Sok Kin, president of the Building and Wood Workers Trade Union Federation of Cambodia (BWTUC), has highlighted the importance of asbestos awareness training in Cambodia to the Kingdom’s construction workers and site managers.
He explained that the training raised awareness of the dangers of asbestos. In particular, he urged leaders and members of the federation members to use avoid working with materials containing this substance and to employ safety equipment whenever its use was unavoidable.
“As of today, asbestos is found in more than 3,000 products, most commonly construction materials. It effects are not felt immediately, but it causes a disease that can be life threatening. It may take 20 to 30 years to kill, but there is no cure,” he said.
“We are continuing our training in order to try to end the use of this material. We must increase people’s awareness of the danger it presents, and we are calling for the government to create laws and policies that will end the use of such substances in Cambodia,” he added.
He said that although Cambodia does not have official data or reports about the number of death due to asbestos, there are about 29,000 deaths around the world due to asbestos.
Nuth Sambath, president of the Institute of Medicine, Biology and Agriculture at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, explained that if construction workers do not wear masks in the correct way, small pieces of asbestos fibre may be absorbed into their lungs, causing inflammation to their lungs or airways and often developing into cancer with decades.
He noted that some countries have banned its use, while some continue to employ it.
“Cambodia should reduce or ban the use of asbestos in the construction sector, or enforce the wearing of masks if it must be used,” he said.
