There are many people who are still ignorant about exactly how much asbestos is in existence in public buildings, factories, hospitals and schools.
Although existing asbestos is perfectly safe if it is undisturbed, unless you know it’s there in the first place, how do you know you shouldn’t disturb it?
Asbestos can be found all over the UK having been used for the building of houses, factories, schools, and hospitals since the 1950s. In particular, the major industrial sites in the North East and North West of the UK, which has one of the highest incidences of asbestos related diseases, were built using asbestos in the mix of materials. The cement was used as a lagging for pipes, central heating systems, corrugated sheeting for sheds and garages, textured decorative coating like Artex in the home, and in plastic floor and ceiling tiles. Dangerous fibres are released from these products over time through age, routine maintenance like drilling, sawing or sanding.
Mesothelioma Compensation
During the baby boom of the sixties when many new schools had to be built to meet the demand of the growing population, asbestos was one of the main ingredients in the concrete used for construction. Asbestos was a popular material to use for reinforcing concrete because it was cheap. It was more cost effective to use asbestos when manufacturing cement pipes than to reinforce them with steel, and it also made the finished product much lighter to transport, saving on costs overall.
A major factor for asbestos-related diseases is ignorance. Fifty years ago when asbestos began to be more widely used no one knew the risks that came from the dangerous dust. Many construction and factory workers were unknowingly affected during their day to day lives and then carried the invisible but deadly particles back home to their families on their clothes. Many years on, the results of this ignorance is now, unfortunately, being experienced with deaths from asbestos related diseases rising every year, especially in the North East, where the majority of industrial expansion occurred in the 1960s. Many families recieve Mesothelioma Compensation for having worked with asbestos or been unknowingly exposed to it. Much like searching for holiday illness compensation help, sufferers and their families can claim money for their illness that was not their fault.
