Introduction

During October and November 2008, HSE together with key stakeholders will be running a national campaign to target tradesmen who are still at risk from exposure to asbestos. The campaign will build on the success of the previous campaign, where evaluation results from the North West media pilot showed that awareness increased from 33% to 81%.

Key campaign messages

• Every week 6 joiners die from this hidden killer.
• Every week 3 plumbers die from this hidden killer.
• Every week 6 electricians die from this hidden killer.
• Every week 20 tradesmen die from this hidden killer.
• Any building built or refurbished before the year 2000 could contain asbestos, which is one of the most lethal dangers in the workplace.
• Every year there are still over 4,000 deaths from asbestos related diseases- you could be working where asbestos is present right now.
• Don’t you owe it to your workmates, your family and yourself to find out more?

The campaign comprises:

• National radio adverts.
• Adverts in national press – Sun, Mirror, Daily Record.
• Distribution of over 600,000 packs of campaign material to tradesmen via stakeholders.
• Case-studies being developed nationally- Mesothelioma Victim Support Groups have again worked very closely with HSE to find and develop case studies to support the campaign. 
• PR activity, including the use of case studies.
• Articles in trade press magazines for tradesmen and those who influence tradesmen.

Aims

Primary aim:

to raise awareness amongst tradesmen that they are more at risk than they think from asbestos. 

Secondary aim:

to encourage them to find out more about asbestos and the precautions they should be taking.

Background

Current situation:

• Around 4,000 deaths last year from asbestos related diseases.
• 1,000 of those are tradesmen.
• The number of deaths in tradesmen (e.g. electricians, plumbers, joiners, painters, decorators, plasterers) continue to rise.
• Any building built or refurbished before 2000 could contain asbestos.
• Plateau in deaths of workers in ‘traditional’ industries such as shipbuilding, asbestos product manufacturing, metal plate working etc.

Research into tradesmen has shown that:

• Asbestos is not considered an issue that is relevant and/or immediate to them as individuals.
• They are generally unaware that asbestos may be present in the buildings they are working in/on.
• They do not know how to identify asbestos-containing materials and protect themselves against it.
• Simple, hard hitting messages have a higher impact with this audience. 
• Clear, direct targeting for the distribution of materials is required to access this hard to reach audience. 

Campaign material

• Campaign pack – A5 plastic wrapped, contains a new laminated card and leaflet on the risks associated with asbestos and a covering letter.  Both the laminated card and leaflet have been developed in conjunction with stakeholders and are jointly badged with the TUC. There will be a limited number of posters available.
• Radio advertisements.  There are four radio advertisements, three depicting tradesmen at work, unaware that they are being exposed to asbestos, the hidden killer and one featuring a woman’s voice talking about her partners work and what he doesn’t know. 
• Press advertisements – Four adverts featuring visuals representing, electricians, plumbers, joiners and general tradesmen.

Local Authority participation

• This is not an operational campaign. However, some Local Authorities have expressed a wish to hold local events in association with the campaign to reinforce key messages. If you would like to participate, please let us know about the event as we may be able to coordinate regional publicity.
• Campaign packs, along with Duty to Manage leaflets are available to support any events or other activity. If you would like such packs, please contact Elaine Radford on elaine.radford@hse.gsi.gov.uk or 0151 951 4795

 Timings

October – Campaign launch date is 13 October

• Campaign Packs will be available from 26 September
• Adverts in national press running Monday – Friday for 4-6 weeks from 13 October
• Adverts on radio, from 13 October to 23 November.