Wow that's more than are dieing from this pandemic and government doing next to nothing about it,

A bit more on Bernie, he is worthy of it and the story is relevant

Desperately ill he took on building products behemoth James Hardy and eventually, just before he died, won justice against all odds for some very very foul corporate deeds
- and at the same time he raised the awareness, the practices and the law all over the world, and so saved countless lives.
He bought, and projected, an enormous courage and life-spirit to his fight, a truly inspirational warrior - but carried it with heartbreaking humility and grace.
....with tubes coming out both sides of his nose.

To Bernie..


Bernard Douglas Banton AM (13 October 1946 – 27 November 2007) was an Australian social justice campaigner. He was the widely recognised face of the legal and political campaign to achieve compensation for the many sufferers of asbestos-related conditions, which they contracted after either working for the company James Hardie or being exposed to James Hardie Industries' products.

Banton himself suffered from multiple forms of asbestos-related diseases, being diagnosed with asbestosis and also asbestos-related pleural disease (ARPD)[1] in January 1999 after having worked at James Hardie Industries, decades earlier, making asbestos lagging. These conditions required him to carry an oxygen tank wherever he went. On the 17 August 2007, he was also diagnosed with terminal peritoneal mesothelioma asbestos cancer, dying a short 103 days later. The 2009 book Killer Company details Banton's fight against James Hardie.[2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Banton

PS James Hardy, also a big player in building products in USA, is still toxic.
Despite specific laws introduced, every legal judgment to come down, watertight undertakings signed, God-sworn promises made - they still try to worm out of their obligations - shamelessly.
Regularly trying renaming, restructuring, relocation of post boxes, fraudulent company mergers/takeovers, spinning off the liabilities into seperate companies, etc etc to evade paying compensation - exactly like they do to avoid paying tax.
Thankfully they are so universally infamous, and watched with such suspicion, they have not yet managed to wriggle away from Bernie's retributions.

SternAAlbifrons wrote: ↑Thu Jul 29, 2021 7:54 pm A bit more on Bernie, he is worthy of it and the story is relevant

Desperately ill he took on building products behemoth James Hardy and eventually, just before he died, won justice against all odds for some very very foul corporate deeds
- and at the same time he raised the awareness, the practices and the law all over the world, and so saved countless lives.
He bought, and projected, an enormous courage and life-spirit to his fight, a truly inspirational warrior - but carried it with heartbreaking humility and grace.
....with tubes coming out both sides of his nose.

To Bernie..


Bernard Douglas Banton AM (13 October 1946 – 27 November 2007) was an Australian social justice campaigner. He was the widely recognised face of the legal and political campaign to achieve compensation for the many sufferers of asbestos-related conditions, which they contracted after either working for the company James Hardie or being exposed to James Hardie Industries' products.

Banton himself suffered from multiple forms of asbestos-related diseases, being diagnosed with asbestosis and also asbestos-related pleural disease (ARPD)[1] in January 1999 after having worked at James Hardie Industries, decades earlier, making asbestos lagging. These conditions required him to carry an oxygen tank wherever he went. On the 17 August 2007, he was also diagnosed with terminal peritoneal mesothelioma asbestos cancer, dying a short 103 days later. The 2009 book Killer Company details Banton's fight against James Hardie.[2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Banton

I heard it took three weeks to cremate him.

Phnom Penh Trader wrote: ↑Thu Jul 29, 2021 4:12 pm As long as you don’t disturb them the risk is negligible I have a sprayfoam insulation company here in the UK right now,I’m always running into workshops and outbuildings with asbestos roofing and of course it must be removed by specialists.
Even prefabs or prefabricated buildings built after the war although much rarer these days were built using asbestos,it’s just the removal of them that is the dangerous bit?
Saying that I’ve met plenty of people that worked with it and came home every day literally covered in white dust,yet suffered no ill effects whatsoever but I guess they were the lucky ones?

I was just an humble painter in the UK. With the many health and safety courses I had to attend, asbestos awareness was one high on the list.

Maybe that is part of why this problem is still ongoing, Andy
"Tradesmen" don't get trained like they used to.
Many people who work in the renovation business these days have no, or very little, training of the kind you experienced.

Lots of cowboys and temporary visa holders on dollar-raiding missions too
who will just bust it up and get rid of it at quarter of the cost of doing it safely and legally.

IraHayes wrote: ↑Thu Jul 29, 2021 9:51 am

The White/grey roof is "Eternit" a type of fiber cement popular from the 60s to the 90s but yes it can cause asbestosis. Now is mostly illegal in the west because of the asbestos.

There's a town in Canada named Asbestos that was the largest asbestos mine on the world. Interesting history of bitter strikes that helped launch the careers of many prominent politicians in Canada including that of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, father of current Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Canada shamelessly exported asbestos to third world countries that don't have the legislation and protections that Canada has while banning its use in Canada.

It was finally stopped a few years ago.

Victims of the fatal asbestos-induced cancer mesothelioma who can’t trace a liable employer or an employers’ liability insurer will soon be able to apply for compensation packages worth an average of £123,000. The government has increased this from the initial £115,000 debated in the House of Commons in January after making savings in the administration costs of the scheme.

Around 3,500 victims of the aggressive cancer or their families can apply for compensation from next month and will receive a payment of around £123,000 from July this year, as part of a £380 million package.

Mesothelioma, which often takes 40 to 50 years to present symptoms after exposure to asbestos, has resulted in over 300 people every year struggling to find a relevant party to sue for damages, because companies become insolvent or insurance records go missing.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/asbe ... mpensation

In 1968 I had a job as a labourer fitting suspended ceilings in a new building, a giant factory. We were cutting huge sheets of blue asbestos. No face masks.
I would get home covered in dust. My mum would make me take of my clothes in the garden and shake them down. Done it for about a month.
I have had pneumonia 3 times now but so far no suggestion of anything else, I guess I was lucky.

I have no idea who I worked for it was cash in hand so even if I got ill I couldn't get a pay out. I have reached 70 so not too worried now