August 12th, 2005

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd is the latest company in Japan to reveal worrying figures with regards to asbestos related injuries sustained by workers exposed to this substance. The company revealed that 17 employees had died from asbestos related disease after handling asbestos over the period of a few decades. Six others are also receiving treatment for asbestos related problems.

This is just one of many reports released over the past few weeks by various Japanese companies, revealing how serious the problem of asbestos related injuries is and implicating hundreds of deaths connected to asbestos exposure. The government in Japan has now been accused of negligence over the matter of asbestos.

The majority of Mitsubishi employees affected by asbestos related health problems had worked at the company’s shipyards, such as those in Nagasaki and Shimonoseki in southern Japan and Kobe in western Japan. Some worked making thermal insulation in factories, where they were exposed to the deadly substance.

Although around 350 asbestos related deaths have been indicated in the various reports that have been released by companies, but experts state that the figures are probably far higher than is indicated.