666,000 people are dying of work-caused cancer every year!

One of the first official cases of an occupational cancer was identified in the eighteenth century. Asbestos is the best known carcinogen – and the biggest killer. Today, asbestos claims well over 100,000 lives a year worldwide. It’s estimated that 10 million people across the world will have died as a result of asbestos exposure before it’s been fully controlled. But there are many other carcinogenic exposures that cause cancer and claim lives – well over 50 substances are listed as known or probable causes of workplace cancer. Across the EU, 1 in 5 workers faces an occupational cancer risk. Across the world, the number of people dying from a work-caused cancer far outstrips those dying because of work accidents. It’s estimated that at least 666,000 people die worldwide every year. IOSH’s ‘No Time to Lose campaign’ aims to get carcinogenic exposure issues more widely understood and help businesses take action. The campaign is working to: raise awareness of a significant health issue facing workers in the UK and internationally suggest some solutions on a UK scale to tackle the problem offer free practical, original materials to businesses to help them deliver effective prevention programmes.

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