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Read more: http://www.mesothelioma.com/news/2013/03/northern-ireland-hospitals-filled-with-dangerous-asbestos.htm#ixzz2OlGWs2MW
March 21, 2013
Belfast, Northern Ireland - Newspapers in Northern Ireland are reporting that hazardous asbestos materials have been found in at least two dozen hospitals in that region of the world, including one of the most deadly forms of the mineral.
An article in the Belfast Telegraph notes that the extent of asbestos contamination in the area’s hospitals has been recently revealed, just a few short weeks after a Northern Ireland health trust was fined £10,000 over asbestos-related safety breaches at Northern Belfast Hospital, where the material was being managed improperly. Asbestos material, the report says, has been found everywhere from kitchens and labs to maternity wards and pediatric units.
Asbestos was found in all five of Northern Ireland’s so-called “health trusts” - Altnagelvin, Belfast City, Craigavon, Daisy Hill and Antrim Area. In addition, highly-toxic blue “crocidolite” asbestos was located in Royal Hospital’s maternity area as well as in the old children’s hospital at the same facility. It was also noted that fibers were found in the nurses’ and doctors’ accommodations at Whiteabbey Hospital.
Health trust officials have maintained that – with proper care – the asbestos is not a concern. However, others disagree with that mindset, including Tony Whitston, who chairs a UK-based asbestos victims' group. He’s aware that the material can be quite deadly if great care is not taken in its handling.
“We have seen electricians or engineers who worked on hospitals when they were being built coming back to the same hospitals years later having developed mesothelioma. We have also heard of doctors and nurses developing mesothelioma,” Whitson noted.
He believes that the practice of proper management of asbestos is “unworkable”, given the hectic scene inside most hospitals.
“The problem is when it is in an area of potential disturbance, say a corridor where trolleys come thundering down and can smash into a wall,” Whitson explains. “The case in Belfast [Hospital] shows that their management of asbestos was absolutely flawed and useless.”
Asbestos is now banned in Northern Ireland, but its use was abundant from about the 1950s to the 1980s, so even hospitals that are less than 30 years old may contain building materials made with asbestos, like tiles, adhesives, and pipe and electrical insulation
Read more: http://www.mesothelioma.com/news/2013/03/northern-ireland-hospitals-filled-with-dangerous-asbestos.htm#ixzz2OlGJm2VY
Belfast, Northern Ireland - Newspapers in Northern Ireland are reporting that hazardous asbestos materials have been found in at least two dozen hospitals in that region of the world, including one of the most deadly forms of the mineral.
An article in the Belfast Telegraph notes that the extent of asbestos contamination in the area’s hospitals has been recently revealed, just a few short weeks after a Northern Ireland health trust was fined £10,000 over asbestos-related safety breaches at Northern Belfast Hospital, where the material was being managed improperly. Asbestos material, the report says, has been found everywhere from kitchens and labs to maternity wards and pediatric units.
Asbestos was found in all five of Northern Ireland’s so-called “health trusts” - Altnagelvin, Belfast City, Craigavon, Daisy Hill and Antrim Area. In addition, highly-toxic blue “crocidolite” asbestos was located in Royal Hospital’s maternity area as well as in the old children’s hospital at the same facility. It was also noted that fibers were found in the nurses’ and doctors’ accommodations at Whiteabbey Hospital.
Health trust officials have maintained that – with proper care – the asbestos is not a concern. However, others disagree with that mindset, including Tony Whitston, who chairs a UK-based asbestos victims' group. He’s aware that the material can be quite deadly if great care is not taken in its handling.
“We have seen electricians or engineers who worked on hospitals when they were being built coming back to the same hospitals years later having developed mesothelioma. We have also heard of doctors and nurses developing mesothelioma,” Whitson noted.
He believes that the practice of proper management of asbestos is “unworkable”, given the hectic scene inside most hospitals.
“The problem is when it is in an area of potential disturbance, say a corridor where trolleys come thundering down and can smash into a wall,” Whitson explains. “The case in Belfast [Hospital] shows that their management of asbestos was absolutely flawed and useless.”
Asbestos is now banned in Northern Ireland, but its use was abundant from about the 1950s to the 1980s, so even hospitals that are less than 30 years old may contain building materials made with asbestos, like tiles, adhesives, and pipe and electrical insulation
Read more: http://www.mesothelioma.com/news/2013/03/northern-ireland-hospitals-filled-with-dangerous-asbestos.htm#ixzz2OlGJm2VY
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