IOSH campaign on asbestos-related cancer

Asbestos claims well over 100,000 lives a year worldwide. It’s estimated that 10 million people across the world will have died as a result of asbestos exposure before it’s been fully controlled.

But there are many other carcinogenic exposures that cause cancer and claim lives – well over 50 substances are listed as known or probable causes of workplace cancer. Across the EU, one in five workers faces an occupational cancer risk. Across the world, it’s estimated that at least 742,000 people die worldwide every year.

IOSH’s ‘No Time to Lose’ campaign aims to get carcinogenic exposure issues more widely understood and help businesses take action. The campaign is working to:

• raise awareness of a significant health issue facing workers in the UK and internationally
• suggest some solutions on a UK scale to tackle the problem – a national model that can be transposed internationally
• offer free practical, original materials to businesses to help them deliver effective prevention programmes

Further information on health and safety issues and asbestos can be found on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) website.