Hospital employees exposed to asbestos for years

The health authorities have been aware of the presence of cancer-causing asbestos in the service ducts at Boffa Hospital for over nine years and yet maintenance staff were still exposed to the risk, hospital sources have told The Sunday Times.

The sources said that workers' representatives and the health authorities exchanged correspondence on the issue for almost a decade. Yet it was only last January that access to the service ducts was barred and that action was taken to rectify the problem.

"For years, maintenance workers have entered the service ducts to repair any faults that developed, especially in the hot water system. They were exposed to the risk of cancer even though the presence of asbestos was known to the authorities," the sources said.

Exposure to asbestos can cause a lung disease called asbestosis and also a type of lung cancer, known as mesothelioma. The cancer can occur up to 40 years after contact with the material.

However, despite confirming the presence of asbestos, for the past three weeks the authorities have consistently failed to answer questions sent by The Sunday Times over whether maintenance staff were exposed to the risk before January.

This newspaper asked when the authorities at Boffa Hospital learnt of the presence of asbestos in the service ducts, whether any maintenance personnel had entered the ducts before last January, how many people were exposed to the danger and whether any medical tests were performed on the employees.

The Foundation for Medical Services (FMS), which is responsible for the running of public hospitals, yesterday said it would "only comment in terms of technical activity undertaken by the Foundation for Medical Services since its intervention".

Its acting chief executive officer Brian St John said when contacted: "Specialised remedial work with regard to the containment of asbestos containing material at Sir Paul Boffa Hospital has started. Technical assessments and remedial activity has extended beyond the service tunnel and into the boiler room."

Occupation Health and Safety Authority (OHSA) chief executive officer Mark Gauci, while confirming that the authority is investigating the case alongside the Foundation for Medical Services, did not specify whether any maintenance personnel had been allowed into the service ducts before January.

Last March, the Health Secretariat had told this newspaper that when the alarm bell was raised in January, access to the ducts was barred and personnel were provided with adequate safety equipment.

However, the OHSA was only informed in March of the presence of asbestos at the hospital, two months after the health secretariat said the alarm was raised.

The service ducts below the main corridor and wards at Boffa Hospital are contaminated with amosite asbestos, which is present in the insulation material of the hot water pipes.

The pipes are not only leaking but the insulation material is in such a poor state that fibres have fallen to the ground.

Experts commissioned by the hospital authorities to assess the ducts had warned that the building risked being closed down unless urgent action was taken.

Although tests confirmed that the fibre counts were below the legal limit, the experts had warned that any maintenance activity would disturb the material, causing more fibres to become airborne, thereby exceeding the legal limit.

Remedial work on the service ducts is ongoing and the FMS sought proposals from companies certified to work with asbestos.

The removal of asbestos material, as well as its transportation and export, are highly specialised activities carried out by certified personnel.

Asbestos is a fibrous material and its heat resistant properties made it a useful material for insulation purposes. It is now banned since it is deemed to be a health risk.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com