asbestos

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JCP calls for flexibility in the application of labor insurance for asbestos-linked patients

With asbestos-related diseases being revealed one after another, the Japanese Communist Party in the Diet has called for drastic measures to be taken, including a survey on asbestos-caused health problems, a complete ban on the use of asbestos, and a more flexible application of the Workers' Accident Compensation Insurance System.

On July 19, JCP representative Koike Akira in a House of Councilors Committee on Health, Welfare and Labor meeting questioned the government, citing a case in which a worker was recognized as having a work-related disease after he died. This worker had applied for insurance compensation a year and a half years earlier. Koike demanded that application for insurance compensation be processed with more flexibility according to actual conditions.

Referring to a case in which 78 people, including factory workers, died of asbestos-related diseases at an asbestos producing factory and 31 residents living in the vicinity of the factory died of mesotheliomas, Koike stated, "It is necessary to take measures beyond the conventional framework of the work-related accident compensation system."

He proposed that free health checkups be provided to residents near suspected factories, a relief system be established for those who are not covered by the work-related accident/disease insurance compensation system, the prescription period of the insurance compensation be reviewed, and public financial assistance be provided for companies to take preventive measures.

Otsuji Hidehisa, minister of Health, Welfare and Labor, admitted that it is necessary to cope with the asbestos problem beyond the existing framework, adding that the ministry will take Koike's specific proposals into consideration.

Asbestos was used as a cheap industrial material for brake wear, sound insulation, heat insulation, moisturizing, and fireproofing materials. In airborne particles, asbestos can cause idiopathic interstitial pneumonia and malignant mesothelioma of the pleura. -- Akahata, July 20, 2005