Trade union webinar challenges occupational cancer risks

British trades union confederation TUC is taking its campaign against occupational cancer into cyberspace. A live TUC Education webinar on 14 September will hear TUC head of safety Hugh Robertson explore which industries are most affected by occupational cancer, what the law says and what unions can do to reduce or eliminate the risks.

“The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) puts the annual occupational cancer toll at over 8,000 deaths a year – but we know it is considerably higher,” said Robertson. “Asbestos has been banned for almost 20 years but deaths – over 5,000 each year – are still increasing, despite being tightly regulated. But other risks, like breast cancers linked to shiftwork and lung and bladder cancer linked to diesel exhaust fumes, are still commonplace and frequently neglected problems.

“The TUC is aiming to give safety reps the tools to identify and challenge effectively cancer risks at work. Let’s not allow another working generation to be put at potentially deadly risk from preventable exposures.”

imsupport

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *