Meeting today with officials from the International Labour Organisation, the World Health Organisation, the International Agency for Research on Cancer and the International Social Security Association (ISSA), the Building and Woodworkers International will again call for an outright ban on mining, manufacturing and trade in chrysotile asbestos. The chrysotile ban is the focus of attention at the forthcoming World Congress on Safety and Health to be held this June in Seoul, South Korea.

Anita Normark, BWI General Secretary, wants immediate action: "We have an opportunity now at the World Congress to decide how and when we can definitively put an end to the use of this deadly building material. There will be three big meetings on Asbestos, one for each day of the Congress, ISSA is calling chrysotile a global disaster, the ILO and WHO are pushing for National action plans to eliminate asbestos diseases, and the building trade unions of the BWI have been calling and campaigning for a Global ban on chrysotile since 1989. We cannot keep waiting for bureaucratic obstacles to be overcome, our people are dying and every day that we hesitate more people are exposed at work and in the community. Our message to the international organisations today is that this is really urgent - let's start to ban it now."

Fiona Murie, Director of Health and Safety for the BWI, appealed today to the international organisations to push for international instruments that would prohibit any further use of chrysotile as soon as possible. "It is no longer a question of if chrysotile asbestos should be banned, but how and when we can do so in every country in the world".

Murie explained the BWI position: "Our unions are writing to and meeting with their national governments asking for these action plans on prevention of asbestos diseases to be put into effect. They want to be involved in this process, because they are handling this stuff every day. The first step is to decide to stop using chrysotile asbestos and stop putting it into the built environment. The second is discuss how to convert to the many alternatives available, being mindful of the possible impact on employment and infrastructure costs. The third, urgent, task is the ongoing work of preventing exposure to the millions of tons of asbestos already installed in
buildings all over the world, and fourth is social justice and support for people and their families who are suffering from the deadly consequences of exposure. Our unions are campaigning in workplaces and communities to alert people to the hazards and how to prevent exposure, and at the same time they are doing the political lobbying work to get it banned. We are renewing these calls today, 28th April, International Workers Memorial Day to highlight the urgency of this global health disaster."

You can download

India: DANMU's ban asbestos writing campaign

BWI Model letter for unions to national governments