The Health and Safety Executive and Jewson, the UK's leading supplier of timber and building materials, have joined forces to help warn tradesmen of the dangers of asbestos.

The Jewson branch in Aberdeen is backing the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) Asbestos: The Hidden Killer campaign which was launched last month and aims to reduce the rising death rate from asbestos related disease by educating those in the trade about the danger that asbestos presents to them.

Figures issued by the Health and Safety Executive revealed that every week 20 tradesmen die from asbestos-related diseases, and this number is set to increase. In north-east Scotland 221 people died of mesothelioma, a disease caused by exposure to asbestos, between 1981 and 2005.

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In the City of Aberdeen there were 110 deaths; in Aberdeenshire 47 people died during the same time frame; in Moray, there were 27 deaths and in Angus there were 37 fatalities.

HSE Inspector Liz Standen, Aberdeen said: "We need to educate tradesmen about how asbestos and its dangers are relevant to them. We want them to change the way they work so that they don't put their lives at risk.

"Research shows that many workers, particularly tradesmen, think that they are not personally at risk of exposure to asbestos and the diseases it can cause. They think that since asbestos was banned many years ago, the problem has been dealt with and therefore it is notrelevant to them. The reality is very different. Every week six joiners, three plumbers and six electricians die from asbestos related disease."

Annually, 1,000 (25%) of the 4,000 now dying are tradesmen and while the number of deaths in traditional industries has plateaued, deaths in trades continue to rise.

(GK/JM)