London Underground workers may have been exposed to asbestos without masks
In London, the United Kingdom, hundreds of Underground workers may have been exposed to asbestos for nearly 20 years without individually fitted protective masks required by safety rules. The Guardian reports, citing emails and minutes of work meetings.
Rules on controlling asbestos and other hazardous materials, introduced in 2002, provide for precautionary measures for workers, including individually fitted respirator masks to protect against inhaling toxic dust. The documents show that London Underground managers acknowledged that such masks were introduced for divisions responsible for Underground buildings only at the end of 2020.
Data from internal documents
In one set of minutes, a manager said that he did not remember and could not find records of fitted masks being issued in 2018 to a team that cleaned dust from ventilation systems. These locations contained cables with asbestos insulation.
In December 2020, the head of the lifts and escalators division noted that many workers did not have individually fitted masks, although they should not have been working without them. He attributed this to a lack of training. In a 2019 email, another manager described former cleaner Mickey Steeds' work without such a mask as an oversight that had to be corrected. In 2023, another manager acknowledged that no sampling for asbestos fibres in dust had been conducted.
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Court case and TfL's position
The documents became known during an employment tribunal hearing in Steeds' case. He successfully proved that he had been unfairly dismissed after raising concerns about possible contact with asbestos and other toxic dust. Steeds said that he did not have a properly fitted mask for 15 months.
According to data obtained through a freedom of information request, Transport for London recorded more than 20,000 asbestos-containing materials across its network. At the same time, TfL said it has strict control mechanisms in line with government rules, while specialist teams monitor and control asbestos locations to protect workers and passengers.
A TfL spokesperson added that the organisation is appealing the decision in Steeds' case and therefore cannot provide further comment. According to the publication, TfL has already paid more than £7 million in compensation and legal costs in asbestos-related cases.
