Lives depend on asbestos action, says IOSH

The Government needs to take more action to prevent thousands of people dying from asbestos exposure every year, says IOSH – 25 years on from the deadly material being banned in the UK.

Despite the ban, an estimated 300,000 non-domestic buildings built before 1999 still contain asbestos.

We know that about 5,000 people a year die from asbestos-related diseases every year in the UK. While the cause of their illness was likely exposure from decades ago, we believe that people are still being exposed today, putting them at risk of terminal cancers such as mesothelioma in the years to come.