Asbestos is still killing islanders

Friday 22nd October 2010, 1:00PM BST.

Richard Brown - chief health and safety officer for Guernsey Health and Safety Executive WHILE the asbestos aircraft hangars are gone, Guernsey needs to deal with the hidden threat of the deadly substance, according to chief health and safety officer Richard Brown.

He was speaking to business people at a Chamber of Commerce breakfast yesterday about the threat of the substance, which is still regularly found in the island, although imports were banned more than 10 years ago.

Mr Brown (pictured) said that every year local people were dying from asbestos-related illnesses.

‘I know of people who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma [a cancer linked to asbestos], and that is a death sentence within usually 12 to 18 months,’ he said.