Personal Injury Law

Asbestos in the United Nations

By asbestoshub

So now apparently the U.N. Headquarters is about to undergo renovations and the people are worried about security risks and……you guessed it. Asbestos exposure.

The renovation is expected to take years and in the meantime, U.N. employees, contractors and media will be moved to temporary office spaces inside or near the U.N. complex.

Stephen Kisambira, president of the United Nations staff union, held a rare news conference at U.N. headquarters to voice staff concerns about the so-called Capital Master Plan.

“Asbestos abatement is a serious issue,” he told reporters. “The risk is there … They are saying that nothing can go wrong. How can they be sure?”

Indeed. How can they be sure? And now that asbestos is being identified as a danger and removed from more prominent public buildings, perhaps it will get the attention and caution it deserves.

One of the problems, says Kisambira, is that contractors removing the asbestos cannot be sued because the United Nations is technically not U.S. territory. Because of the lack of liability, he said, many staff are worried that the contractors will be less careful than usual.

Kisambira said that New York City authorities took air samples in the building several years ago. And guess what? Their were never released.

Interestingly, there have been no threat or risk assessments conducted for most of the U.N. structures, including the temporary ones where workers will be housed for several years, though requests have been made and ignored.

Full post as published by Asbestos HUB on April 23, 2009 (boomark / email).