Asbestos site's future in doubt

by Ross Pearman



The future of AsbestosRegister.com, the web-based asbestos database, hung in the balance as CJ went to press.

The Health & Safety Commission (HSC) was due to meet yesterday to discuss the issue, but Ross Udall, the database's chief executive, said the venture would fold unless "some miracle happens".

"We can't go on flogging a dead horse. I don't intend to throw any more of the £250,000 funds, which I have personally injected, into this venture," Udall said.

Owen Tudor, senior policy officer for the TUC, and UCATT's general secretary George Brumwell - both of whom sit on the HSC committee - have advised Udall to "sit and wait" until the outcome of the meeting.

"AsbestosRegister.com is highly respected by the trade union movement," said Tudor. "The venture could save many lives because it's actually an idea that works. The TUC would regret its closure, and we believe that in due course, many other people would regret it too."

The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) announced recently that it "would not endorse a commercial venture" (CJ 20 June) and that an asbestos database was "not the only option" - a statement that Udall maintains was "not endorsed" by the HSC.

"It is interesting how it has slipped through the back door to come on record with this," he said. "The trouble with the HSE throughout this debate has been its failure to be prescriptive. How can it call this a commercial venture when it is a non-profit organisation?"

Udall also mentioned that the HSE had based its decision on a flick through the company's website. "I would hardly call that an informed decision," he said.

Laing has indicated support for the database, but this is still not enough.

"We can't move anywhere," Udall said. "Even with support from key figures in the industry, the HSE still holds the winning hand when it comes to the beginning or the end of this database's life."