WorkSafe BC – the province’s health and safety agency – has posted a powerful video on YouTube about the deadly hazards of asbestos.
The video – produced for the BC Labour Heritage Centre – includes a moving interview with Tracy Ford, the daughter of Dave Ford, one of those who have died from exposure to asbestos that caused mesothelioma – a form of cancer that is incurable.
BC Insulators Local 118 Business Manager Lee Loftus is also interviewed extensively about how construction workers and miners were exposed to asbestos despite corporations that were mining asbestos knowing early on that it was a fatal health hazard.
The union fought to have asbestos banned for decades – and the sad reality that it took far too many years to stop the use of asbestos or for the protection of workers removing asbestos insulation.
As members of the BC Insulators union know, there are still fly-by-night demolition firms that have been caught exposing workers to asbestos without adequate safety measures.
This video is important for every member to see.