurers which were providing employers' liability insurance at the time workers were exposed to asbestos paid out without question for those who developed mesothelioma decades later. But since February 2006 they have been refusing to pay, pointing to an appeal court ruling that month, even though the policy in question in that case was a different type - occupiers' liability, rather than employers' liability. In that case the appeal court ruled that Bolton council's insurers in the 1960s were not liable to indemnify Bolton for a payout to the family of Gordon Green, who contracted mesothelioma around 1981 as a result of inhaling asbestos dust while helping to build a teacher training college.

The union Unite is supporting O'Farrell's daughter, Maureen Edwards, who witnessed his painful death from the disease, which kills within months of diagnosis.

"Watching him go through it was agonising for all of us. But now our grief and sorrow is being dragged out and made worse by the insurers who we feel are doing all they can to get away without accepting any responsibility," she said.

Unite's joint general secretary, Derek Simpson, said: "What's at stake here is millions of pounds which should be used to compensate asbestos victims and not be pocketed by the insurance industry. It is a sickening scenario and we will fight every step of the way to see that insurers are not allowed to pass the buck and dodge their liabilities."

Ian McFall, head of asbestos policy at the union's solicitors, Thompsons, said: "If the insurers who deny liability are successful it will mean the policies they sold to employers, at the time when workers were being negligently exposed to asbestos, will not be worth the paper they were written on."

Doubts over asbestos cancer chemo

2008-05-21T13:51:00.001Z

15th May 2008 the BBC reported that chemotherapy treatments which aim to prolong patients' lives and reduce suffering from asbestos-related cancer do not work, UK researchers suggest.

Mesothelioma, caused by asbestos exposure, is usually incurable, but some specialists hope chemo could delay death and improve quality of life.

The study in the Lancet found hundreds of patients saw no benefit. However, a US expert said other combinations of chemotherapy drugs could work better.

Treatment for mesothelioma is aimed principally at reducing its symptoms, and hopefully slowing down the progression of the illness.

The latest study looked at 409 patients, mainly from the UK, who were all given these standard treatments.

Some were additionally given doses of chemotherapy, and the effect on their disease compared.
While the chemotherapy patients did live slightly longer on average than those given just standard treatment, the researchers said the finding did not represent statistical proof, and could be misleading.

To read the full story please click on the link below:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7402650.stm

Surveyor fined for asbestos breach

2008-05-21T13:42:00.000Z

21st May 2008 Contract Journal reported that a surveyor has been fined for failing to carry out asbestos inspection work on a refurbishment job in Birmingham.

Raymond Joseph Boyle of Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland, was convicted of a breach of The Control of Asbestos Regulations after undertaking demolition work that exposed people to asbestos.

He was fined £4,000 in total and ordered to pay costs of £4,016 at Birmingham Magistrates Court.

Asbestos fears over workers

2008-05-21T13:36:00.001Z

Portsmouth.co.uk reported on 21st May 2008 that the health of hundreds of council contractors could have been put at risk in a blunder over asbestos safety rules.

For the past four years there are no records of any contractors doing day-to-day work at the civic offices at Portsmouth City Council being warned of where they might come into contact with the potentially deadly substance. Council policy states that all contract workers should sign a form confirming they know where asbestos is. Cleaners, plumbers, removal men and general handymen were all at risk because of the oversight. Diane McLellan, founder of Hampshire
Asbestos Support and Awareness Group, said: 'This is a clear- cut case of negligence. They have a duty of care that they have failed to meet.' Mike Arthur, deputy head of asset management service, said: 'This lapse is unfortunate, but we don't believe it has exposed anyone to any more risk. Procedures have now been tightened up and are being properly

Mesothelioma widow compensated seven years later

2008-05-21T10:44:00.001Z

Legal and Medical reported on 16th, May 2008 that a widow received a £218,000 payout for her husbands death after a seven year wait.

The women’s husband died of mesothelioma in 2001 after exposure at the Turner and Newell factory at which he worked. Claims against the company were frozen in 2001 because their US parent company Federal Mogul went into administration in the UK.Payments to victims started emerging last year when a trust was set up by the administrators, approved by the High Court.

An employers' liability insurance fund will pay compensation to those who worked for T&N after 1969. This fund is financed from insurers, Royal Sun Alliance and Lloyds, who wrote employers' liability insurance from T&N after 1969.

To read the full article please click on the link below:
http://www.legal-medical.co.uk/news/11865.html?msgid=370376909&rcptid=5661

Health threat of nanotubes may be similar to asbestos

2008-05-21T08:49:00.005Z

Wednesday May 21 2008 the Guardian reported that Scientists have warned that carbon nanotubes could pose a cancer risk similar to that of asbestos, saying the government should restrict the use of the materials to protect human health.

Carbon nanotubes which are 300 times finer than a human hair, were developed in 1991 and have proved extremely useful, conferring great strength while being very light. They are superb conductors of heat and electricity and have been touted as wonder materials that could form the basis of a new generation of electronics.

In most products containing nanotubes, such as car body panels, tennis rackets, yacht masts and bike frames, the fibres are embedded in composite materials, which provide strength and lightness. In this form the cylindrical molecules of carbon are likely to be relatively harmless.
But the researchers say further studies are necessary to confirm it; it cannot be assumed that people could not be exposed to carbon nanotubes held in materials.

Scientists will have to show that exposure from products is safe, said Andrew Maynard, of the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars, in Washington. "What happens as you demolish products or throw them away in landfill sites? Is there a chance of carbon nanotubes coming out then and exposure occurring? We simply don't know the answer to that and that needs to be addressed."

"This is a reason for concern," Anthony Seaton, an expert in asbestos-related diseases, at the Institute of Occupational Medicine, in Edinburgh, said. "Asbestos started in the same way - people used it experimentally."

The similarity between the size and structure of carbon nanotubes and asbestos fibres has always posed a question on how the former could affect lungs. The new research shows that, in mice, the tubes, like asbestos, cause inflammation of the mesothelium, the slippery membrane around some bodily organs. With asbestos fibres, the inflammation is a stage leading towards cancer.

The researchers, whose report is in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, compared the effects of short and long nanotubes. "Nanotubes behave like asbestos in the sense that long ones are harmful, short ones aren't, and that exposure to some sorts of carbon nanotubes could carry a risk," said Ken Donaldson, professor at the University of Edinburgh, and the study's leader.
He stressed that the team had not demonstrated that carbon nanotubes actually caused cancer but they thought the government should take the threat seriously and prevent people from being exposed.

The image above is an artists impression of a nanotube, which

To read the full article please click on the link below:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/may/21/nanotechnology.controversiesinscience

United Nations headquarters undergoes renovations

2008-05-07T13:59:00.003Z

Los Angeles Times May 6th 2008 reported that The U.N. secretary-general and top diplomats made a groundbreaking move Monday to update and reform the world body -- or at least its antiquated headquarters.

Wielding shiny silver spades and wearing U.N. blue construction helmets, Ban Ki-moon and 16 other officials broke ground on the U.N.'s North Lawn to mark the beginning of a five-year, nearly $2-billion renovation. The gleaming edifice on the East River has hardly been updated since its completion in 1952 by a team of architects including Swiss-born Le Corbusier and Brazil's Oscar Niemeyer. The ceilings shed asbestos, the walls have lead paint and the dome of the General Assembly drips rain on diplomats' heads. Much of the building's machinery is obsolete, and craftsmen build their own replacement parts in workshops in the basement.

Technically international territory, the U.N. has been exempt from New York fire and safety codes, and during a courtesy inspection last year, it racked up 866 violations. Over five years, the building's interior will be gutted and rebuilt in a greener, more efficient and modern manner. But the U.N.'s gleaming blue-tinted exterior won't be changed, said New York architect Michael Adlerstein, who took over the project's management when the previous director got fed up with dealing with the U.N. system. Adlerstein previously renovated New York's Statue of Liberty and consulted on the preservation of India's Taj Mahal. Most of the 4,700 U.N. staffers will move in phases to a nearby office building, and heads of state will attend the annual General Assembly in a giant temporary building where the lawn now is. The Security Council will continue to hold meetings in the main U.N. building throughout the construction and will be shielded from asbestos and debris, contractors promised. The U.N. has been debating where and how to move its headquarters for nearly 10 years, as costs have spiraled. Among the options were moving it onto a cruise ship anchored in the East River, into a giant circus tent, into the Brooklyn Navy Yard or -- as some critics suggested -- out of the country altogether. Former U.S. Ambassador John R. Bolton once said that if the U.N. lost its top 10 floors, "it wouldn't make one bit of difference." But that was a potshot at the world body's inefficiency, not its architecture. As one of the world's slowest bureaucracies lost opportunities in one of the world's hottest real estate markets, the Secretariat decided to erect the temporary building on the lawn."Spring is a time of rebirth," Ban said as he prepared to pick up his shovel. "Today we turn the soil which the United Nations stands on to mark the rebirth, or renovation, of our headquarters," he said.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-groundbreak6-2008may06,0,6794135.story

Unions make work safer

2008-05-07T13:56:00.001Z

Risks 3rd May 2008 reported that trade unions are by far the best vehicle to win better safety at work, transport union RMT has said.

The union's comments came on Workers' Memorial Day, 28 April, which saw the biggest ever list of commemorative events in the UK and worldwide. RMT said that Britain's new corporate manslaughter law still lets killer bosses off the hook - and that unions remain workers' best friend.

'After the Southall, Ladbroke Grove, Hatfield and Potters Bar rail crashes that killed 49, 20 years after the Piper Alpha rig disaster saw 167 workers die, five years after four of our members were killed by a runaway trolley at Tebay, profit is still being put ahead of safety,' RMT general secretary Bob Crow said.

'The trade union movement has fought for years for a corporate manslaughter law that would finally make individual bosses shoulder responsibility for the needless deaths their negligence causes,' he said, but added the law 'will not deliver justice because it won't put killer bosses in the dock, and slapping fines on corporations is simply not enough.' The union leader concluded: 'The message has to be: if you want to be safer at work, join the union and fight alongside your workmates to make your boss take safety seriously.'

Unite called for more rights for union health and safety representatives to maximise this union safety effect. Health and safety officer Rob Miguel said the high injury rates on construction sites showed 'we need greater powers for union health and safety representatives to inspect these sites. Increasing their power means reducing the chances of injuries and fatalities in the future.'

