View all news articles
Football legend Stuart Pearce fears risk of deadly asbestos
Former electrician backs
Health and Safety Executive asbestos safety campaign after
revealing ignorance over hidden killer
England football star Stuart Pearce is blowing the whistle on
asbestos after revealing he could have breathed in the deadly dust
while working part time as an electrician during his early football
career.
The Nottingham Forest manager and former Newcastle and England
left back fears his ignorance about the fatal fibre when he worked
for four years as an electrician, means there's a real possibility
he could develop a deadly asbestos related disease in the
future.
He is now backing an asbestos safety campaign by the Health and
Safety Executive (HSE) urging all tradespeople to be aware of
asbestos and take sensible measures against the hidden killer.
While safe work with asbestos has come a long way since Pearce
was working as an electrician in the early 1980s, it remains a very
real danger today. HSE estimates 1.3 million tradespeople are
still potentially at risk of being exposed to the microscopic
fibres that can prove fatal if breathed in.
Pearce said: "I was working as an electrician for four and a
half years and it's chilling to think I could have been exposed to
it without knowing, we were simply ignorant about the risks back
then.
"Today there's no excuse - most people know how dangerous
asbestos is but many think it's a thing of the past, it's not, it's
still there. It can be found in walls, ceilings, even floor
tiles and guttering - basically in any type of building built
before the year 2000".
"Making sure you're aware of where it can be found and how to
deal with it safely, even on basic jobs like drilling holes or
sanding, really could mean the difference between life and
death."
The trained electrician turned football legend is also
encouraging workers to use HSE's free web app for phones,
tablets and pcs that helps tradespeople easily identify where
they could come into contact with asbestos as they go about their
day-to-day work and gives them easy-to-follow guides on how
to deal work safely.
He added: "It can be so easy to breathe in this deadly dust and
it may be years until you realise you've been affected. Every
tradesperson that falls victim to asbestos related diseases like
mesothelioma and asbestosis is one too many, especially if it's a
result of ignorance. Let's make asbestos deaths a thing of the
past."
To get the free web app please visit www.beware-asbestos.info/news
[1]
For more information on asbestos safety please visit www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos[2]
View all news articles