Long regarded as a magical material and widely used in countless applications, asbestos has turned out to be a health disaster. This powerful carcinogen is responsible for the deaths of around 90,000 people every year in Europe, and is recognised as the leading cause of death in the workplace. With the European Directive on asbestos at work currently under revision, HesaMag is devoting its special report to this deadly fibre.
Tony Musu begins the report with a clear case for why it is high time for the EU to defuse the asbestos time bomb once and for all. Marie-Anne Mengeot then looks back at the lies told by the asbestos industry and the long struggle of workers to have the substance banned. Pien Heuts next explains why the Netherlands has the most protective occupational exposure limit value in Europe, and Théophile Simon describes the cutting-edge techniques being used to remove asbestos safely. Mathilde Dorcadie investigates a case of faulty personal protective equipment used by asbestos workers, while Tom Cassauwers considers the need to better protect firefighters from occupational cancer risks, including asbestos. The leaders of the European Federation of Building and Woodworkers explain in an exclusive interview what improvements they expect to see in the revision of the Asbestos at Work Directive. Finally, Mehmet Koksal recounts the story of the Tripode building in Nantes, where 1,795 civil servants were passively exposed to deteriorating asbestos for more than 20 years, 31 of whom have now died of occupational cancers.
References: a list of publications on asbestos available here
https://www.labourline.org/ListRecord.htm?list=folder&folder=427
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