Keep Swindon Disease issue in the spotlight (From This Is Wiltshire)

Keep Swindon Disease issue in the spotlight

5:53pm Sunday 25th February 2007

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A VICTIM of the deadly condition dubbed the Swindon Disease have said it is important to keep highlighting the issues.

Today is Mesothelioma Action Day, a national day designed to heighten the awareness of asbestos-related diseases.

And the TUC is urging firms to do more to protect workers against exposure to asbestos, which kills more than 2,000 people every year.

They claim the substance is still to be found in more than 1.5m workplaces, even though its supply and use has been banned in the UK.

A report by the TUC says that many employers do not even know if their buildings contain asbestos, putting thousands of maintenance and other workers at risk, according to the union organisation.

Mesothelioma has become known to some as the Swindon Disease because of the large numbers of former railwaymen who contracted it, as asbestos was used widely in the town's railway works. Fred Large, pictured, of Ferndale Road, contracted the disease while working for Plesseys in the 1960s.

He said that more needs to be done to protect workers.

"It is still to be found in a lot of places," said the 72-year-old.

"People know much more about it now than they did a few years ago, but people need to be made more aware."

He said that Swindon has seen the devastating effects that asbestos can have with the closure of the Wyvern Theatre last September.

"It is all right as long as you don't disturb it," he said.

"But once you disturb it that's when it breaks up and you breathe it in, which is what happened to me."

The TUC is calling on all employers to have a survey carried out to see if their building contains asbestos, and if it does to have the substance cleared out.

Brendan Barber said: "No worker's life should be put at risk by employers who just cannot be bothered to get a simple survey done.

"We urge all safety representatives to make sure that their workplace has been checked, and that proper control measures are in place, including providing information and training to both staff and any contractors on asbestos."

The Swindon and South West Asbestos Group is on hand to offer advice and support to family members affected by asbestos-related diseases and regularly organises social functions.

It is run by the widows who have lost their husbands to the killer diseases associated with asbestos exposure.

At last year's action day they released more than 20 balloons in Queen's Park, each bearing the name of an asbestos victim.

Following that awareness day, which was sponsored by the British Lung Foundation, dozens of Adver readers signed a charter calling for better treatment.

To find out more about the Swindon and South West Asbestos Group call the helpline on 01793 496395.

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