THE scourge of asbestos-related fatal illness is not some historic malaise that can be consigned to the past, because people are still suffering today.
Hope Robertson and the Clydebank Asbestos Group.
That will be a key message in the hard-hitting speeches to be given at an International Workers’ Memorial Day memorial gathering in Clydebank on Saturday, April 23.
At this special annual event the family, friends and colleagues of local people who have paid a terrible price for others’ neglect will gather to underline the point that the battle for safe working conditions goes on.
Unveiled for the first time last year, the memorial plinth where the event takes place commemorates the lives of those the world over who have died due to asbestos-related conditions.
It was funded by the Clydebank Asbestos Group, whose secretary Hope Robertson lost her husband to the asbestos-related disease mesothelioma at the age of 59.
She said: “We won’t be able to say ‘it’s over’ in my lifetime or my daughter’s lifetime but perhaps it might finally happen in my grandchildren’s lifetime.
“The frightening thing is that people are being diagnosed younger than before, and the idea that it is all gone and in the past is wrong.”
She added: “It’s not all about asbestos either – people need to continue to campaign for safety in every aspect of work.
“The bottom line is that nobody should have to go to work wondering if they’ll be going back home later and particularly with schemes involving young people, there’s a need to ensure safety standards are strongly upheld”.
Ms Robertson says that if her husband had been issued proper equipment he, like other victims, would not have died and adds that the same is true of many industries.
She said: “We know that people are coming for this memorial from across the country, because Clydebank and asbestos are so closely linked.”
At the memorial on Saturday they will be reaffirming the need to hold negligent employers to account, putting safety issues at the forefront of all employment issues.
We provide Asbestos Awareness Training courses.
Provost Douglas McAllister, who will be one of the speakers at the event, said: “Everyone has the right to feel safe at work, and it is therefore extremely saddening that even in this day and age more than a thousand people are killed each year in work-related incidents in the UK.
“While we are proud of our shipbuilding and manufacturing heritage in West Dunbartonshire, our legacy of heavy industry means work-related injury is close to home.
“Memorial events like this provide an opportunity to reflect on the past and honour the workers of today, making sure everyone enjoys the best possible quality of life when it comes to their working environment.”
International Workers’ Memorial Day began in Canada and was officially recognised in the UK six years agoin 2010.
The day of remembrance commemorates those who have been killed, injured or made ill by work, and to raise awareness of the importance of health and safety in the workplace.
Besides Provost McAllister, Speakers on Saturday will include Clydebank Asbestos Group chairman Bob Dickie, council environment chief Mike Thomson, and National Union of Journalists organiser Paul Holleran.
The memorial gathering at Clydebank’s Truth and Justice Square is at 11am.
