A NEW group was launched yesterday to provide help and support for North East workers exposed to asbestos.
Members of the Northern TUC marked Workers' Memorial Day in Gateshead by launching the North East Asbestos Support Group.
They were joined by other union leaders, health professionals and also by Chris Knighton, whose husband Mick died from mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lung caused by exposure to asbestos.
He was diagnosed aged 59 in August 2000 and died the following March 2001, having served in the Royal Navy as a young man when asbestos products were widely used.
Mrs Knighton, of Wallsend, North Tyneside, then launched the Mick Knighton Mesothelioma Research Fund, which has so far raised more than pounds 350,000.
Yesterday's meeting took place at the Springfield Hotel, Gate shead, and was followed by the 100 attendees walking to Saltwell Park for a memorial ceremony and wreath-laying at the Rose Garden Park. Kevin Rowan, Northern TUC regional secretary, said: "Workers Memorial Day is an opportunity for us to highlight the ongoing challenges that we face in the region regarding the health, safety and wellbeing of working people.
"There are still far too many workers each year being killed, maimed or disabled because of their occupation.
"Much more effort must be concentrated on occupational health and wellbeing actions in order to ensure that workplaces are a source of health, not a cause of ill-health."
Source: The Journal - Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Members of the Northern TUC marked Workers' Memorial Day in Gateshead by launching the North East Asbestos Support Group.
They were joined by other union leaders, health professionals and also by Chris Knighton, whose husband Mick died from mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lung caused by exposure to asbestos.
He was diagnosed aged 59 in August 2000 and died the following March 2001, having served in the Royal Navy as a young man when asbestos products were widely used.
Mrs Knighton, of Wallsend, North Tyneside, then launched the Mick Knighton Mesothelioma Research Fund, which has so far raised more than pounds 350,000.
Yesterday's meeting took place at the Springfield Hotel, Gate shead, and was followed by the 100 attendees walking to Saltwell Park for a memorial ceremony and wreath-laying at the Rose Garden Park. Kevin Rowan, Northern TUC regional secretary, said: "Workers Memorial Day is an opportunity for us to highlight the ongoing challenges that we face in the region regarding the health, safety and wellbeing of working people.
"There are still far too many workers each year being killed, maimed or disabled because of their occupation.
"Much more effort must be concentrated on occupational health and wellbeing actions in order to ensure that workplaces are a source of health, not a cause of ill-health."
Source: The Journal - Newcastle-upon-Tyne
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