UK worst for work-related mesothelioma death rate, study shows

Categories: Construction Health and Safety |


UK worst for work-related mesothelioma death rate, study shows The significant threat of asbestos facing workers in the UK's construction and building industries has been highlighted by new research.

Professor Julian Petro, a researcher and epidemiologist at Cancer Research UK, said a study has shown that the UK has the highest death rate from mesothelioma in the world.

In addition, for each contraction of mesothelioma, asbestos also causes around one separate case of lung cancer, according to research funded by Cancer Research UK and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Published in the British Journal of Cancer, the findings also showed that one in 17 British carpenters born in the 1940s are likely to die from the mesothelioma form of cancer - which affects the lining of the lungs.

"New regulations introduced in 1970 reduced exposure to asbestos in factories but heavy exposure to the much larger workforce in construction and various other industries continued," said Professor Julian Peto.

The need for firms to try to safeguard their workers against the threat of asbestos - such as through the supply of workwear and other protective equipment - was highlighted by HSE inspections of firms in Kent and Medway last month.

Some 25 per cent of premises were found to be not taking sufficient preventative action to manage asbestos-related risks on their sites.ADNFCR-1200-ID-19056995-ADNFCR

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