Protest at HSE's bad move

2008-05-07T13:46:00.001Z

Risks 3rd May 2008
Unions in the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have warned its planned HQ move from London to Bootle will lead to a haemorrhage of experienced staff. Over 100 PCS members working at HSE's London HQ joined Workers' Memorial Day protesters outside the building. PCS says of the 320 staff told they would have to move, over 60 staff have already chosen to leave instead and only 12 have expressed an interest in relocating. So far only 28 staff have been recruited in Bootle. It said this means 'HSE will lose the competence, knowledge and know-how of a further 250 staff over the next two years.' PCS HSE branch secretary Chris Hurley said: 'Management say that savings from moving out of London will enable HSE to improve inspection rates across the country. In fact, London HQ only accounts for 1.5 per cent of total budget. Also, the original business case assumed that 40 per cent of staff would go to the North West. In fact it's less than 4 per cent. This loss will devastate the organisation. It is time for management to think again before it is too late.' PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka presented a petition to HSE chief executive Geoffrey Podger opposing the move. The union leader commented: 'Members in HSE are delivering improvements to the lives of millions in this country. Yet management think it is acceptable to lose these experienced staff. In addition to the personal traumas being imposed on staff, the loss of so much experience puts all workers at risk. This petition ought to cause management to pause and think again about the action they are taking.'

Global Unions call for asbestos ban support

2008-05-07T13:44:00.001Z

Risks 26th April 2008 reported that global union federations representing tens of millions of workers in the construction and metal sectors have renewed their call for a global asbestos ban.

Anita Normark, general secretary of the Building and Woodworkers' International (BWI), wrote last month to the Canadian Labour Congress appealing for help from Canadian trade unions to end the export of Canadian chrysotile asbestos to the developing world.

Normark pointed out that trade unions in Asia, Africa and Latin America are struggling to avoid an epidemic of asbestos diseases on a scale even more frightening than that seen already in industrialised countries. BWI said Canada mines about 250 thousand tons of chrysotile asbestos a year and exports it to developing countries, mainly in Asia, where information on the hazards and control measures to protect workers and communities from exposure are 'non-existent.' The Canadian government funds the Chrysotile Institute, described by BWI as 'an industry propaganda machine that markets asbestos and funds corrupt scientists to lie to public health officials, workers and consumers, selling this deadly substance by deception.'

BWI urged Canada's unions to attack their government's 'cynical policy.' Mirroring action taken by BWI affiliates worldwide, the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF) wrote to the Geneva embassies and consulates of China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Pakistan, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam this month calling for a ban on the use of asbestos and compensation for workers harmed by asbestos.

Shipyard exposures caused asbestosis

2008-05-07T13:41:00.001Z

Risks 26th April 2008 reported that a Unite member has been awarded £20,000 in provisional damages after exposure to asbestos in a shipyard wrecked his health.

Peter Guy developed asbestosis after being exposed to the dangerous dust while working for Harland & Wolf shipyard during the 1960s. The condition has left him unable to do gardening and other jobs around the house and he has had to give up his passion for swimming.

Mr Guy, 74, was a repairer electrician for the firm and worked on board the cruise liners that came to the yard for refitting. He said he was not warned of the dangers or given any protective clothing. He contacted Unite when he was diagnosed with asbestosis in 2005.

New asbestos law is not a big help

2008-05-07T13:21:00.001Z

Barking and Dagenham Post 25th April 2008 reported that a new law which makes it possible to prosecute companies for the deaths of workers, will not help families of asbestos victims.

The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007, which came into force on April 6, cannot be backdated to deaths which may have been caused before that date. Mike Merritt from the London Hazard Centre said the law will not be retrospective. Barking and Dagenham was an asbestos hotspot, and many former employees of the Cape Asbestos factory in Harts Lane, Barking, which closed in the 60s, are still suffering from asbestos-related diseases. Victims and their families can, however, claim compensation from the company's £40m compensation fund. Mick Connolly from the Barking and Dagenham Asbestos Support Group, estimates that about 600 people may have died in the borough as a result of asbestos exposure.He said: "It's very difficult to be precise, there are various diseases related to asbestos."Many potential victims of asbestos are not aware that they can claim damages."We only know of people who came to us, and that's the tip of the iceberg."Free advice for asbestos victims and their families is available on every last Wednesday of the month at Barking Town Hall. For information call 8554 5192 or 8227 2102.

http://www.bdpost.co.uk/content/barkinganddagenham/post/news/story.aspx?brand=BDPOnline&category=news&tBrand=northlondon24&tCategory=newsbdp&itemid=WeED25%20Apr%202008%2015%3A45%3A03%3A860

Asbestos found at Norfok school

2008-05-07T13:13:00.002Z

Eastern Daily Press 28th April 2008 reported that asbestos has been found in broken ceiling panels at a west Norfolk school.

It was discovered in a changing room at the Downham Market High School earlier in the week, during a routine inspection. As the broken ceiling panels contained asbestos, the area was immediately sealed off to staff and students. Pupils were unable to collect their clothes, bags and even GSCE coursework and revision notes, which had to be left in the changing room on the advice of inspectors.

It means some pupils cannot get hold of their essential work, and some have raised concerns thatthis could affect their final exam results.

However, headteacher Ian Bloom has now contacted the examination board to ensure that none of the pupils will be affected. It is also understood that a specialist team dealing with the asbestos are attempting to scan coursework from the boys' bags and giving them a digital copy on a memory stick. Staff are also working with other students who have the same revision notes to see if they can help too.

To read the full story please click on the link below: http://new.edp24.co.uk/content/news/story.aspx?brand=EDPOnline&category=News&tBrand=edponline&tCategory=news&itemid=NOED25%20Apr%202008%2016%3A35%3A13%3A050

North is a dangerous workplace

2008-05-07T12:33:00.002Z

NE Business.co.uk reported on April 28th 2008 that the North East remains a dangerous place to work. The last count by the Health and Safety Executive shows that 112,000 North East people suffered an illness or injury caused or made worse by their work. That’s around 10% of the region’s working population, far higher than the rest of England, and it does not appear to be declining.

The most recent report shows there were five people killed at work and over 1,300 ‘major injuries’ to working people. Again, this rate was higher here compared to the rest of the country.

On top of this, death from mesothelioma in the North East is substantially higher than the national average. Regional differences reflect the historic distribution of asbestos using-industries, especially shipbuilding, railway engineering and the production of asbestos insulation.

Behind each one of these statistics is a very human, often tragic, story of lives lost or ruined. This is even more horrific because the vast majority of incidents leading to injury or illness are avoidable. Yet the understandable attention given to the impact of gun crime completely dwarfs the scant regard paid to workers losing their lives year after year through the negligence and indolence of bad employers. Morally, this ongoing slaughter is an outrage. Economically, it is unacceptable and unaffordable. The cost to business directly is astronomical.

There is much associated with the region’s history resonating with injury and ill-health. The latest report, however, shows that the new service economy is at least as likely to be contributing to the next generation of workers made too ill to work by poor occupational health management at work. The British Medical Journal describes this period as dangerous as any in history to be a worker.

TUC analysis shows that as few as one in five workers receives any kind of occupational health provision at work or through their employer. While this remains the case there can be little doubt that we will not see any significant reduction in the scale of occupational ill-health, injury and debility we’re enduring today.

For trade unions this has been a high agenda item for over 100 years. Evidence shows when employers work with trade unions on health and safety management the workplace becomes twice as safe. The ongoing trauma demonstrates, as working people throughout the world will be today, that much, much more needs to be done to protect the health and safety of working people.
http://www.nebusiness.co.uk/business-news/latest-business-news/journal-business-news/2008/04/28/north-is-a-dangerous-workplace-51140-20828273/

University allays asbestos fears

2008-05-07T12:26:00.002Z

This is Hampshire.net reported on 26th April 2008 that the University of Winchester has moved to reassure students worried by the possibility of asbestos being present in halls that are soon to be knocked down.

A student contacted the Hampshire Chronicle after seeing workmen in white boiler suits to say he was concerned that there might be asbestos at Parchment House, off Queens Road.

A university spokesman said contractors were taking precautions against any asbestos fibres that may be released as a result of sheet asbestos being removed.

"Sheet asbestos poses no risk unless it is damaged or disturbed. All health and safety requirements were fully met."

The student said: "What actually happened was around about this sort of time last year I had a friend who was living there at the time and we went to the housing office about some other issue.
"He asked somebody there if there was asbestos in there and she (someone at the office) basically said no'."

He said this month some "asbestos removal people" had moved in and fenced off the halls. The student said his friend had now left the university and that he thought Parchment and Colebrook Houses were now empty.

"There's been guys down there with the white boiler suits on. I'm just annoyed that we asked and they said no', but the answer appears to be yes'."

But the university said there was nothing to worry about.

Parchment House, along with nearby Colebrook House, are to be demolished to make way for new halls of residence that will house almost 400 students.

Seven blocks will be built on the site and are due to be ready for the September 2009 intake, drastically reducing the number of students the university has to house in Stanmore.

A spokesman said: "When the University of Winchester rented Parchment and Colebrook from the Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare Trust, it contracted a specialist company to undertake an asbestos survey of the buildings.

"The survey revealed no exposed asbestos and confirmed that the buildings were safe to occupy. It was suspected that sheet asbestos could be present in the enclosed service cores, which were not accessible to the residences.

To read the full story please click on the link below:
http://www.thisishampshire.net/news/hampshirenews/display.var.2226056.0.university_allays_asbestos_fears.php

Post mortems suspended on bodies of Wexford family of four after asbestos is found at site of fire

2008-05-07T12:23:00.001Z

The Belfast Telegraph reported on April 27, 2008 that post mortems on the bodies of a family of four found dead after a fire in their home in Co Wexford yesterday have been suspended due to the presence of asbestos at the site of the fire.

Garda say the crime scene investigation has also been suspended.

The levels of asbestos have been determined and additional personal protection equipment has been secured this evening.

The crime scene investigation will resume in the morning but Garda are holding off on making a decision about the post mortems until then.

Dermot and Lorraine Flood and their two young children six year old Mark and five year old Julie were found dead at their home in Clonroche on Saturday morning.

Garda say they are treating the deaths as suspicious and that both parents had additional injuries not consistent with a fire.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/breaking-news/ireland/article3652146.ece

Consultation launched on ghost ship permit

2008-05-07T12:05:00.001Z

Environmental Data Interactive, UK - 16 Apr 2008 reported that the public are being asked to comment on a proposed Environmental Permit for a company that has been fighting to dismantle potentially toxic waste ships at a site in the northeast since 2003.

Able UK won a contract from the US Maritime Administration to dismantle the so-called ghost ships five years ago, but the company faced a long battle before winning planning permission from the local council in November 2007 to fulfil the contract at a site in Graythorp, near Hartlepool.

The Environment Agency has now begun a public consultation on the Environmental Permit for the site, which is among a number of permits and consents that have to be granted before the ships can be dismantled. Since the four vessels arrived in the dock in 2003, they have been the subject of bitter wrangling between Able UK and environmental protestors. Now the public is being given another chance to voice any concerns about the site. Bob Pailor, from the Environment Agency, said: "As a public body we try to take account of a wide range of people's views when we make decision on applications for permits. "We would welcome comments on the proposed Environmental Permit and its conditions. These comments will be considered as part of our decision making process."

