Stuart Pearce Blows Whistle on Asbestos

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. 

He is backing an asbestos safety campaign by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) urging all tradespeople to be aware of asbestos and to 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.

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.

The app covers information on different areas such as:

• Cleaning light fittings attached to asbestos insulating boards (AIBs)
• Cleaning debris from gutters on an asbestos cement roof

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Ensure all employees that could potentially come in contact with asbestos due to the nature of their work are aware of the dangers of asbestos 
• Ensure employees that could potentially come in contact with asbestos due to the nature of their work are aware that they must read the asbestos survey available for the building
• Ensure employees that could potentially come in contact with asbestos due to the nature of their work know what to do if they come into contact with asbestos

Further information on the asbestos app can be found on the HSE website.