§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will estimate the number of people in Great Britain working with asbestos or using it in any of its forms.
§ Mr. WaddingtonI refer the right hon. Member to the reply I gave to him on 27 July 1982—[Vol. 28, c. 455.]
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will impose a limit of 0.5 fibre/cc on chrysotile and amosite asbestos and aim to reduce this limit to 0.2 fibre/cc by 1984.
§ Mr. WaddingtonThe exposure limits for asbestos will be reduced to 1 fibre/ml for chrysotile and 0.5 fibre/ ml for amosite as from 1 January 1983. Not later than August 1983, the Health and Safety Commission will consider, on the basis of reports it has requested, whether any further action needs to be taken on the question of control limits.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is his estimate of the risks to workers exposed to asbestos getting asbestos diseases from a lifetime exposure to 1 fibre/cc.
§ Mr. Waddington:The advisory committee on asbestos estimated that, for workers exposed to 1 fibre/ml for a period of 50 years, the excess mortality is likely to be within the range of about 0.25 per cent. to about 2.25 per cent. However, the committee went on to take account of the fact that strict compliance with a control limit of 1 fibre/ml will reduce long-term average exposure to a lower level, and the excess mortality is likely to be rather lower.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many prosecutions there have been each year under the 1969 asbestos regulations since they came into operation; what was the average annual total fine; and what was the annual cost of monitoring the observance of the regulations and taking any necessary action against companies.
§ Mr. WaddingtonThe following table shows the number of informations laid, convictions obtained and 479W average fine per conviction for prosecutions taken by Her Majesty's Factory Inspectorate under the Asbestos Regulations 1969. The figures relate to hearings completed during the years 1971–81.
Information is not available specifically for the annual cost of monitoring the observance of these regulations and taking any necessary action against companies.
Informations laid Conviction obtained Average fine per conviction £ 1971 1 1 25 1972 45 41 58 1973 21 20 86 1974 45 40 51 1975 32 22 79 1976 35 23 68 1977 90 84 195 1978 40 37 94 1979 12 7 54 1980 18 16 244 *1981 11 8 150 *provisional
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will arrange for special retraining grants, special redundancy payments and other assistance for workers on asbestos products.
§ Mr. WaddingtonThe statutory redundancy payments scheme provides compensation without regard to industry or occupation; it is open to particular industries to negotiate extra-statutory payments if they wish. The Manpower Services Commission's employment and training services are available to workers from the asbestos industry on the same basis as to all others.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) what is his latest estimate of the numbers of deaths each year from asbestos-related diseases and of the number of people who are disabled by these diseases;
(2) how many asbestos workers have been recorded as dying of mesothelioma in each year since 1968; and how reliable a reflection of actual deaths he considers these figures to be.
§ Mr. WaddingtonThe figures requested for the latest estimate of the number of deaths each year from certain
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Table Death certificates mentioning specified asbestos—related diseases, 1969–80 Year of death 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980* Asbestosis Together with lung cancer 24 26 32 44 43 33 49 53 59 60 44 49 Together with mesothelioma 27 40 29 40 30 64 50 74 53 85 72 66 Alone together with other disease 27 21 33 24 34 41 48 63 72 50 53 47 Total† 78 87 94 108 107 138 147 190 184 195 169 162 Mesothelioma Of pleura 105 116 105 124 138 142 165 193 206 235 260 235 Of peritoneum 15 11 12 19 25 20 19 30 22 31 34 39 Of pleura and peritoneum 3 2 4 — 3 3 4 4 6 13 5 7 Site not specified 36 65 58 67 57 75 77 82 96 112 129 153 Totals† 159 194 179 210 223 240 265 309 330 391 428 434 asbestos-related diseases are given in the following table. Asbestosis and mesothelioma are the only asbestos-related diseases for which mortality statistics are held.
Figures of the actual number of people disabled by these diseases are not available. I am able to provide, however, Department of Health and Social Security figures for the number of cases of asbestosis examined by the pneumoconiosis medical panel and approved for disablement benefit payments:
Number 1968 117 1969 123 1970 139 1971 124 1972 105 1973 116 1974 119 1975 142 1976 169 1977 *143 1978 *123 1979 *123 1980 *144 *Indicates provisional figures. As regards asbestos workers, the information about occupation on death certificates is not complete. While the total recorded number of death certificates mentioning mesothelioma and bearing evidence of occupational exposure to asbestos workers is as follows:
Number 1968 53 1969 44 1970 70 1971 52 1972 70 1973 73 1974 94 1975 107 1976 154 1977 138 1978 175 1979 196 1980 179 These figures are not reliable and probably do not represent the full occupational association of the disease.
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Health and Safety Executive
*Industrial action by registrars has delayed notification of cases to HSE. The final figures for 1980 will therefore be higher.
†Both totals include death certificates mentioning both asbestosis and mesothelioma.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the members of the advisory committee on asbestos giving the number of(a)independent academic or Government experts,(b)those involved with the asbestos industry and(c)those involved in the trade union movement.
§ Mr. WaddingtonThe advisory committee on asbestos, which was chaired by W. Simpson, chairman, Health and Safety Commission, comprised the following members
Prof. E. D. Acheson, Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Southampton University.A. C. Blyghton, Secretary, Legal Department, Transport & General Workers Union.The Hon. P. Bradbury, Chairman, Safety, Health and Welfare Committee, Confederation of British Industry.Dr. J. C. Gilson, CBE, Formerly Director, Medical Research Council, Pneumoconiosis Unit, Penarth.H. D. S. Hardie, OBE, Director, Turner & Newall Ltd.W. Lewis, Organisation Officer, Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians.W. D. Lomas, Assistant General Secretary, National Union of Dyers, Bleachers and Textile Workers.Prof. A. Mair, Professor of Community and Occupational Medicine, Dundee University.Dr. M. Molyneux, Occupational Hygienist, Institute of Naval Medicine.Dr. C. J. Stairmand, OBE, Consultant Chemical Engineer and Physicist.Dr. J. Steel, Senior Lecturer, Department of Occupational Health and Hygiene, University of Newcastle upon Tyne.F. G. Sugden, MBE, Chief Environmental Health Officer, Middlesbrough.Prof. M. Turner-Warwick, Professor of Medicine (Thoracic Medicine), University of London.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment what advice has been given to him about the minimum level of exposure to asbestos that leads to a health risk; if he will express the level in terms of duration and intensity of exposure; and how reliable he considers such estimates to be.
§ Mr. WaddingtonVolume 2 of the final report of the advisory committee on asbestos in 1979, which acknowledged the difficulties of dose/response estimation, concluded that the available studies indicated that there was no threshold of dose below which there was no risk to health.
§ Mr. Cryerasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will set out the meetings of the Health and Safety Commission which have taken place in 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1982 so far and list those meetings when specific action on the Simpson committee report on asbestos was discussed.
§ Mr. WaddingtonThe Health and Safety Commission Newsletter is published bi-monthly and contains information on the commission's decisions. Specific action on the reports of the advisory committee on asbestos was discussed on 17 April 1979, 2 December 1980, 17 February 1981, 7 April 1981, 20 July 1982, 24 August 1982 and reported in theNewsletter.
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§ Mr. Radiceasked the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to his answer of 20 October,Official Report, c. 100-1 and 143-44, if he will make it his policy eventually to impose a ban on the use of asbestos.
§ Mr. WaddingtonWhile it is not intended to introduce a general ban on the use of asbestos, regulations are being prepared to prohibit the spraying of asbestos, the use of asbestos in insulation and the import, marketing and use of crocidolite and products containing it.