The US vessels covered under the contract, which are all of post-war design, contain hazardous materials such as asbestos which could pose a threat to human health. Last November, Able UK was fined £22,000 at Hartlepool Magistrates' Court after pleading guilty to two offences of failing to deal with asbestos in line with landfill regulations at its Seaton Meadows site. Able UK was unavailable for comment.

http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=14503&channel=0

York is one of UK’s greenest cities

2008-05-07T12:01:00.002Z

York Press 15th April 2008 reported that new figures have revealed that York is among the top 20 eco towns and cities in the UK.

A national website has ranked York 18th out of 324 in terms of the number of recycling centres, conservation groups and eco-friendly businesses per capita.

For every 4,091 residents, the city has one recycling centre, one Green councillor, one farm shop, one environmental consultant, one insulation installer, one conservation group, one organic food shop, one double glazing business and one asbestos removal service.

Topping the green table was Norwich, with a score of 1,736 residents, and bringing up the rear was Kilmarnock, in East Ayrshire, with 19,692 residents.

To read the full account please click on the link below:
http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/yorknews/display.var.2197132.0.york_is_one_of_uks_greenest_cities.php

Pavilion asbestos scandal

2008-05-07T11:47:00.003Z

Indymedia.co.uk, 14th April 2008 accused Pavilion Housing Association of behaving like a new slum landlord. I said that the description could equally apply to many other housing associations, who are more concerned with empire building and making money for themselves and inflating their fat act salaries than looking after their tenants.

Pavion failed to take proper precautions when removing hazardous asbestos. In April, garages at the entrance to Firgrove Court were in the process of being demolished. Firgrove Court, a small estate of social housing, is earmarked for demolition, the tenants to be kicked out of their homes, the site then redeveloped as a car park for a superstore, part of the unwanted town centre redevelopment in Farnborough.

Many of the maisonettes have sat empty for years, kitchens and bathrooms ripped out to render the properties uninhabitable. All that remained was the shell of the garages, their roofs and doors having been ripped off. The asbestos roofs, much of the asbestos crumbling, was in two piles in front of the garages. No special precautions had been taken for dealing with asbestos. The crumbling asbestos simply dumped in front of the derelict, half demolished garages.

Tipped off that there was more activity down at Firgrove Court where they had been dismantling garages and dumping asbestos, a reporter went down expecting the evidence to have been removed and the asbestos gone. He found all the garages had gone, but in addition to the two piles of asbestos roofs that were there earlier, there was now in addition a pile of crumbling asbestos. Asbestos in situ and not crumbling is ok, but if it is removed and if it is crumbling, then it is very dangerous and should only be removed by specialist contractors. It has to be handled and disposed of as hazardous waste.

By the end of the week, it appeared as though all the evidence had gone, or so it seemed. But there was a large industrial skip filled with crumblin asbestos, exposed to the elements.

One of the remaining residents, who Pavilion had not yet been able to force out of her home watched the demolition take place, and she was shocked by what she saw. No special precautions had been taken to deal with the asbestos. She said the workmen were not even wearing gloves or masks. I also spoke with her husband, he confirmed no gloves, no masks, no special precautions taken for handling asbestos, he then added that asbestos dust was blowing around.

It had been very windy all week. A former employee of Pavilion told of asbestos contamination at a number of properties in Aldershot which Pavilion tried to cover up. One of these locations is a block of maisonettes. The maisonettes should have been demolished years ago and the tenants relocated. Instead, as no one wishes to live there, Pavilion uses the maisonettes as a sink into which they dump troublesome families, making the maisonettes blighted in more sense than one.

The maisonettes are subsiding, they are contaminated with asbestos, the asbestos is crumbling.

Pavilion has refused to take any action to remove the asbestos, preferring instead to lie to the tenants and tell them the asbestos is 'safe'. At least, that was their position a year ago.

To read the full account, please click on the link below:
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/04/396456.html

Anti-asbestos drug could prevent harmful effects

2008-05-07T11:37:00.002Z

The Daily Telegraph 10/04/08 reported that a drug that could protect people from the harmful effects of inhaling asbestos fibres decades ago has been found.

A study, published in Science, that for the first time explains how the fibres lead to the chronic lung inflammation that causes cancer.

Prof Jürg Tschopp of the University of Lausanne and colleagues in Europe and the United States report that the inflammation is linked to a complex of proteins, known as the Nalp3 inflammasome.

This protein complex is also involved in other inflammatory processes such as gout, which can be treated with a drug called Anakinra.

Now the team believes that this same drug may also be useful for slowing the progression of asbestosis, silicosis or other lung diseases linked with inhaling mineral fibres.

Asbestosis is the scarring of lung tissue resulting from the chronic inflammation triggered by the particles, which in turn makes the lung less efficient and breathing more difficult.

"Because exposure to asbestos increases not only the risk of asbestosis, but also lung cancer, mesothelioma, and other uncurable cancers, this suggested new treatment is highly desirable," says Prof Tschopp.

He said that use of Anakinra would be used for prevention and not a cure. "Rather persons exposed to asbestos in the past and thus at high risk to get asbestosis or lung cancer could be treated with an inhibitor drug."

Given the success of treating gout this way, "we are therefore quite optimistic that the same treatment will work for asbestosis."

"We have not started yet, but I am sure that somewhere in the world clinicians will."
Dr Joanna Owens, Cancer Research UK senior scientific officer, comments: "This important laboratory research brings us a step closer to understanding how asbestos causes the chronic inflammation that can lead to cancer.

"These results should help scientists find better ways to treat people who have been exposed to asbestos in the past. But Anakinra will need thorough testing in clinical trials before we'll know if it's safe and effective at preventing asbestos-related cancers."

The use of asbestos half a century ago has triggered an epidemic that will kill 200,000 people in Britain through lung cancer and mesothelioma, an untreatable cancer of the mesothelium, a thin membrane that lines the chest.

To read the full article please click on the link below:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2008/04/10/sciasbes110.xml

Asbestos 'will kill 10% of carpenters'

2008-04-28T14:09:00.001Z

The Age.comAU, April 22, 2008 reported that one-in-10 Australian carpenters born before 1950 will die of mesothelioma, according to results of a British study to be released in Melbourne on Tuesday night.

They will be among 30,000 Australians who will die from mesothelioma between 2000 and 2050.

Cancer research specialist Professor Julian Peto made the findings during research into the lifetime occupations of 600 mesothelioma patients and an analysis of international trends in mesothelioma mortality. Prof Peto said the cause of mesothelioma was not restricted to the deadly blue asbestos, also known as crocidolite, but to brown asbestos (amosite) which was used in building products in Australia and Britain until the 1980s.

Brown asbestos was a major component in most asbestos cement sheeting and roofing used in the building industry.

"I think that is one of the things that's largely been missed in much of the discussion on mesothelioma," Prof Peto said. "The use of these products was completely uncontrolled. "Carpenters would chop it up with power saws without much concern at all. "And this was after we became aware of the dangers of blue asbestos."

Prof Peto's research also revealed that Australia and the UK have the highest rates of mesothelioma in the world, with 600 cases per year in Australia and almost 2,000 in Britain, and figures are rising.

He said that 10 per cent of Australian carpenters born before 1950 were likely to die of asbestos-related cancers.

The rate for Australia and the UK is more than five times that of the United States, mainly because of different construction methods, Prof Peto said.

Prof Peto's research also questions why it was once believed that asbestos exposure below a certain threshold would be safe.

The professor was due to deliver the Miegunyah Public Lecture at Melbourne University on Tuesday night.
http://news.theage.com.au/asbestos-will-kill-10-of-carpenters/20080422-27u6.html

Cottingley champion rower Denis Melody is killed by asbestos

2008-04-28T13:33:00.002Z

Beeston Today, 17th April 2008 reported that a world champion rower and marathon runner from Cottingley died after contracting a deadly lung disease, probably due to exposure to asbestos during his working life, an inquest heard.

Denis Melody, 84, a divorced father-of-two, was a former leather processing manager who worked until he was 77. Mr Melody was still taking part in rowing competitions until September 2006. He was fit and healthy until he developed chest problems and was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a terminal condition. He died in January at the Wortley nursing home where he spent his final months.

The inquest heard Mr Melody spent his entire working life in the leather processing industry often in old factories and around machinery lagged with asbestos. He also served with the Royal Marines and could also have been in contact with asbestos on ships. A well-known marathon runner, Mr Melody took part in many races before taking up indoor rowing at the age of 77. He went on to take part in British and world championships, winning a gold medal in the men's veteran class in the world championships in America at 80.

The coroner, David Hinchliff told the court: "Mr Melody spent many years working in factories where machinery and boilers were lagged with asbestos and the likelihood was that it was in the work place he was exposed to it. In those days workers did not realise that fibres from asbestos caused health problems in later years and he developed mesothelioma."Pathologist Dr Lisa Barker told the court Mr Melody had well above the normal amount of asbestos in his lungs and had developed a rare type of tumour as a consequence.The corner recorded a verdict of industrial disease.
http://www.beestontoday.co.uk/news/Cottingley-champion-rower-Denis-Melody.3995168.jp

MP fights Lords asbestos decision

2008-04-28T13:29:00.001Z

BBC 15th April 2008

A Norfolk MP has launched a campaign to get compensation for people who are affected by asbestosis. In October 2007, the Law Lords decided that scarring of the lungs should no longer be a compensatory illness.

Dr Ian Gibson, MP for Norwich North, has now started a campaign to overturn that decision.

The eastern region has one of the highest rates of death from the disease in the country, and that number is expected to peak by 2020.

Dr Gibson said the figures were particularly high in the East because of the nature of the region's industries and the amount of asbestos involved.

"Council houses had it, some of the factories used asbestos to prevent fires and also in the products they made, and of course there's been ship building," he said.

"And the families at home who washed the clothes the people used in the factories have also developed the lung cancer, called mesothelioma."

Dr Gibson said he was confident the campaign could overturn the decision.

To read the full story, please click on the link below:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/norfolk/7348915.stm

More white collar asbestos victims

2008-04-28T13:22:00.002Z

TUC Risks 19th April 2008 reported that more and more white collar workers are suffering from asbestos related diseases.

A former benefits officer and a nurse are the latest workplace victims of mesothelioma, the incurable asbestos cancer. The ex-benefits officer, who does not want to be named, has received almost £170,000 in damages after being exposed to asbestos in his office. The man, from Bury, was exposed while working at Prestwich Unemployment Benefit Office during the late 70s and early 80s. He worked for the Department for Work and Pensions for 30 years before retiring in 2000. The claimant was given a letter from his department in 1984 saying asbestos had been found throughout his office. He had kept the letter and it became crucial in his securing a payout.

