Kerre Woodham: Ignorance no longer an excuse

The story on Close Up on Thursday night about the untimely death of a young painter was an eye-opener for me.

Jason Gibson was 29 when he went to the doctor with a bleeding nose. Six days later, he died in hospital.

Jason was a painter and he'd been involved in lead-paint removal. He'd complained to his dad of hayfever-like symptoms and it was his dad who'd sent him along to the doctor. Nobody expected this young man to die, and to die so suddenly.

Jason's death was the first one accepted by ACC as death through industrial cancer - specifically, industrial death through solvents - but ACC knows there will be more.

The Close Up story also showed a 23-year-old panelbeater who died of the same rare cancer as Jason's - a cancer believed to be caused by solvents.

In the wake of Jason's death, the corporation produced a safety video and on that video, they acknowledged that 700 to 1000 people die in this country every year because of industrial disease - 30 to 40 per cent of those are cancers. That figure is appalling. That's double the road toll, and yet where are the safety procedures and warnings to young apprentices who are starting off in trades that could be the death of them?

Certainly, there are rules and regulations in place to govern the use of poisons and toxic substances in the workplace, but judging from calls I received to my radio show following the programme, some companies pay little more than lip service to the OSH requirements.

They say they can't afford the proper respiratory gear or the ventilation systems that are required for people to work in safety.

With up to 1000 New Zealanders dying needlessly every year, surely they can't afford not to. I know we feel like we've been regulated to the point that every aspect of our life has a bylaw attached to it, but sometimes there are very good reasons for the Government to interfere in the workplace. And occupational cancer would be one of those reasons.

Jason Gibson's mum and dad have started a campaign - www.gloveup.co.nz - to get a labelling system on poisons in the workplace that would let people know they were cancer-causing. At the moment we have a numbering system the Gibsons claim means little to the people using them.

A different warning system on chemical containers and an emphasis on the appropriate personal protective equipment to be worn for each job would go a long way towards preventing more deaths, according to the Gibsons.

Thirty years ago, we didn't know what we know now when it comes to workplace chemicals and their links to neurological disease and other cancers. Thirty years ago, I could believe that 1000 people a year would die because of industrial disease. In the 21st century, it is unacceptable that we're losing so many young Kiwis through negligence and ignorance.

* www.kerrewoodham.com

- HERALD ON SUNDAY