Maintenance staff at Boffa Hospital who may have been exposed to cancer-causing asbestos for years have recently been given appointments for medical check-ups. Some two months after The Sunday Times asked for an update on repair works at Boffa Hospital's asbestos-tainted service tunnel, the health secretariat confirmed last week that the work has been concluded.
"The process of making the service tunnel at Sir Paul Boffa Hospital safe has to date been completed and air tests have resulted in zero fibre-counts. This notwithstanding, the service tunnel will remain sealed off and access to it will continue to be maintained on a need basis and granted only to authorised and trained personnel equipped with the necessary safety equipment," a spokesman for the health secretariat said.
A copy of the relevant documentation which includes air test reports, the spokesman added, was also submitted to the Occupational Health and Safety Authority. When asked whether any medical check-ups on maintenance staff, who may have been exposed to asbestos, were conducted the spokesman said "normal screening tests are being done to all maintenance personnel".
However, hospital sources said that workers were only informed of an appointment for medical screening in recent weeks.
It is understood that as a result of the maintenance work a number of pipes have been relocated so that repair works can be conducted without the need to enter the service duct. Last March, The Sunday Times had revealed the contents of a report drawn up by experts commissioned by the hospital, which highlighted the grave danger posed by the deteriorating asbestos in the service duct.
The report's conclusions had prompted the hospital authorities to block access to the service tunnel last January even though they had been aware of the presence of cancer-causing asbestos for over nine years.
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.
ksansone@timesofmalta.com