Tony Whitston from the Greater Manchester Asbestos Victims Support Group said: 'This case demonstrates the shocking fact that office workers are vulnerable to asbestos exposure if asbestos is not properly managed in buildings.' Former nurse Margaret Forster, 68, is another mesothelioma victim and is appealing to her one-time colleagues for help in pursuing a claim against her former employers. Margaret believes she developed the condition after being exposed to asbestos dust at hospitals in Sunderland. She said: 'I feel disgruntled because I've worked all those years in the NHS helping patients to get better and now I've been the victim.

'She believes she came into contact with asbestos dust in basements while at the old Sunderland Royal Infirmary, Monkwearmouth Hospital and Sunderland Eye Infirmary.
Family members face asbestos peril

Alarming statistics of schools asbestos

2008-04-28T13:18:00.002Z

Blackpool Gazette, 7th April 2008 reported that more than 90 per cent of Fylde coast schools contain the potentially lethal asbestos.

The poisonous material, which can cause death by asbestosis and mesothilioma, was found in 35 out of 38 schools in Blackpool, 28 out of the 29 schools in Fylde and 51 out of the 59 schools in Wyre. Council officials from both Blackpool Council and Lancashire County Council have played down the alarming statistic saying that management of the poisonous substance is under control and in compliance with health and safety guidance.

InformationThe Gazette revealed in 2006 how resort teachers had been warned not to pin pupils' work to walls for fear it could release asbestos. But the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) says it remains concerned. ATL general secretary, Dr Mary Bousted, said: "We are deeply concerned about the continuing risk to teachers, support staff and pupils from asbestos in schools."There is still too little information about asbestos."Many teachers and pupils will be unaware, and because asbestos-related illnesses take between 15 to 60 years to develop, it is difficult to know how many will become ill or die as a result of exposure."The health of thousands of young people, and those working in education, is far too precious to allow this to be swept under the carpet any longer."

To read the full article please click on the link below:
http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/blackpoolnews/Alarming-statistics-of-schools-asbestos.3952147.jp

Reassurance on asbestos fears

2008-04-28T13:11:00.002Z

York Press 7th April 2008 reported that former shoppers and members of staff at York's closed down Woolworth's store were reassured today that they were not put at risk by asbestos in the building.

An expert from City of York Council said asbestos was not dangerous unless it was disturbed, and this had not happened before the store in Spurriergate closed down earlier this year.
Principal health and safety officer Steve Adamthwaite said: "Asbestos is found in a lot of buildings built during the 1960s and 1970s.

"The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations ensure that people in control of buildings where asbestos is present identify where it is and ensure that it is not disturbed.

"Woolworths did this effectively, and there would have been no danger to members of the public or to staff who worked at the store."
The Press reported last week how asbestos insulation boards were being removed from the building, where Boots plans to open a new store this summer.

York has a long history of problems caused by an "asbestos timebomb" at the former carriageworks in Holgate Road, with scores of former workers having died from exposure to the deadly dust during their careers at the factory. But in that case dust was often flying around the factory, with some workers throwing asbestos "snowballs" at each other, unaware of the dangers.

Boots today said it agreed with the council that the asbestos at the former Woolworth's store posed no threat. A spokeswoman said: "Boots support Steve Adamthwaite's position and believe there is no cause for concern. This is normal practice and our contractors are carrying out these works under controlled conditions. "We remain committed to always putting our customers' health and safety requirements above trading performance."

To read the full story please click on the link below:
http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/yorknews/display.var.2176637.0.reassurance_on_asbestos_fears.php

Newbury Town council shell out over £8,000 to remove asbestos from town hall cellars

2008-04-28T13:08:00.001Z

Newbury Weekly News 11th April 2008 reported that Newbury town council will spend over £8000 of its precept on removing harmful asbestos from the town hall cellars.

At a meeting of the Community Services Committee last Wednesday (April 2), councillors agreed to spend the money to remove the harmful building material to comply with building regulations. According to councillors, the £8000 to cover the work had been accommodated in the town council’s budget for this year so would not cost the precept payer more next year to cover an unexpected deficit. The removal work will cost £7,065 but inspections will have to be carried out following its removal at an additional cost of £990 excluding VAT.

The cellars, which are used to store archive files and house the building’s gas and electricity meters have been closed until the asbestos, which was discovered after a recent structural survey, has been cleared. The town hall reception area will be closed for two weeks while the works are carried out and access to the building will be diverted through a temporary reception at the civic entrance. Town council services manager, Granville Taylor said the cellars had to be accessed on a regular basis to check the meters. He said: “Some of the asbestos could have been from the original structure and some of it was put in afterwards but that was long before our time.” The work will start on April 21.

To read the story plese click on the link below:
http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/News/Article.aspx?articleID=6602

'Get rid of school asbestos'

2008-04-28T12:26:00.002Z

Yorkshire Evening Post 12th April 2008, reported that children at a Leeds primary school are sitting on toilet seats made from asbestos.

The revelation came during an inquest into the death of Gordon Gomersall, a former teacher from the school, who developed the fatal condition mesothelioma last summer. The cancer is caused by inhaling particles of asbestos which can stay dormant in a victim's lungs for decades before a tumour is triggered.

Now his widow is calling for asbestos to be removed from all city schools.

A letter from Leeds City Council read out to Leeds Coroner's Court said that some asbestos removal at Templenewsam Halton Primary School, where Mr Gomersall taught for 20 years, took place in the late 1970s. But a safety survey in June 2005 said there was still asbestos in the school built in 1944 including toilet seats, cisterns, ceiling and floor tiles. These were deemed 'low risk' and not removed but abestos found in the boiler house and caretaker's store were a 'medium risk' and the areas cleaned.

Today the widow of Mr Gomersall, who died just two months after he was diagnosed with a tumour in his chest last July, called for asbestos to be removed from all schools in the city.

Barbara Gomersall, 72, from Crossgates, told the YEP: "If such a miniscule particle of asbestos is so dangerous and can lie 40 years or more before activating and causing such a horrendous death, surely it's time that all this so-called low risk asbestos is completely eradicated."

To read the full account, please click on the link below:
http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/39Get-rid-of-school-asbestos39.3975694.jp

Grace Reaches Asbestos Deal

2008-04-28T12:14:00.002Z

Chemical and Engineering News 14th April 2008 reported that W.R. Grace had reached a settlement that could allow the firm to emerge from seven years of bankruptcy by the end of 2008.

The deal will set up a trust fund worth more than $3 billion to compensate all present and future asbestos-related personal injury claimants. Under the plan, reached with claimant representative committees set up by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Pittsburgh, Grace will make an initial cash contribution of $250 million to fund the trust and then pay a further $1.6 billion over 15 years. The company will also contribute rights to its asbestos liability insurance coverage, which could amount to about $900 million, and rights to buy 10 million shares of Grace stock.

In addition, the trust will contain cash and stock now worth about $1.2 billion from Fresenius Medical Care and Sealed Air, companies that had acquired former Grace businesses. An asbestos claimants committee had sued the two companies in 2002, charging that Grace "fraudulently transferred" assets to the new owners when it was technically bankrupt because of asbestos claims.

Once the trust is set up, Grace will be shielded from further personal injury claims.
Grace CEO Fred E. Festa says the agreement "will be good for our shareholders, customers, creditors, and our employees." He adds that "a lot of work remains to be done before we can confirm a plan of reorganization, but I am optimistic we will be successful in reaching that goal by the end of this year or early in 2009."

One reason the bankruptcy case has dragged on for seven years is that Grace has forcefully contested asbestos claimants' estimates of its liability for about 100,000 outstanding claims. The Pittsburgh bankruptcy court judge was presiding over a trial to value the asbestos claims when the two sides struck a deal. Without the deal, the wrangling could have prolonged the bankruptcy case for several more years.

Grace still has to settle property damage and attic insulation claims. But the company says those issues shouldn't affect the timetable for emergence from bankruptcy.
http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/86/i15/8615notw6.html

Marlborough woman died after washing asbestos covered clothes

2008-04-28T12:09:00.004Z

This is Wiltshire.co.uk reported on 12th April that a pensioner died 45 years after she used to wash her husband's asbestos-covered work overalls.

Olive Brown, of Marlborough, was diagnosed with mesothelioma - cancer of the lining of the lung - in April last year. Her health began to deteriorate and she died in September.

An inquest heard that she washed her husband Eric's overalls weekly for nine months in 1962.
At the time Eric, now 77, worked for a builders' merchant.
There he came into direct contact with asbestos products used for insulation.

He said: "I only worked for them for nine months and it cost me my wife's life.
"I feel awful about what my wife went through, but she put on a brave front and not once did she complain.
"But I'm very pragmatic. It's happened.
"You can't turn the clock back, unfortunately, so what's the point of getting angry?"

In the hardware store where he worked they would frequently sell asbestos products such as asbestos stove mats.
"Asbestos was a normal material and we sold all sorts of asbestos products," he said.

David Ridley, the Deputy Wiltshire Coroner, who presided over the case, recorded a narrative verdict.
He said: "Her husband didn't wash his hands and instead rubbed them into his overalls.
"This was then handled and washed by Olive on a weekly basis."
He said Olive died from the industrial disease mesothelioma, when she was exposed with contact of her husband's work clothing.

To read the full story please likc on the link below:
http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/news/headlines/display.var.2193756.0.marlborough_woman_died_after_washing_asbestos_covered_clothes.php

Experts highlight spreading cancer risks

2008-04-28T12:06:00.000Z

TUC Risks 12th April 2008 reported that a global epidemic of preventable industrial cancers is killing hundreds of thousands each year because governments and employers are failing to take simple and effective preventive action.

Top cancer prevention experts and trade union officers and workplace reps from around the world, meeting in Scotland later this month to prepare an occupational and environmental cancer prevention strategy, will reveal the full extent of the problem and will call for the use of safer substances and processes and a phase out of the worst cancer-causing culprits. The event, hosted by the University of Stirling and supported by UK unions, Hazards magazine and the Hazards Campaign will reveal in industrialised nationals including the UK, far more people die each year from occupational and environmental cancers than from all road fatalities and murders combined.

Andrew Watterson, who leads the Occupational and Environmental Health Research Group at the University of Stirling and is co-organiser of the conference, said: 'Today, there are more people in more countries exposed to more cancer causing industrial substances than in any time in history. We use hundreds of cancer-causing substances in, quite literally, industrial quantities when there are healthier and frequently better alternatives. If we change work practices we can remedy the sick workplace rather than indulge in a hit-and-miss attempt at a cure.' He added: 'There is a silver bullet cure to occupational cancers, but it is not a drug or surgery.

