HSE survey: shocking ignorance of asbestos risk

A new survey commissioned by HSE and based on interviews with 500 tradespeople reveals that many are ignorant of the risks posed by asbestos. One of the headline findings in the survey, carried out by Censuswide in September 2014, was that 14 per cent of respondents believed that drinking a glass of water would help protect them from the deadly dust. Twenty seven per cent of those asked thought that opening a window would help keep them safe. Equally worrying, only 30 per cent of those surveyed were able to identify all the correct measures for safe asbestos working, while 57 per cent made at least one potentially lethal mistake in trying to identify how to stay safe. The findings raise serious concerns, especially in light of the fact that tradespeople, including construction workers, carpenters and painters and decorators, could come into contact with the deadly asbestos on average more than 100 times a year. HSE figures reveal that 20 tradespeople, on average, die every week from asbestos-related diseases. Asbestos can be found in walls and ceilings, or the structure of a building, as well as a host of other places like floor tiles, boilers, toilet cisterns, guttering and soffits. Basic maintenance work like drilling holes and sanding can disturb it and the lethal microscopic fibres have been linked to lung disease and cancer. Censuswide’s research reveals that while 53 per cent of respondents knew that asbestos could be in old buildings built before 1970, only 15 per cent knew that it could still be found in buildings built up to 2000. It seems unbelievable that soo many tradespeople are still soo ignorant to the serious life-threatening risks that they face every day!