{"id":4421,"date":"2015-06-08T16:10:45","date_gmt":"2015-06-08T15:10:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=4421"},"modified":"2015-06-09T10:36:33","modified_gmt":"2015-06-09T09:36:33","slug":"on-the-level-with-asbestos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=4421","title":{"rendered":"‘On the level with asbestos’"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Unite has blown the lid off the dangers cabin crew members face being exposed to toxic air \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a scandal that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s being compared to asbestos exposure.<\/p>\n

 
\nThis morning (June 8) on the Victoria Derbyshire programme, Unite executive director for legal services Howard Beckett explained the work the union has taken on in representing 17 cabin crew members against British airlines in civil courts who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve suffered symptoms of what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s known as aerotoxic syndrome.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe programme also featured current and former cabin crew members who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve suffered from neurological symptoms such as losing the ability to move a limb, as well as chronic fatigue, headaches and nausea.<\/p>\n

 
\nUnite, which represents 20,000 flight staff, has opened a hotline for cabin crew members who think they might suffer from the syndrome, which is thought to be caused by toxic \u00e2\u20ac\u0098fume events\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, in which engine oil containing organophosphates and other dangerous chemicals may leak from the engine into the cabin itself.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe airline industry has so far refused to acknowledge the problem, contending that there is no evidence linking contaminated air with dangers to public health.<\/p>\n

 
\nBut on the Victoria Derbyshire programme, documents submitted to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) show at least hundreds of fume events happening each year. One report recorded 251 fume events occurring on flights operated by British airlines between April 2014 and May of this year \u00e2\u20ac\u201c with 104 reports of illness from these cases. In at least 28 cases, oxygen was administered.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Turning a blind eye<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

 
\nBeckett highlighted the fact that to date, testing of cabin air to determine a link between reported illnesses and contaminated air has not examined fume events specifically.<\/p>\n

 
\nHe also expressed concern that fume events are not being thoroughly recorded by the industry.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to be sceptical about [fume event numbers provided to the CAA by the industry], considering all the anecdotal evidence we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had from our members suffering from fume events,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe department of transport seems to think they can assess the quality of cabin crew air without a fume event and therefore say it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s safe,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he noted.<\/p>\n

 
\nBeckett and other guests on the programme condemned the way in which the industry has failed to investigate a problem that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s affected thousands of flight staff and could be responsible for the sudden deaths<\/a> of a Unite cabin crew member, aged 35, and a 43-year-old BA pilot. In both cases, coroners found high levels of toxins in their systems.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt appears that everyone\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s doing an exercise of turning away and not looking for the evidence as to what fume events actually cause,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Beckett argued.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re dealing with an industry in which there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a low life expectancy and with members who are exhibiting neurological symptoms. And we have an industry turning a blind eye to it,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he went on to say.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhat we need from the industry is honesty. We need the industry to say \u00e2\u20ac\u0098If there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a problem, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll investigate it. And if we have to act, we will act.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“Substance that can kill”
\n<\/strong><\/em>
\nBeckett argued that the dangers of exposure to toxic air in airplane cabins cannot be underestimated.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe are dealing with a substance that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s used in chemical warfare,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he noted. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe are dealing with a substance that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s on the level with asbestos. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re talking about a substance that can kill.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nBeckett contended that even though the industry is not explicitly acknowledging its workers suffering, it is otherwise behaving as though a problem may exist.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe industry itself is reacting to this, and that itself is indicative of the fact that there is a problem,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe [Boeing] 787 [Dreamliner] has been specifically manufactured to avoid air going through the engine and therefore bleed events cannot occur.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf we do have an industry that says there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a problem, we certainly have an industry that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s acting as though there is indeed a problem.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nBeckett said the claims Unite will bring against British airlines are out of grave concern for its members\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 health and safety.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis is about health and safety issues,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bOur members are more concerned about the health and safety of the environment that they work in more than any compensatory figures that they might receive.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAs an industry they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have to react by either replacing their engines more regularly and using a different oil as a consequence or manufacturing planes in which air doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t go through the engine,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Becket noted, describing actions airlines might have to take if the claims are successful. And both of those have a cost associated with it.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut the cost, in comparison, to saving people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lives is nothing.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite has previously called for a full public inquiry<\/a> into the health effects of fume events.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Watch the full Victoria Derbyshire programme investigation here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unite has blown the lid off the dangers cabin crew members face being exposed to toxic air \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a scandal that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s being compared to asbestos exposure.   This morning (June 8) on the Victoria Derbyshire programme, Unite executive director for legal services Howard Beckett explained the work the union has taken on in representing 17 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3806,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[320,290,316],"wps_subtitle":"Unite defends cabin crew members in toxic air scandal","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4421"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4421"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4421\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4425,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4421\/revisions\/4425"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}