Industrialised countries including the UK are failing to make the link between workplace pollutants and cancer, failing to give preventive advice and failing to provide support for the affected individuals.' Researchers in the UK and in New Zealand have estimated the price to society of each occupational cancer at between £1m and £2.5m. Preventive measures like substitution of harmful chemicals with safer alternatives could introduce healthier work methods, often at minimal cost.

Work to shift RSH asbestos

2008-04-03T11:22:00.001Z

Shropshire Star 26th March 2008 reported that patients at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital will be moved while work is carried out this year to deal with asbestos found in parts of the building.

Hospital managers today said asbestos had been found in the children’s and maternity departments and "work to re-encapsulate the asbestos was due to start shortly".
The vital work, costing a five-figure sum and expected to last weeks, is being carried out to contain and manage the asbestos in the wards.

Parts of the wards will be relocated while the work is carried out.

Trish Rowson, director of service delivery at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, said: "Many older buildings were built using asbestos and all organisations have an important legal duty to understand where asbestos exists in their buildings, to assess any risk and to put effective plans in place to manage that risk.

"This is particularly important in hospitals and forms part of our routine maintenance and survey work.

"As part of our ongoing programme to survey our hospital buildings, we have decided that we need to undertake some remedial work in our children’s and maternity departments at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.Ê

"The asbestos in those buildings is currently managed and contained and a programme of work will start soon to ensure that it continues to be managed and contained in future.

"We regret that there will be some relocation of children’s and maternity services while work is under way. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and would like to reassure patients and families that their health and safety is our top priority while this work is under way."

Ms Rowson said when assessing the buildings, the trust needed to consider guidance from the Health and Safety Executive.

She said the HSE said if asbestos was safely managed and contained, it did not present a health hazard.

Ms Rowson said: "They also advise organisations that they should not remove asbestos unnecessarily."
http://www.shropshirestar.com/2008/03/26/work-to-shift-rsh-asbestos/

Huge rebuild of asbestos hospital

2008-04-03T11:19:00.002Z

BBC NEWS Wales reported on 20th March 2008 that a major Welsh hospital riddled with asbestos will be rebuilt at a cost of up to £300m.

Glan Clwyd Hospital at Bodelwyddan, near Rhyl, will be rebuilt on the same site because officials say it does not meet fire safety standards.

The present hospital was designed in the 1960s, built in the 70s and opened in 1980.
The building has been described as having structural problems which do not meet today's requirements, but is said not to be unsafe to staff, patients or the public.

A senior health official has said previously that there are only risks if the asbestos is disturbed.

To read the full article click on the link below
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_east/7306535.stm

'We ate dinner with asbestos in the air'

2008-04-03T11:13:00.002Z

This is Cheshire.co.uk,March 27th 2008 reported that the wife of a retired painter and decorator who died of mesothelioma has spoken of her anger that he contracted asbestos-related cancer through his work.

Jean Robinson said words could not describe her emotions when she was told that Alan, her husband of 30 years, had between three to 18 months to live.

He was 67 when he was diagnosed last March with the killer disease mesothelioma after suffering from chronic breathing problems for previous months.

He had spent 15 years, from 1955 to 1970, working as a painter and decorator for the former Crosfields Works, off Liverpool Road, and it was during this time that he was exposed to asbestos.
Mrs Robinson, who is 56, said: "We saw a consultant at Broadgreen Hospital who told us the bad news that nothing could be done and they were 99 per cent sure it was mesothelioma."

Mr Robinson would follow workers lagging pipes with asbestos before painting them and he remembers the dust could be seen in the atmosphere.

"We ate our dinner and had our brews in that atmosphere and we would shake the dust off our overalls in the locker room," he said during our interview this week.

"We weren't told anything about the dangers or given the proper gear, which would have countered it.

Crosfields was taken over by Unilever some years ago.

To read the full article please click on the link below:
http://www.thisischeshire.co.uk/display.var.2148758.0.we_ate_dinner_with_asbestos_in_the_air.php

Insulation linked to rare form of disease

2008-04-03T10:59:00.002Z

Brantford Expositer Canada29th March 2008 reported that a Canadian family has just suffered its sixth asbestos cancer death;

A Manitoba woman who has been leading a crusade against the federal government for using asbestos-laden insulation has lost a sixth family member to a related cancer, the Winnipeg Free Press says in a report out of Ottawa.

"I can't put into words how I feel about this," said Raven ThunderSky, whose half-sister Rita Swain died earlier this week.

Swain, who was in her 50s, had been diagnosed with mesothelioma more than three years ago. The rare cancer was in the lining of her stomach.

Mesothelioma results from exposure to asbestos, and Swain was exposed as a child growing up in a home with Zonolite insulation in Berens River, Manitoba.

ThunderSky has asbestos-related lung disease. Both of her parents, and four of her sisters have died of asbestos-related illnesses. Five had mesothelioma, and one had asbestosis.

Most of them were exposed at the family's home in Poplar River, Man. Swain is the first in the family whose exposure came from a different location.

Zonolite is a pebble-like attic insulation made from vermiculite that was tainted with asbestos when it was mined in Libby, Mont. That mine closed in 1990 because of the asbestos problem.
The Canadian government had recommended that homeowners use Zonolite, and even provided grants for its installation under the Canadian Home Insulation Program between 1977 and 1984.

An estimated 200,000 to 300,000 homeowners took the government up on the offer.

An estimated 300,000 homes in Canada have the product in their attics.

To read the article in full please click on the link below: http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=963954

South Africa: Govt Prohibits Use of Asbestos

2008-04-03T10:56:00.002Z

All Africa .com BuaNews (Tshwane) reported on 27th March that Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk has announced that the use, manufacture and processing of asbestos will be prohibited in South Africa with immediate effect.

The Regulations for the Prohibition of the Use, Manufacturing, Import and Export of Asbestos and Asbestos Containing Materials will be promulgated on 28 March and will take effect immediately, said the minister during a media briefing on Thursday.

The regulations form part of the Environment Conservation Act 1989.

"A grace period of 120 days will be allowed for any person or merchant who is currently dealing in asbestos or asbestos containing materials to clear their stocks," said Mr van Schalkwyk.
The main objectives of the new regulations is to prohibit the use, processing or manufacturing, of any asbestos or asbestos containing product unless it can be proven that no suitable alternative exists.

South Africa will now prohibit the import or export of any asbestos or asbestos containing product, and will also stop the import of any asbestos or asbestos containing waste material other than from a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

The regulations do, however, make provision for asbestos to be used for research purposes.
The health implications of exposure to airborne asbestos fibres were highlighted in the 1930s and specific links to certain cancers were first made in South Africa in the early 1960s.

Asbestos once accounted for three percent of the value of South Africa's minerals.
South Africa was the fifth largest supplier of chrysotile, produced 97 percent of the world's crocidolite and 100 percent of all of the amosite.

To read the full account please click on the link below:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200803270988.html

45 more health cases linked to asbestos works

2008-04-03T10:54:00.000Z

Daily Yomiuri Japan, reported on 31st March that a further 45 people have been confirmed with health problems after exposure to asbestos from a former factory site in Ota Ward, Tokyo, the ward office said Saturday.

One man in his 70s died in October of pericardial mesothelioma--a form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos--and seven other people developed health problems after inhaling asbestos, according to the ward office.

The victims are all aged between 50 and 90 and have lived near the former Omori factory of asbestos-related products manufacturer Miyadera Insulation Corp., which is based in Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo.

At least 10 people in the ward are believed to have been affected by airborne asbestos, but none of them came down with symptoms of asbestos-related conditions such as pericardial mesothelioma.

Asbestos-related health problems were detected in ward residents who live near the site, with one person dying and eight others being diagnosed with pleural effusion, also called water on the chest.

This led the ward office to give free medical examinations to 916 residents and former residents who lived within one kilometer of the site.

Three of the 45 newly found cases of health problems involved former employees of the factory and 29 were family members and associates of employees. A further three used to play on the site as children, while 10 said they had never entered the site.
(Mar. 31, 2008)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20080331TDY02309.htm

Consultation on pleural plaques payouts

2008-04-03T10:36:00.002Z

TUC Risks 29th March 2008 reported that top personal injury lawyers have welcomed a pledge by prime minister Gordon Brown to produce a consultation paper on the plight of victims of pleural plaques, an injury caused by exposure to asbestos.

In October last year the highest court in the UK, the House of Lords, announced that it would not overturn a ruling of the Court of Appeal in January 2006, which now prevents sufferers of pleural plaques from claiming compensation. The Court of Appeal's ruling reversed over 20 years of established practice, during which time sufferers of pleural plaques had been able to claim compensation for the condition.

Gordon Brown's announcement of a consultation came during prime minister's questions time earlier this month. Roger Maddocks, industrial disease specialist at law firm Irwin Mitchell, said the consultation was 'good news after a continual onslaught by insurers to deny innocent victims of asbestos exposure compensation for injury caused by their employer's negligence.' He added: 'I represent many families who will be devastated by their diagnosis. Pleural plaques are physical scars, often a cause of great anxiety and at times a precursor to very serious, and sometimes fatal, disease.'

In the same week they announced that a panel of experts convened by construction union UCATT has advised MPs the government should overturn the Law Lords decision blocking compensation for pleural plaque sufferers. Top medical and legal experts addressed a 26 March seminar held in the House of Commons to brief MPs.

Asbestos disease expert Professor Mark Britton told MPs most people were diagnosed with pleural plaques by accident, when they were x-rayed for other diseases. He also emphasised the debilitating mental affects of the disease.

He said: 'People's whole quality of life disintegrates and it leaves mental casualties.'

Matthew Cartledge, a senior partner with trade union lawyers OH Parsons, said it was 'just plain wrong' that overturning the Law Lords ruling would be difficult for government. He also said it was essential that pleural plaque sufferers should be able to claim provisional damages and be able to identify the company and insurers who were liable - something only likely to happen at the moment after sufferers go on to develop potentially fatal asbestos cancers.

MP Michael Clapham, who chaired the meeting, said 'it is important to keep up the pressure. This place does not move without pressure.' UCATT has distributed 100,000 campaign postcards, to be sent directly to justice minister Jack Straw, urging him to overturn the Law Lords decision.

Six figure payout for asbestos death

2008-04-03T10:34:00.001Z

TUC Risks 29th March reported that a Yorkshire widow has received a six-figure compensation payout after her husband died of an asbestos cancer.

