M6 musings...

Day Zero. The evening of 19th June. Driving up the M6 to Glasgow...


Our journey is to highlight some of the breathtaking facts about asbestos - still Britain's biggest workplace killer.

Over 2000 people die of mesothelioma each year in Britian. More people than die on our roads. About the same number die of asbestos related lung cancer. The trend continues to rise.

Exposure to the deadly fibre occured decades ago. People are usually retired when they present with the cancer. The workforce and premises that caused the death sentence are often gone. Because of this, asbestos related disease has been characterised as a hidden killer.

Is asbestos just a historic artefact of a past, heavy industrial exposure?

No. It appears it isn't.

Does asbestos still threaten workers and the British public a decade after all forms of asbestos have been banned in the UK and EU?

YES.

Exposure to deadly asbestos fibres in 21st century Britian should be preventable.
It is a breathtaking fact it is still occuring.

Going to work shouldn't carry a death sentence.

As we drove up the M6 to start our journey in Glasgow we passed too many places where people have died simply as a result of engaging in a days work. The towering cranes and building sites of urban regeneration schemes. Morcambe Bay. The railway that heads north beside the motorway.

Preventable deaths of people that left home one day never to return.

As we head towards the 'silicon glens' I wonder about the suspicious cancers and illnesses that have been linked to semiconductor production and other profitable high tech work.

Some say that nanotechnology could be the "next asbestos".

It would be truly breathtaking if the injustices of the past are repeated in the future.
The knowledge that a hugely profitable material carried devastating health risks. The official lies, the denials, the obfuscation, the avoidances of responsibility, the 'creative accountancy' that can avoid and employers, or insurers legal liability. The manouvers seen in the past few decades regarding asbestos deaths and the search for justice has been truly breathtaking.

People want to work. Jobs are important. But if the tragedy of asbestos tells us anything it is that we must always ensure that people must be put before profit.


Jason.