HSE highlights dangers of asbestos - video

The Health and Safety Executive has launched a video to highlight the dangers of asbestos, which kills 4,000 people a year.

The HSE said that the country is in the middle of an asbestos epidemic. It already kills more people that road traffic accidents each year, and the number is set to rise to a peak of 5,000, the safety agency said.

As part of a campaign to raise awareness to coincide with National Action Mesothelioma Day, the HSE has launched a web video called: "Asbestos the hidden killer".

The video features carpenter Tom King who has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.

Recent research by the HSE shows that young tradesmen know asbestos is dangerous by do not believe that they are personally at risk.

Judith Hackitt, Chair of the Health and Safety Commission said: “Every week twenty tradesmen die simply because they have breathed in asbestos fibres during the course of their work.  The problem today is that we associate it with a problem that’s been and gone because asbestos is now banned. We regard asbestos as something a previous generation were exposed to."

You can watch the HSE video in full here.