Sylvia Worth, 54, was awarded £122,000 in damages. Her husband, Harry, who was in his late 60s when he died, was exposed to asbestos as a teenager, while working as an apprentice electrician at the Campbell & Isherwood shipyard on Tyneside, now known as Sorbo Ten Ltd. He was diagnosed with mesothelioma in February 2004 and died just a few months later in June 2004. Mrs Worth said Harry could not believe he could develop such a deadly disease from the few years he worked alongside asbestos. 'He was astounded when he was diagnosed. He thought you had to work with asbestos for a lifetime before you could get something like mesothelioma. He said to the doctor that he hadn't been near asbestos in 45 years.'

Crossing The Divide

2008-04-03T09:13:00.002Z

Legal and Medical on 20th, March 2008 reported that lawyers and insurers on both sides of the personal injury divide will be asked to behave themselves for a multi track code pilot for PI cases above £250,000.

A number of major industry bodies including FOIL, APIL, MASS, the Motor Insurer’s Bureau, RBSI, AXA, Zurich and Norwich Union have put together a protocol covering the behaviour of representatives for claimants and defendants when handling high value claims.

The code seeks to encourage both parites to communicate early and resolve liability quickly. They should also take into account interim payments, care regimes, accommodation etc., where it is appropriate.

It is hoped that this protocol will remove the enormous burden of cost that legal fees represent in many settlements at the moment.

To read a full account, please click on the link below
http://www.legal-medical.co.uk/news/11800.html?msgid=586692681&rcptid=5661

Landmark asbestos ruling upheld in France

2008-03-18T15:48:00.001Z

Safety and Health practitioner reported that on 12th March 2008 The Court of Appeal in Douai, northern France, upheld the decision to fine a power generation equipment manufacturer that exposed its workers to harmful asbestos dust.

The ruling is a first in France, as the company was also ordered to pay damages to all employees exposed to the risk, regardless of whether they had been directly affected or not.

From 1998 to 2001, workers at Alstom Power Boilers’ site in Lily-lez-Lannoy were exposed to asbestos dust in what the court described as a "deliberate violation" of the firm’s health and safety obligations. The list of Alstom’s failures included not providing sufficient information for workers regarding protection from the harmful substance.As a result of sustained exposure, seven of the company’s employees died, and 30 per cent of the workforce developed some form of asbestos-related disease.

On Thursday, 6 March, the French Court of Appeal ruled to uphold Alstom Power Boilers’ €75000 fine - the maximum penalty available. However, former plant manager Bernard Gomez, had his suspended prison sentence reduced – from nine months in the original judgement at the court of Lille in September 2006 to just three months. His €3000 fine was upheld at appeal.In December last year, civil proceedings saw Alstom ordered to pay €10,000 in damages to each one of the 150 workers who were employed on the site during the three-year period.
http://www.shponline.co.uk/article.asp?pagename=incourt&article_id=7272

Asbestos scare after head’s DIY

2008-03-18T15:43:00.002Z

icwales.co.uk 17th March 2008 reported that a head teacher has been rapped for breaking health and safety regulations when knocking down a wall marked as an asbestos risk at his school.

Nick Gannon, headteacher of Cefn Fforest Primary School near Blackwood, Caerphilly, was found guilty by governors of misconduct after carrying out the work himself and not abiding by strict regulations. He was given a written warning.

The verdict was given in January but only came to light days ago – when it was leaked on the internet AFTER school governors decided not to inform parents of the incident or the resulting disciplinary inquiry.

Mr Gannon was keen on doing DIY work on the school himself and was dubbed "Bob the Builder" by parents and colleagues. In 2005 he made the BBC news and local newspapers when he personally built a new path. But in May 2007 he decided to remove a partition wall in the infant block despite it having stickers either side warning the ceiling above was covered in asbestos-containing artex.

All schools have an asbestos log detailing areas of asbestos within the building, and such areas are marked with a sticker. Information from Caerphilly Council’s education department said that the ceiling area above where Mr Gannon knocked down the wall had "identification stickers positioned either side of the partition wall".

Mr Gannon was reported to Caerphilly Council who reviewed the work and concluded asbestos regulations had been broken.

To read the full account click on the link below
http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news/wales-news/2008/03/16/asbestos-scare-after-head-s-diy-91466-20629785/

Kings College not so clever on asbestos

2008-03-18T15:41:00.000Z

Risks 15th March 2008 reported that Kings College, Cambridge, has been prosecuted after painters were exposed to asbestos containing materials while working at the college. It was fined £16,000 with £14,500 costs at Cambridge Magistrates Court last week after pleading guilty to eight breaches of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006. The college clerk of works Geoff Cunnington was also was fined £1,000 with £500 costs after pleading guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act.

The prosecution arose following an incident on 29 November 2006, when a number of college employees, who were painting asbestos containing material, were exposed to asbestos fibres. A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that Kings College had allowed its employees to work on asbestos containing materials without taking the appropriate precautions.

HSE principal inspector David Head commented: 'The exposure of employees to asbestos at Kings College could and should have been avoided by straightforward safety precautions. HSE will not hesitate to take action against those who fall short of the law in such a way.' He added: 'Asbestos must be properly managed to prevent people dying from asbestos diseases in the future. If you are responsible for managing the maintenance and repair of a building, you must manage any asbestos in it. HSE has provided guidance to help people understand what they have to do to comply with their legal obligations.'

$250 Million Settlement Over Asbestos Is Announced

2008-03-18T15:31:00.002Z

N Y Times March 2008 -

WASHINGTON — W. R. Grace & Company, a worldwide chemical company driven into bankruptcy by hundreds of millions of dollars in asbestos poisoning claims, has agreed to pay the federal government $250 million for environmental cleanup around its mining operations in Libby, Mont.
The Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) called it the largest payment ever ordered under the federal Superfund program.

The settlement requires the approval of a federal judge overseeing the company’s bankruptcy proceedings and does not resolve a separate criminal case in Montana also arising from Grace’s alleged asbestos contamination of Libby, a small community in the northwestern part of the state.

In February 2005, federal prosecutors charged W. R. Grace and seven senior employees with knowingly exposing miners and residents in Libby to asbestos. More than 1,200 people became ill, and some died, prosecutors said.

An extensive cleanup operation has been under way in and near Libby since May 2000. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in 2001. In 2003, a federal court in Montana ordered it to pay the environmental agency $54 million for investigation and cleanup costs incurred to that point, but the money has not been paid because of the bankruptcy proceeding.

The settlement takes account of that payment and directs that future payments be directed to a special E.P.A. account to be used to clean schools, homes and businesses in Libby that are contaminated with carcinogenic asbestos dust.

The material came from a vermiculite mine and processing plant the company operated in and near Libby from 1963 to 1990. The vermiculite, which is used in insulation and other building materials, was contaminated with high levels of asbestos.

Asbestos is known to cause lung cancer and mesothelioma, a fatal tumor of the lining of the chest and abdomen. Exposure to asbestos also causes scarring of lung tissue.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/12/us/12grace.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1205320231-eJbPKLaU5Se9xnkhcsviJw&oref=slogin

Work cancer's deadly history

2008-03-18T15:27:00.002Z

TUC Risks March 1st 2008 reported that since the Nixon era, successive US administrations have claimed to be fighting a 'war on cancer'. A new book, however, says for much of its history, the cancer war has been fighting the wrong battles, with the wrong weapons, against the wrong enemies.

'The secret history of the war on cancer', a heavyweight publication by US academic Devra Davis and described in a Lancet review as 'a rattling good read', says while campaigns have targeted the disease, they've singularly failed to address the causes. High on this list, alongside tobacco and alcohol, are occupational and environmental exposures to carcinogens.

Davis, director of the Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, says not only did authorities overlook how the world in which we live and work affects our chances of getting cancer, information making the links was routinely suppressed. There was a simple enough reason for this - the official cancer effort was directed by leaders of the industries that generated a host of cancer causing materials and products. Davis says the economic interest lay in making the disease less deadly, but never in preventing it altogether.

The high and increasing death toll in the UK from occupational cancer would certainly appear to prove her right.

The secret history of the war on cancer. Devra Davis. ISBN 978 0 465 01566 5 2. £16.99.

Evidence of Wood Dust Cancers

2008-03-18T15:25:00.002Z

TUC Risks 1st March 2008 reported that wood dust exposure at work greatly increases the risk of a range of cancers, a study has found. Wood dust is already rated as a cause of cancer in humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and is a well-accepted cause of occupational sinus and nasal cancers. Researchers have also linked it to a tripling of the risk of lung cancer in exposed workers. Now a study has linked occupational exposure to wood dust to 'other upper aero digestive tract and respiratory (UADR) cancers'.

US researchers examined the effect of self reported wood dust exposure on 1,522 males with these cancers (241 oral and oropharyngeal, 90 nasal cavity, nasopharyngeal and hypopharyngeal, 124 laryngeal, 809 lung and tracheal and 258 cancers of oesophagus and gastric cardia) and compared them to an identical number of controls, correcting for other risk factors like smoking.

The report, released online ahead of publication in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, found 'regular wood dust exposure was associated with a statistically significant increased risk of 32 per cent for all UADR cancers'. The increase was 69 per cent for lung cancer, almost double (82-93 per cent) for squamous cell, small cell and adenocarcinoma of the lung and more than twice the risk for squamous cell carcinoma of the nasal cavity, nasopharynx and hypopharynx. The greater the reported wood dust exposure, the higher the risk.

The team found significant increases in the risk of laryngeal and lung cancers was observed in those with wood dust exposure for more than 20 years. They concluded 'wood dust exposure is a potential risk factor for UADR cancers, especially for cancers of nasal cavity, nasopharynx, larynx and lung.' A major international occupational and environmental cancer prevention conference for trade union officers, union reps, cancer prevention activists, occupational disease victims' advocates and others and featuring top experts from around the world is to take place in Scotland in April.

Lung Destroying Disease Reaches UK

2008-03-18T14:55:00.002Z

Risks 1st March 2008 reported that a union organisation has repeated its call for global action on a lung-destroying occupational disease which has affected hundreds in the USA, after it was revealed the first case had been identified in the UK.

Global foodworkers' union federation IUF said regulatory action and medical surveillance of food workers exposed to the flavouring ingredient diacetyl, the cause of bronchiolitis obliterans, have so far elicited no response by health and safety agencies in Europe. A

new report prepared by UK trade union journal Hazards in close cooperation with the IUF confirms that there is no room for complacency. In 2003, Martin Muir took a job at the Yorkshire factory of the transnational flavouring company Firmenich. Today, aged 38, the father of four has the lungs of an 80-year-old man. His symptoms were only spotted thanks to an alert and informed specialist aware of the US situation. The symptoms of bronchiolitis obliterans are typically misdiagnosed as asthma or other lung ailments, letting the companies and the governments off the hook.'

