A NEW £1.2m campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of asbestos reveals 776 male deaths from mesothelioma in Merseyside between 1981 and 2005.
The Hidden Killer campaign, launched by the Health and Safety Executive, reveals 3,101 male deaths across the North West from the cancer.
They included 90 in Knowsley, 197 in Liverpool, 158 in Sefton, 53 in St Helens and 278 in Wirral.
The region’s high rates of this fatal form of can-cer reflects the promi-nent role of asbestos in the construction and engineering industries in the mid-20th century.
Mike Cross, HSE’s regional head of con-struction, said: “Asbes-tos is Britain’s biggest industrial killer and remains a very real threat to Merseyside workers.
“Contrary to what many people believe, the risks are not a thing of the past. The most simple, but important, advice is if you are not 100 per cent certain that there is no asbestos where you are working, then don’t start work.”
Asbestos materials only present a risk if fibres are released into the air where they can be breathed in. Those most at risk are contractors.
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber added: “Asbestos can’t be writ-ten off as a 20th-century problem, a legacy from our industrial past.
“We owe it to the memory of those whose lives have been cut short to get the message to today’s workers.”
