GOVERNMENT MINISTERS must act urgently to prevent the UK facing an emergency over the worrying state of asbestos in public buildings, a leading expert has warned.
Ian Stone was speaking in the wake of a new report which shows that more than 55% of asbestos found in schools is in poor condition and that one in five asbestos-containing materials in hospitals and other healthcare premises have high damage.
Asbestos contained within public buildings is deteriorating fast and without prompt action by the government and local authorities, many more people will die from mesothelioma – the deadly cancer caused by exposure to asbestos fibres – in the years to come, Mr Stone said.
The director of asbestos consultancy Acorn Analytical Services in Northampton attended the report’s launch in Westminster where Robin Bennett, director of the report’s author Start Software, presented the document to MPs Jane Hunt MP and Sir Stephen Timms, chair of the Work and Pensions Committee.
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Pictured above: Mr Bennett (right) with MPs Jane Hunt and Sir Stephen Timms.
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Mr Stone pictured left said: “There is no doubt in our minds that the UK is firmly in the grip of an asbestos epidemic and the evidence found in this report makes for grim reading. Without even realising it, the UK is sleepwalking into a health emergency.”
Asbestos was used extensively in the UK throughout the late 20th century when demand for new buildings and infrastructure was at its height. Despite being banned from new buildings in 1999 it exists in large amounts in many public buildings. As it decays and fractures, the risk of inhaling asbestos fibres increases as does the risk of developing mesothelioma.
The UK already has one of the highest rate of mesothelioma in the world, thought to be linked to the widespread use of asbestos in the years immediately after the Second World War.
Last year, the Work and Pensions Committee recommended that a 40-year target be set for the removal of asbestos in non-domestic buildings. Sir Stephen described asbestos as “one of the great workplace tragedies of modern times”.
The government rejected the recommendations, arguing that asbestos remains safe as long as it is not disturbed. However, the new report says the current policy is not working.
Mr Stone said: “Everybody is at risk, including children and the most vulnerable in our society, and we implore the government and others in authority to take the contents of this report seriously. As a community and as an industry, we must take action – now.”
