Global Asbestos Awareness Week starts on April 1
This year, Global Asbestos Awareness Week (GAAW) runs from April 1 to April 7. During this time, charities and organisations from around the world raise awareness about the dangers of asbestos and offer information about how to prevent exposure.
Asbestos is the leading workplace threat in the UK
Asbestos continues to be the leading workplace killer. According to the United Kingdom Asbestos Training Association (UKATA), there are more than 5,000 deaths per year in the UK that result from asbestos-related diseases.
While asbestos use in the UK was banned over 20 years ago, it was once used so often in construction that many buildings still contain asbestos materials. Asbestos can be found in residential and commercial buildings as well as products.
Prevention is the only “cure” for asbestos
Being aware of the risks of asbestos and which safety measures to follow is the only guaranteed way to ward off asbestos-related diseases. Those include asbestosis, lung cancer, mesothelioma, and pleural thickening.
Asbestos awareness for a global audience
It’s imperative that Asbestos Awareness Week has a global reach. While the UK has to manage asbestos materials from pre-2000, other areas of the world are still actively producing asbestos today. According to The Mesothelioma Centre, China, India, Kazakhstan, and Russia are world leaders in asbestos production.
Asbestos Awareness Week brings the focus to:
- Banning asbestos mining, manufacturing, and use around the world
- Preventing exposure to asbestos through education and training
- Increasing the understanding of and compliance with asbestos laws and regulations
- Establishing international partnerships to keep the public safe
Stronger together in the fight against asbestos
In the global fight against asbestos exposure, worldwide unity is one of our biggest assets. Experts, organisations, and victims from around the world come together during Asbestos Awareness Week to share their stories, learn from one another, and take action.
Asbestos can affect more than just the construction workers who have to handle it. It can also impact visitors of a business, schoolchildren, and your own families if you don’t know where asbestos is located and unknowingly disturb it.
The more information that’s out there, the better able we’ll be to manage asbestos in our homes and workplaces.
It’s important for the realities of asbestos exposure to become known so that everyone can be educated and remain safe.