Protect workers in asbestos removal, labor group says

Press Statement

Protect workers in asbestos removal, labor group says

“Protect workers doing asbestos removal from power plants, boilers and pipes now before it is too late”, urges Ernesto Herrera, former Senator and General Secretary of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP). Asbestos removal from power plants and boilers puts workers at risk due to asbestos exposure.

Asbestos is used as heat insulator because of its heat resistant property. Installed asbestos falls apart after sometime so it needs periodic replacement or eventual removal.

Asbestos removal should follow a meticulous process because of the hazards involved. Herrera calls on concerned government agencies, particularly the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), to enforce asbestos safety standards and ensure protection of workers and their families.

He says TUCP and its affiliate Associated Labor Unions (ALU) are receiving reports that ordinary workers do asbestos removal works from decommissioned power plants, boilers and pipes without adequate protection. Worse, “Asbestos is treated as ordinary waste and asbestos dust is allowed to be airborne”, he adds. Existing rules require that no asbestos fibers must go airborne in handling asbestos wastes.

Retired power plants are sold for dismantling the buildings and equipment and cleaning up the sites. “Unsafe working conditions and disregard of environmental laws must not go unchecked with the privatization of these power plants” declares Herrera.

Asbestos is classified as one of the highest cancer causing substance with no known safe level of exposure. “Asbestos is a danger to everyone because the fibers penetrate deep into the lungs when inhaled”, says Gerard Seno, National Vice President of the TUCP affiliate Associated Labor Unions (ALU).

Asbestos causes lung cancer, asbestosis, mesothelioma (a form of cancer caused only by asbestos) and other asbestos related diseases. Unsafe asbestos removal puts workers, their families and the public at risk of contracting incurable or hard to cure asbestos-related diseases.

Not enough mechanisms are in place to help workers with asbestos-related diseases. The long latency period of 10 to 40 years of asbestos diseases burdens families. Medical surveillance of exposed workers is hardly done and compensation claims are awarded late.

Safe asbestos removal from retired power plants, boilers and pipes, handling and disposal of asbestos by companies and asbestos service providers is a good start. “This requires strict enforcement of asbestos safety standards,” concludes Herrera and Seno.

For contact:

Dominador Tuvera    
ALU/TUCP Asbestos Campaign Officer 
Tel. 922 2575; Cel. 0927 8095221  
Email: dtuvera@gmail.com

Rafael Mapalo
TUCP Education/Youth Director
Tel. 433 2208; Cel. 0928 5047052
Email: mapalo_rafael@pldtdsl.net