IUF added: 'The Muir case suggests that we should be speaking of 'food flavouring lung' rather than 'popcorn lung'. An official US government agency has confirmed even low exposures to diacetyl can cause the disease.

Asbestos found in dozens of public sites near Nahariya

2008-03-18T14:48:00.001Z

Ha’aretz.com (Israel), reported on 17/02/2008 that there are dozens of sites contaminated by asbestos in the Nahariya area, including 11 in urgent need of treatment to prevent the carcinogenic dust from dispersing and endangering public health, according to an asbestos pollution survey conducted by the Environmental Union of Western Galilee Municipalities.

However, the survey almost certainly missed some contaminated sites, since it covered only public property, not private property.

For years, Nahariya was the home of Eitanit, a company that made asbestos. Eitanit sold or gave surplus asbestos to local residents, and it was used, among other things, for building and repairing access roads and parking lots. The exposure to asbestos caused a sharp rise in the local rate of mesothelioma, a cancer caused by the penetration of asbestos fibres into the body. About a third of those who came down with the disease were apparently exposed to asbestos near their homes.

Altogether, the survey covered 120 sites, of which 72 were found to contain asbestos. The polluted sites, many of which are agricultural roads in the Koren Valley east of Nahariya, contain an estimated 30,000 cubic meters or more of asbestos. The sites that require high-priority treatment include two asbestos dumps that had been known about even prior to the survey.

To read the full story click on the link below:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/954773.html

Health Canada assessing risk of chrysotile asbestos

2008-03-18T14:42:00.001Z

Globe and Mail Canada 22nd February 2008 reported that The World Health Organization says the chrysotile variety of asbestos is a health hazard and recommends its use be stopped to prevent cancer. So does the Canadian Cancer Society, and other respected public health agencies. But not Health Canada.

The federal health agency has quietly begun a study on the dangers of the asbestos type, the last remaining variety of the controversial mineral in widespread commercial use and the only one produced by mines in Canada.

The study is to try to determine the relationship between chrysotile fibres and the risk of contracting several diseases -such as lung cancer, asbestosis, and mesothelioma - and investigate the relative dangers of the Canadian variety compared with another type, known as amphibole.
But many public health advocates say repeated scientific reviews by respected international bodies have already found that all types of asbestos, including Canada's, cause cancer.
"Every legitimate world organization ... [has] concluded that chrysotile does indeed cause all asbestos-related diseases," said Richard Lemen, a retired assistant U.S. surgeon-general. The U.S. voted last year to ban all kinds of asbestos, Dr. Lemen said.

In an e-mailed statement, Health Canada said it was undertaking the research "to help further Canada's knowledge of chrysotile asbestos fibres in relation to human health," and to update the World Health Organization's last published assessment on the subject from 1998.
That assessment said all forms of asbestos were responsible for "a high incidence" of lung cancer and were so dangerous the safe exposure level was unknown at the time.

Critics say the government hopes the research might help sway opinion at key international talks, known as the Rotterdam Convention, which are scheduled for later this year and will discuss placing chrysotile on the list of the world's most hazardous substances.
Canada led efforts to scuttle the listing at the last round of these UN-sponsored talks two years ago.

"It would make sense that they would want to bolster their argument since it's coming up again this fall," said Larry Stoffman, Vancouver-based chairman of the National Environmental and Occupational Exposures Committee, an independent, cancer-prevention organization funded by Health Canada.
Mr. Stoffman said that chrysotile should be listed because "the overwhelming evidence is that this material is very dangerous" and that Canada would risk further damage to its international reputation by undermining efforts to control the product.
To read the entire article click on the link below:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080222.ASBESTOS22/TPStory/National

Ford pays mechanic for asbestosis

2008-03-18T14:39:00.002Z

TUC Risks 23rd February reported that a mechanic from Perth has made Australian legal history by successfully suing the Ford Motor Company for Aus$840,000 (£396,000) after he proved that his job caused his asbestosis.

The Supreme Court of Western Australia ruled that Ford was responsible for the asbestosis now crippling Antonino Lo Presti, 58, and awarded him damages. Mr Lo Presti, an Italian immigrant who struggles with English, worked for a variety of Ford dealerships between 1970 and 1987 across Western Australia, servicing vehicles that were fitted with brakes that contained asbestos in the lining. The trial, held over two months last year, heard that compressed air was used to blow the brakes out during servicing.

Evidence was given by several of Mr Lo Presti's former workmates, who said the process created an extremely dusty environment, with the asbestos dust settling on desks and getting in people's hair, mouth and nose.

Mr Lo Presti did not become aware until 1994 that the method was dangerous and should not have been used. 'Before that, the plaintiff did not know (or believe) that exposure to brake dust and fibres might be dangerous and that measures should be taken to reduce the generation and inhalation of dust,' judge Andrew Beech said in his judgment.

He added that Ford 'ought to have known that if no protective measures were taken, there was a real risk, not merely a far-fetched or fanciful prospect, that asbestos fibres released from the brake linings of Ford vehicles would cause life-threatening injury, including mesothelioma, to motor mechanics.' Mr Lo Presti's wife, Connie, said life had been a struggle since her husband was diagnosed seven years ago with asbestosis and was forced to quit work. She said the financial burden of the disease had forced her to hold down three jobs while caring for her husband.

On March 12th 2008, the Melbourne Herald Sun reported that FORD Australia has lodged an appeal against the decision.

HSE Alerts Tradespeople to Asbestos Risks

2008-03-18T14:32:00.002Z

Every week 20 workers in construction trades die simply because they have breathed in asbestos fibres during the course of their work.

This is the stark warning of a new Health and Safety Executive (HSE) campaign to make people aware of the dangers of asbestos.

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.'

Call for schools asbestos survey

2008-03-18T14:03:00.002Z

TUC Risks 23rd February reported that Teaching union ATL is urging the government to carry out a survey of all schools to check whether asbestos is present.

It is warning that putting a drawing pin into a classroom wall or slamming a classroom door 'could be enough to sign a death warrant' and is calling for asbestos to be removed from all schools by 2010.

Asbestos was used extensively as a building material between 1945 and early 1980s in new and refurbished schools.

Pre-fabricated schools of the CLASP, SCOLA and Hills type commonly used asbestos, the union said.

At its annual conference in Torquay in March, ATL members will be asked to support a demand that the government conducts a survey of all educational establishments to determine whether asbestos is present, and to ensure all asbestos is removed by licensed contractors by 2010.

ATL general secretary Dr Mary Bousted said: 'We are deeply concerned about the continuing risk to teachers, support staff and pupils from asbestos in our schools. There is still too little information about asbestos. We don't know how many schools still contain asbestos, so most teachers have little idea of whether they or their pupils are being exposed to it.' She added: 'Schools should keep and maintain asbestos registers to record the locations and condition of any asbestos, and let staff know.' HSE figures suggest at least 182 people working in education died in Great Britain between 1980 and 2000 from the asbestos cancer mesothelioma alone. The figure for asbestos-related lung and other cancers is likely to be higher still.

(Editor's Note: The HSE's recommendation is to manage asbestos rather than to remove it).

Pleural Plaques Payouts

2008-03-18T13:29:00.002Z

There has been outrage at the decision of the Law Lords in 2007 to end compensation for pleural plaques, a scarring of the lungs caused by heavy long term exposure to asbestos. They ruled that pleural plaques had no symptoms, and was therefore not a disease. The condition – a scarring of the lungs – means its victims are five times more likely to develop an incurable asbestos related cancer.

On 23rd February TUC Risks reported that the general secretary of UCATT, (The Union of Construction Allied Trades and Technicians), Alan Ritchie said:'The only crime committed by victims of pleural plaques was the crime to go out and earn a living.'

A commentary by journalist Kevin Maguire in the Daily Mirror said: 'Law Lords who overturned awards of a few grand each to victims have short-changed men who suffer terrible psychological damage... The only winners are insurance giants who'll save £1 billion, including the Swiss firm Zurich, now bunging Tony Blair £500,000 a year.'

Campaigners from across the country including former Labour Party Chairman and Minister for Pensions, Ian McCartney, are complaining to ministers about the decision.

On 17th March 2008, Building.co.uk reported that the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown said that the government is to re-examine the decision to end compensation for people with pleural plaques and that a consultation document is to be published on the matter.

The Scottish Executive is already looking at overturning the ban on compensation for the condition.

School to face fines over asbestos?

2008-02-20T15:41:00.001Z

Weston and Somerset Mercury reported 14 February 2008 that it cost £135,000 to remove a toxic substance from Priory Community School and there may still be more to pay.
The cost mounted up at the site off Queens Way in Worle last summer after contractors disturbed asbestos. Specialists had to be called in to get rid of the toxic substance so North Somerset Council has said it will allocate £100,000 from its emergency capital works budget towards the removal. The Health and Safety Executive was also called in last year to inspect the school after the incident and its results have not yet been given. If a fine is handed out by the Government organisation, which is responsible for health and safety in the workplace, the school will have to find the funds to pay up
http://www.thewestonmercury.co.uk/content/twm/news/story.aspx?brand=Westonmercury&category=news&tBrand=westonmercury&tCategory=znews&itemid=WeED14%20Feb%202008%2009%3A15%3A38%3A063

Centre closed amid asbestos contamination fears

2008-02-20T15:32:00.000Z

The Star .co.uk (Yorkshire) 15th February 2008 reported that Rotherham Council has closed its main town centre civic building after what is believed to be asbestos was discovered on the first floor.

Tests are being carried out by specialist contractors to determine the extent of the contamination, and the results are expected tomorrow. Around 450 staff work in the office complex, which contains the council's busy Customer Service Centre on the ground floor. Around 60 staff work on the first floor where the substance was found during routine testing prior to building work.

The council is trying to play down the discovery, and says any asbestos contamination is likely to be small. It is trying to find alternative accommodation for staff and for the services which are run from the civic complex. A council spokesman said: "A temporary customer service desk has been set up at nearby Norfolk House to deal with urgent enquiries only - this will have no cash desk facilities. "If people do wish to make cash payments we would ask them to go to their local Neighbourhood Office or the Dinnington or Swinton Customer Service Centres."
http://www.thestar.co.uk/rotherham/Centre-closed-amid-asbestos-contamination.3780236.jp

Asbestos Dumping at Romney Marsh

2008-02-20T15:30:00.001Z

Kent on Line reported on 14th February 2008 that illegal and dangerous dumping of asbestos on Romney Marsh could be stopped with public vigilance, according to Shepway council.

In recent weeks, the council has cleared asbestos from 20 sites in the Marsh, and hopes to remove the rest by the end of the week. The council’s environment head Rory Love has announced a crackdown on the “rogue traders” believed to be carrying out the illegal fly-tipping, and asked residents to look out for vans and lorries at night. He said: “We believe this might be coming from outside the district. “We ask people to be extra vigilant and to get the registration number and description of the vehicle and of anyone they think might be involved – providing it is safe for them.”

