21 January, 2009
It was largely due to the efforts of those who suffered and their union representatives that governments, after decades of inaction, finally introduced regulations on the use of and exposure to asbestos. But asbestos is still around and there are those who continue to tout it as the “magic mineral.” While your brake linings and floor tiles may still contain asbestos, most of today's production is now exported to third world countries where weak regulation and enforcement allows people to be fatally exposed to the killer fibres.
WHAT IS ASBESTOS?
Asbestos is a class of silicate mineral fibre. There are three main asbestos minerals: chrysotile, crocidolite, and amosite. The most common type is chrysotile.
Because of their chemical structure, they form long crystalline fibres of amazing strength and fire resistance which can be recovered from the mineral. Asbestos is used in textiles, cement products, brake linings, filters, roofing tiles, flooring, fillers for plastics and thousands of other products.
While union activists in the 1970’s and 80’s managed to put the workplace hazards on the front burner and achieved enormous reforms on the job and legislatively, the fact is that asbestos is still in use. And the concerns initially raised by unionists 30 years ago, while still valid, have been somewhat muted by a well funded industry lobby, at times in sync with our governments.
It is useful for health and safety activists to keep alert on the dangers inherent with the use of asbestos and to keep the focus where it should be: saving our members’ livelihoods and lives.
There are a multitude of environmental and health related issues surrounding the use of asbestos in society.
ASBESTOS RELATED ISSUES
EXPOSURE LIMITS
Even though there is no evidence that there is any “safe” level of exposure, most jurisdictions have enacted limits. Check what applies in your workplace. Workers need to assure themselves, when working with or near asbestos, that exposure limits are not being exceeded; that protective measures are adequate (respirators, clothing, etc.); and, that you are not endangering yourself. In many jurisdictions, you have the right to refuse unsafe work.
SMOKING AND ASBESTOS
An asbestos worker who smokes will have many times the risk of cancer than a non-smoking asbestos worker; or a non-asbestos exposed smoker, would have. But attempts to deflect the dangers of asbestos by blaming high cancer rates on smoking are irresponsible. The fact is that asbestos workers who have never smoked in their lives die of asbestos related cancers.
BLUE vs WHITE
There has been some suggestion that only “blue” (crocidolite) asbestos is a problem and that “white” (chrysotile) asbestos is relatively safe.. If true, why is asbestos related disease so widespread when crocidolite accounts for only 3% of all asbestos used?
IMMOBILIZED FIBRES
Industry makes the argument that the fibres are immobilized or bound together in such a way they cannot be released in many asbestos products. But, there are workers who must handle these fibres prior to their incorporation into such products and others who must saw, cut or fasten them in such a way that the fibres may, indeed be released.
FIBRE MODIFICATION
There is little or no evidence that chemically modifying asbestos fibres renders them safer and the only way to find out is to wait decades for workers to die or get sick.
SUBSTITUTE PRODUCTS
Fibreglass and other synthetic mineral fibres are the main asbestos substitutes. While it may be true that they are safer to work with than asbestos, the best approach for workers is to treat asbestos substitutes with suspicion and handle them with caution. The more similar the substitute is to asbestos, the more likely it is to have similar health effects.
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Asbestos provides a good example of the link between occupational and environmental health and safety. Widespread environmental contamination with asbestos in asbestos producing region and near industries which use asbestos may be causing a “cancer epidemic in slow motion.”
JUST TRANSITION
Regrettably, the money already spent by some governments propping up this sunset industry could have been used to create a first class Just Transition programme for asbestos workers, their families and the communities that have depended on the asbestos industry.
HOW ASBESTOS KILLS
Asbestosis is one disease caused by asbestos in the lungs. Some scientists think that when asbestos fibres are inhaled, cells called macrophages attempt to engulf and digest them. The fibres are not easily dissolved by the digestive enzymes, however – although certain harmful chemical constituents of asbestos may be dissolved enough to be a problem in themselves. As well, the size and shape of asbestos fibres causes some of them to project through the cell wall of the macrophages, allowing these powerful enzymes to leak out and attack surrounding lung tissue. The end result is progressive scarring and damage to the lungs, resulting in loss of elasticity of the lung tissue. Damage can become severe enough to cause disability and death.
Cancer is another consequence of asbestos exposure. Estimates of the number of cancer cases vary widely. Of the cancers that asbestos is known to cause, 80% are lung cancers; 10% are mesotheliomas; and 10% are others such as throat, stomach and intestinal. Although some asbestos cancers are difficult or impossible to distinguish from cancers caused by other agents; mesothelioma (cancer of the lining of the lungs or intenstines) is ONLY known to be caused in humans by asbestos. Mesothelioma is 100% fatal.
IF YOU THINK THERE IS ASBESTOS IN YOUR WORKPLACE:
Demand an immediate workplace Asbestos Survey. Your Joint Health and Safety Committee should lead the effort to identify and map all occurrences of asbestos and should be given all resources required to do the job. Once the asbestos has been identified, the JHSC should develop recommendations to control exposure. There are four generally accepted approaches. In order of preference, they are:
1. Removal of the asbestos material: In all cases, this is the CEP’s recommended solution. It is the only way to ensure the hazard is eliminated. Strict procedures must be followed and enforced which means careful planning and attention to the training of all workers and supervisors as well as to the choice of replacement materials.
Of the four accepted approaches to dealing with asbestos, removal is best
2. Encapsulation or sealing of the asbestos material: Coating or impregnating the asbestos material with a bonding agent immobilizes the fibres and reduces their release. Danger still exists, however, because the bonding material may deteriorate or work (cutting, grinding, repairs, etc.) may be performed on the material, creating the potential of fibres being released. Encapsulation should be considered a temporary measure with the objective of removing the asbestos material at some appropriate future date.
3. Enclosure of the asbestos material: If neither removal nor encapsulation is possible within a reasonable time, the next best approach is to separate the asbestos material from the rest of the workplace by some kind of barrier (removable ceilings or walls are not acceptable). Enclosure is not a control measure and should be accepted only as a temporary means of protecting workers until removal can be completed.
4. Asbestos management plan: If any materials cannot immediately be removed completely and safely, a management plan will be required. If any asbestos materials remain in the workplace, even if encapsulated or enclosed, an ongoing system is needed to:
• Maintain clear identification of the areas where exposure may take place;
• Educate people what to do if work must take place in or near these areas;
• Inspect the materials frequently for any changes;
• Formulate a complete removal strategy as quickly as possible.
There are many lessons to be learned by union activists from the decades of battle which have been waged to protect ourselves and the public from asbestos hazards:
• Legislation and regulation on their own are not a total “win”. Regulatory solutions, too often, come after a problem becomes a crisis and while we need good laws, we also need better ways of identifying and controlling hazards before the death toll mounts.
• Our memory is too short. Having greatly reduced the uses and abuses of asbestos in the 1980’s, too many people lowered their guard, believing the battle had been won. This has created an opportunity for the industry to rewrite history and win a rebirth.
• Scientists and other supposed independent authorities are just as vulnerable to undue influence as anyone when powerful economic forces are at work.
• Finally, the asbestos history reminds us that our best tool for building improved occupational health and safety is sold union activism at the shop floor level.
DON’T TAKE YOUR RIGHTS TO THE GRAVE
If there is any doubt about whether the work is proceeding safely or not, remember that the regulations are a minimum standard. Compliance with regulations may not be sufficient in some cases. Remember, too, that workers in some cases have the right to refuse unsafe work. Don’t take your rights to the grave!