September 27th, 2006

The UK’s Health and Safety Executive has launched a new campaign that has been designed to remind a variety of maintenance workers about the dangers of working with asbestos, and hopes to reinforce safety measures and precautions with those likely to work with asbestos related products in order to help them to avoid asbestos related health problems.

Around a quarter of the asbestos related deaths that occur in the UK each year affect workers such as plumbers, electricians, builders, carpenters, and other similar maintenance and building workers, and these are the groups being targeted by the Health and Safety Executive for this campaign.

Although the use of asbestos is no longer legal in the UK, there are still many buildings and products that contain asbestos from the 1980s and earlier, when asbestos was still widely used in countries all around the world. This is where the risks lie for these maintenance and building workers.

The launch of the campaign is scheduled to take place at the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health's annual conference. The HSE will remind workers of the dangers as well as offer advice on precautions.