The council has advised anyone who finds asbestos not to move it, as it is only a hazard when it is moved. As long as the asbestos is on public land, the council will arrange to have it removed. However, it is not responsible for taking away materials that have been illegally dumped on private land.Those found guilty of fly-tipping can be fined up to £50,000, while the owners of vehicles transporting waste without a licence face a £300 fine. Anyone finding asbestos in the Shepway is asked to call 01303 858660 and give a precise location.
http://www.kentonline.co.uk/news/default.asp?article_id=38456

Vitrification of Asbestos Containing Materials

2008-02-20T15:19:00.001Z

A French company, Europlasma issued a press release on 14th February 2008, stating that the seventy joint owners of the Maine-Montparnasse Tower Complex (EITMM) have decided to systematically and permanently destroy asbestos-containing material from building work at the tower by means of vitrification.

The waste will be transported to the INERTAM site at Morcenx in the Landes region, where it will be treated at 1500°C by plasma fusion, turning it into entirely inert, reusable material. A total of 600 tons of this waste was produced in the second half of 2007 and more than 1000 tons are anticipated in 2008, for total expected turnover of €1.5 million.

In January 2008, the Paris hospitals administration (AP-HP) also signed a global three-year contract for the permanent destruction by vitrification of all of the waste generated by the asbestos removal work from its real-estate, estimated to cover 6 million m2. INERTAM expects the contract to generate turnover of €3 million over three years.The destruction of asbestos waste by vitrification, instead of land filling, is an increasingly popular option among public and private clients.

In 2007, INERTAM reported a 3% profit margin on a total turnover of €11 million (unaudited data). Current commercial success suggests that 2008 results will be even better. INERTAM is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Europlasma specialising in the plasma vitrification treatment of asbestos waste.

About Europlasma ( www.europlasma.com )
Set up in 1992, Europlasma specialises in industrial processes using plasma-torch technology. The processes developed allow us to treat and reuse different types of waste (asbestos, toxic ash, etc.).The latest innovation is the reuse of waste using a gasification process with an additional plasma stage for electricity generation.

£1.9m probe launched into asbestos in city buildings

2008-02-20T15:02:00.002Z

The Scotsman 16th February 2008 reported that a £1.9 million investigation into every council-owned property in Edinburgh is set to be launched in a bid to identify asbestos levels.

The council today admitted its current records are "inadequate", and do not meet health and safety regulations.The project is designed to ensure materials that contain asbestos are kept in a safe condition if they pose a minimum risk, or removed if there is an "unacceptable risk" to human health.

The Health and Safety Executive recently served the council with an improvement notice after identifying problems with the local authority's processes for dealing with asbestos. A central database will be set up to record all information relating to asbestos at the 1090 council-owned premises, such as schools, community centres, care homes, offices and "investment properties" which are leased out. At the same time, surveys will be done to assess the energy performance of buildings, as well as compliance with disability discrimination laws. The money is set to be included in the council budget for 2008/09, due to be adopted on Thursday. City finance leader Gordon MacKenzie said today: "This is a very serious issue, and it's vitally important that we carry out this survey work."Sadly, this has been starved of resources up to now, but this is our first budget and we intend to make provision.

"To meet its obligations, the council requires accurate electronic floor plans showing a record of the location and condition of asbestos-containing materials. The £1.9m will be spent on the project between 2008 and 2010, with annual maintenance costs of around £150,000 per year thereafter. Council officials have warned that failure to carry out the work will be a breach of legal requirements and could result in action being taken against the local authority. Basic information is currently available for only around 50 per cent of council properties, which will need to be updated, while the remainder of the buildings will require a full survey.

The scheme does not cover the council's housing stock.City development director Andrew Holmes said: "Given the requirements, there is an urgent need for a major one-off survey of operational property to obtain current electronic plans and survey information."It is proposed that initial survey work commence during 2008/09 with completion in 2009/10. Given the size and value of the exercise, earlier completion is impractical."On completion of this work, all plans held on the database would be checked and updated, following alteration, on an annual basis." Labour group leader Ewan Aitken – who was council leader until last year's election – said it was "simply not true" that resources for this area had been "starved".He said the money would have been provided if council officials had raised concerns.

http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/19m-probe-launched-into-asbestos.3785376.jp

Call for school asbestos survey

2008-02-20T14:50:00.002Z

BBC 15th February 2008 reported that a teaching union is urging the government to carry out a survey of all schools to check whether potentially life-threatening asbestos is present.

The Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) wants asbestos to be removed from all schools by 2010.

The substance, which causes serious diseases of the heart and lungs, was widely used between 1945 and 1975 when thousands of schools were built.

Schools are legally required to check for asbestos and manage any risk.

ATL general secretary Dr Mary Bousted said her union was deeply concerned about the continuing risk to teachers, support staff and pupils from asbestos in schools.
"There is still too little information about asbestos. We don't know how many schools still contain asbestos, so most teachers have little idea of whether they or their pupils are being exposed to it.
"Schools should keep and maintain asbestos registers to record the locations and condition of any asbestos, and let staff know."

She added: "Over 400 ATL members know they have been exposed to asbestos in their school or college.

"But this is the tip of the iceberg. Many teachers and pupils will be unaware, and because asbestos related illnesses take between 15 to 60 years to develop it is difficult to know how many will become ill or die as a result of exposure."

Exposure to asbestos can cause mesothelioma which is usually fatal, lung cancer, and asbestosis which can be fatal or highly debilitating.

Health and Safety Executive figures suggest at least 182 people working in education died in Great Britain between 1980 and 2000 from mesothelioma alone

To read the full account please click on the link below:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7247516.stm

CLASP schools - statement by the Health and Safety Executive

2008-02-20T14:40:00.001Z

HSE Press Release
E08:08 15 February 2008
CLASP schools - statement by the Health and Safety Executive
In autumn 2006, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) identified that there was the potential for asbestos fibres to be released in particular circumstances in CLASP (system built) schools. HSE therefore,took immediate and positive action, advising all relevant dutyholders to visually check their CLASP (system built) school buildings and, where necessary, to seal gaps in column casings using silicone sealant and tape. This simple solution has been shown to prevent asbestos fibres escaping into classrooms.
The three local authority employers’ organisations (England, Scotland, Wales) have surveyed local authorities and received positive reports of action.
HSE also set up a stakeholder working group to share information on this matter and to produce guidance. In addition, HSE inspectors targeted particular dutyholders to check that our advice had been followed. Some of these checks resulted in Improvement Notices being served but in the majority we found that dutyholders had followed our advice.
As soon as HSE were alerted to conditions at Hay Lane School, an inspector made a site visit. The London Borough of Brent identified all the remedial work required to meet HSE’s guidance for system built schools. This was carried out by licensed asbestos contractors during the weekend before Hay Lane Special School opened for the new term (January 2008).
Re-assurance air sampling involving disturbance was carried out at Hay Lane School after the remedial work and was found to be satisfactory. Sampling was also carried out to see whether asbestos was present in the ceiling void and test results were negative.
Further discussions took place with Brent Council about the management of asbestos in other schools under their control and HSE took appropriate enforcement action.
HSE's advice is that asbestos in good condition, and not likely to be damaged, is better left in place and managed. Asbestos in poor condition, or which is likely to be damaged or disturbed, should be repaired, sealed, enclosed or removed. If people are unsure of the condition of asbestos then specialist advice should be obtained.
HSE has been given information from the ITN survey and will carry out further checks as appropriate.
Notes to Editors
1. CLASP stands for Consortium of Local Authorities Special Programme. It provided standard system buildings for a variety of public sector uses but particularly schools. The nature of the construction of buildings erected between 1945 and 1980 included asbestos containing materials, partly recorded as part of the original design. The programme is now managed by Scape System Build Ltd, which was able to provide information on those organisations that had originally installed them. It is estimated that there are 1400 sites with CLASP built schools.
2. Asbestos was used extensively as a building material in Great Britain from the 1950s through to the mid-1980s. It was used for a variety of different purposes and was ideal for fireproofing and insulation. Any type of building built before 2000 (houses, factories, offices, schools, hospitals etc.) could contain asbestos. Asbestos materials in good condition are safe unless the asbestos fibres become airborne, which happens when the materials are damaged.
3. The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2006 require dutyholders to properly manage asbestos. Further information on asbestos can be found at http://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/index.htm

Asbestos in schools ITN report

2008-02-20T14:30:00.002Z

16th February 2008

Two ITN News bulletins following a year investigation by ITN have featured the asbestos problem in these schools. The paper for download was delayed waiting for publication by ITN of their findings
Shortly a technical paper will be produced on asbestos exposure in System Built Schools

Asbestos in Schools
Attached is a paper that describes asbestos fibre release in schools at levels above the 'Control Level'. The Control Level is the level at which contractors have to wear protective clothing.
The release comes from normal school activity like sitting on window sills, slamming doors, kicking skirting boards or knocking walls.

The particular type of schools in which this happens is 'System Build' Schools. They are in common use in the UK and are prefabricated buildings built in the period between 1945 and 1980.

There is extensive scientific, photographic and paperwork evidence in the paper that the HSE and the HSE/CLASP consortium that is responsible for dealing with the problem has put procedures and tests in place that fail to deal with the risk of disturbance to asbestos by normal school activity. There is further evidence that the procedures that they have put in place have not been properly implemented or supervised.

This paper follows up the two ITN News bulletins on Friday 15 February. Those bulletins were based on months of ITN research and tests in school.

The paper gives you the detailed technical information required to analyse responses to the ITN report, to check the effectiveness of precautionary and procedural measures in your local area and the ammunition to respond to unsound official responses.

You may wish to check that all such schools in your area are safe and whether the HSE, LEAs and schools are applying effective regulations or failing staff and pupils. You may wish to challenge the effectiveness both of their inpection standards and the procedures they have put in place as there is evidence that neither deal with disturbance of asbestos by things like banging doors, sitting on window sills or knocking skirting boards.

You will also find evidence that HSE and LEAs fail to address contamination by asbestos over a period of years - like that spent by a child or teacher in a school.

The paper is a factual paper, based on referenced authoritative material, and has been prepared in conjunction with experts in the asbestos industry, scientists specialising in this field and with various teacher unions. It is fully referenced.
ml@asbestosexposureschools.co.uk

To access report please click on the link below: (It is over fifty pages in length and may take a short while to download
http://www.asbestosexposureschools.co.uk/RELEASE%20OF%20ASBESTOS%20FIBRES%20IN%20SYSTEM%20BUILT%20SCHOOLS%20PART%201%2015%20FEB%2008.pdf