Health and Safety Executive (HSE) backed research findings published in March 2005 concluded at least 150,000 people in the UK would die from asbestos-related disease in the following 30 years. It revealed that “24 per cent of male mesothelioma deaths are listed under construction-related occupations… but the proportion due to exposure in the construction industry is probably considerably higher.” The paper noted: “These data indicate that mesothelioma deaths will continue to increase for at least 15 and more likely 25 years. For the worst affected cohorts – men born in the 1940s – mesothelioma may account for around 1 per cent of all deaths. Asbestos exposure at work in construction and building maintenance will account for a large proportion of these deaths, and it is important that such workers should be aware of the risks and take appropriate precautions.” The researchers concluded that “building workers, such as carpenters, plumbers and electricians and other workers involved in building renovation, maintenance and demolition may still suffer exposure… A public information campaign to alert such workers to the potential dangers seems justified.” A decade before, HSE has axed a ready-to-go campaign to do that, after coming under pressure from the construction industry (see The long goodbye, above).

J Peto and others. Continuing increase in mesothelioma mortality in Britain, Lancet, volume 345, pages 535-539, 4 March 1995.