New TUC asbestos guide for safety reps

The TUC has published a new guide for safety reps on what they should do when asbestos is discovered, suspected or disturbed in the workplace. Finding the fatal fibre: what to do about asbestos where you work, says safety reps should encourage employers to:

* develop a register of asbestos in the workplace;

* draw up an action plan to deal with asbestos, including identifying and recording where asbestos is present, monitoring it for deterioration, and specifying what will be done when it is found;

* inform people at the workplace, inspectors and emergency services where the asbestos is and what will be done about it; and

* train workers to know what to do about it.

The TUC says that around 4,000 people die of asbestos-related diseases every year, and that in 20 years time it will be the largest single cause of male mortality in men under the age of 65.

Copies of the leaflet are available free - e-mail [email protected] or send a stamped, addressed envelope to Liz Wood, TUC, Congress House, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3LS.