Horror stories from workers in danger - CJ SITE WORKER SURVEY

New figures published last week show that thousands of construction workers are dying every year of asbestos related cancer - and that many workers are still being infected today.

But in a CJ survey this week construction workers painted a distressing picture of an industry that still does not understand or seem to care about the dangers of the killer fibre.

Worker after worker related horror tales of working unprotected for months in asbestos dust and not being able to do anything about it. Very few had actually walked off site or worn protection but all of them had encountered the material.

Rob, an agency worker, said: 'If you work for an agency you're bound to get asbestosis. You've got to live with it to keep your job. If you complain, the agency gets someone else in. And it's getting worse. Things are less safe today than they used to be. You used to have a union official on site.'

Fitter Michael Doran told us: 'The asbestos problem is totally out of control. It's so huge. It's everywhere.

'It's not worth worrying what might happen to you - it's too late once you've been in it.'

Kevin Partt, formerly a pipe fitter/welder, now a commercial kitchen fitter, said: 'I've had to knock asbestos off without a mask or anything. And that was when my employer was my father!'

And mechanical fitter Chris Cleary said that one contractor told him - wrongly - that white asbestos was safe. 'We found asbestos between the plasterboard and the ceiling and it had to come out with no precautions used at all,' he said.

Despite knowing the risks, workers are still being exposed to the material. Fitter Dave Crew said: 'Eighteen months ago we had to stop work on a site after they found asbestos. But by then six of us had spent weeks in there.'

Peter Johnson, a plumber for 15 years, said: 'I was involved in refurbishing a building where the asbestos was supposed to have been sealed up and ringed with red. But there were still bits of it just hanging about everywhere.' His firm kicked up a fuss but others worked through it.

And contractors who used to have safety checks have now cut back because of the recession. Fitter Garry Smith said: 'We had a policy to X-ray staff every three years but then it was stopped because it was costing too much money.'

Fitter Michael Fitzpatrick summed up the mood: 'How are we to know when we're at risk?'