Union warning to contractors over cancer threat

Contractors who put construction workers at risk from cancer-causing materials should be prosecuted under UK safety laws.

That is the demand from union leaders who have launched a new campaign warning about the dangers of substances such as wood dust and silica.

TUC chiefs believe that up to 18,000 cancers a year are caused by workplace chemicals and substances.

Many potentially dangerous materials are covered by maximum exposure limits. But the TUC believes any exposure could be harmful to building workers.

General secretary Brendan Barber said: "Workplace cancers kill around 15,000 - 18,000 people every year compared with the 229 workplace fatalities caused by injury last year.

"Every one of these workplace cancer deaths is avoidable and far more must be done to both increase awareness of the risks and also to remove employees' exposure to carcinogens.

"Many people simply do not know the risks from substances such as wood dust, silica and diesel particles and even if they do develop cancer later in life often they do not associate it with work exposure.

"As a result there is far less pressure on employers to take action to remove the risks. That must change. The TUC wants to ensure that no worker comes into contact with a cancer-causing chemical and any employer who does expose their workforce to the risk of cancer should be prosecuted."