In the UK around 4,000 men and women each year die from asbestos related illnesses such as the terminal cancer, mesothelioma. The Health and Safety Executive (‘HSE’) is working alongside the training industry calling for providers to pledge free hours of asbestos awareness training.

The HSE hope that 4,000 hours of classroom based training together with a further 4,000 hours of online training will be offered by various providers including the Independent Asbestos Training Providers and the UK Asbestos Training Association.

Professions being targeted include joiners, electricians and plumbers. The training is open to all, but is aimed at younger tradesmen who are under the false impression that asbestos is an historical problem.

HSE’s director for long latency health risks, Karen Clayton said: - “Our hidden killer campaign is helping tradesmen understand the lifesaving fact that asbestos exposure is not just an historical problem – around half a million non domestic properties still contain it. This new initiative, a continuation of the campaign, is all about tradesmen finding out exactly what they need to do to protect themselves by taking advantage of free training.  There is sadly little we can do to help those who are already suffering the often fatal effects of asbestos exposure in the workplace, but we can prevent this hidden killer claiming another generation. Through industry playing its part and asbestos support groups helping us to get the messages out about the importance of training, we can all do something practical to ensure that the risk to workers is minimised. ”

Chair of the Asbestos Victims Support Groups Forum, Tony Whitson, said: - “Each day we visit newly diagnosed mesothelioma sufferers who were never warned of the dangers of asbestos at work and who never knew how essential it was to avoid exposure to asbestos. As we confront the awful legacy from past exposure, the importance of asbestos awareness and training today cannot be exaggerated: it’s absolutely vital. That is why, in the name of all those whose lives have been lost to asbestos disease, we give our wholehearted support of this initiative, which seeks to provide free asbestos training, and most importantly, publish the importance of asbestos training provision.”

Across the country there are still many thousands of buildings which contain deadly asbestos materials. It can be disturbed during repair or renovation work, releasing tiny particles into the air which are then inhaled into the lung. Typically any type of asbestos disease develops 20-40 years after exposure to asbestos occurred.

For further information on how to pledge training hours or how to sign up for the free training visit http://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/training-pledge.htm

Contact details:

Telephone: 0161 834 1251                
E-mail: kj@johnpickering.co.uk       
Website: www.johnpickering.co.uk               
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About John Pickering and Partners LLP

John Pickering and Partners LLP- Specialist mesothelioma compensation solicitors

We are a dedicated personal injury law firm who do not do other types of work.  We specialise in claiming damages for asbestos sufferers. We have been handling compensation claims for industrial disease for over 30 years. Most of our work involves acting for asbestos disease victims who suffer from mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis and pleural thickening. We only act for the sufferers of asbestos diseases and never act for the organisations that caused the asbestos exposure or their insurers. We have an ethical approach and donate 10% of our net profits every year to good causes that help asbestos sufferers.  We have set up a charitable trust to help to fund medical research into mesothelioma and various organisations that help and support asbestos sufferers and their families.

Find out more about our donations to good causes. We have also been involved in most of the landmark judgments that shape this area of law. Find out more about us or  our reported cases. We are on the panels of several asbestos support groups and are ranked highly by legal guides.  Find out more about what others have said about us.

John Pickering and Partners LLP is a niche legal practice that has represented Claimants in the leading asbestos "test cases" in the last ten years. The firm represented Sylvia Barker in Barker v Corus (UK) Plc, a case that highlighted the legal tactics of employers and insurers trying to cut back their compensation liabilities to mesothelioma sufferers, and which prompted the amendment of the Compensation Act 2006 to ensure full compensation for mesothelioma claims. The firm represented two of the three Claimants in the landmark Fairchild appeal, in which the insurance industry tried unsuccessfully to block compensation altogether for mesothelioma sufferers unable to identify which of two or more sources of asbestos exposure had caused their illness.

The firm represented Alice Jefferson, a mesothelioma sufferer, whose illness and compensation claim against Cape Asbestos were featured in the important documentary "Alice: A Fight For Life." Shown by Yorkshire Television in July 1982, the programme was an important catalyst for legal change and public awareness of the plight of mesothelioma and other asbestos disease sufferers and a prompt for important legal reform.

Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that affects the lining of certain bodily organs. It most commonly affects the lining of the lungs (the pleura) but it can affect other areas including organs in the abdominal cavity (the peritoneum).

More than 2,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma every year in the UK and there is one mesothelioma death every five hours. The number of deaths from mesothelioma increased from 153 in 1968 to 1,969 in 2004 and is expected to peak at 2,450 between 2011 and 2015. 

The first Action Mesothelioma Day was launched on 27th February 2006.  Its objectives were to raise awareness about mesothelioma, to improve the treatment and care of mesothelioma patients, and to lobby for better funding for research into mesothelioma and for the protection and education of people who may be exposed to asbestos.

If you need advice about an asbestos related illness, contact us now for information about making a claim for compensation.

Contact us to find out more about your entitlement to claim compensation if you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer or pleural thickening.

For more information about asbestos diseases-

www.johnpickering.co.uk

For practical information and support concerning mesothelioma-

www.mesothelioma-advice.co.uk

For more information about claiming for different types of asbestos disease-

Mesothelioma compensation claims

Lung cancer compensation claims

Asbestosis compensation claims

Pleural thickening compensation claims

For more an explanation about different types of asbestos conditions-

Different asbestos conditions