The Health and Safety Executive has just reported its latest estimates of people dying from exposure to asbestos while they were at work. Their estimates are based on what it said on people’s death certificates.
They calculate that in 2019-20 about 12,000 people died from injuries to their lungs caused at work. 4,800 died from asbestos-related lung cancer. Of these, one half died from mesothelioma. The other half died from other lung cancers. 4,000 people died from chronic pulmonary obstructive diseases that were caused at work. This includes asbestosis.
Deaths from work-related mesothelioma reached a peak of 2,500 per year in 2017. The trend is very slowly downwards. The number has fallen by roughtly 33 per year since then. It is projected to fall to between 2,000 and 1,500 per year by 2030.
For more information go to the HSE website here:
