OS&H BULLETIN

摘要

There are six million tonnes of asbestos in 1.5 million buildings in the UK, including 80 per cent of schools and 94 per cent of NHS trust buildings, the report found. Teachers and nurses are three to five times more likely to develop mesothelioma -a cancer almost exclusively caused by asbestos - than the general population. Since 1980 there have been 319 deaths from mesothelioma among school teachers. A 2016 freedom of information request showed an average of 17 teachers were dying from the disease every year; up from a rate of three per year during 1980-85. In the health service, NHS Resolution deals with about 50 claims year from employees relating to asbestos or mesothelioma, but true figures for illness may be higher as some hospitals deal with claims in house. Since 2014, NHS Resolution has paid out £10.5 million in damages for these cases, and another £4.2 million in legal costs.