Asian and Pacific unions and CSOs unite towards eradicating the silent killer

The ITUC-Asia Pacific, Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI), and Union Aid Abroad–APHEDA have successfully concluded the 3^rd Regional Conference on Asbestos, bringing together trade union leaders, civil society organisations, and occupational safety and health experts from across the Asia-Pacific region. The conference served as a critical platform to reinvigorate the regional campaign for a total ban on all forms of asbestos, including chrysotile asbestos, and to strengthen strategies for a Just Transition for affected workers and communities.

More than 35 participants from across the region took part in substantive discussions on national advocacy challenges and progress, court battles with industry lobbyists, and lessons from countries where asbestos remains entrenched despite its well-documented health risks.

In a session with the International Labour Organization (ILO), participants examined how to leverage the ILO’s recognition of occupational safety and health as a fundamental right to accelerate national asbestos bans and advance the ratification of key occupational safety and health conventions. A dialogue with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) also reviewed its newly adopted safeguard policy, which prohibits all forms of asbestos in ADB-funded infrastructure projects, as well as its implementation roadmap.

A special dialogue session with the Malaysian Industrial Hygiene Association (MIHA) provided an important exchange on the role of industrial hygiene experts in protecting workers, including migrant workers, from hazardous exposures. With Malaysia’s commitment to phasing down and eventually banning asbestos, participants urged the government to rapidly build national capacity for the safe handling, removal, and disposal of legacy asbestos, and affirmed future collaboration between trade unions and MIHA.

The conference unanimously adopted the conference statement, calling on all Asia-Pacific governments still using asbestos to:

• Ban the mining, importing, manufacturing, and use of all forms of asbestos, including chrysotile asbestos, as soon as possible;
• Take immediate steps to reduce the risk of exposure to asbestos fibres among workers and communities, and to develop systems for the safe removal and disposal of asbestos waste;
• Support reforms to the Rotterdam Convention’s listing procedure at COP13 in 2027, including the listing of long-blocked recommended chemicals such as chrysotile asbestos; and
• Adopt industrial policies that enable a Just Transition to asbestos-free alternatives, ensuring that workers’ livelihoods are protected throughout this transition.

With the adoption of the conference statement, trade unions across Asia and the Pacific region signalled a renewed and unified push to accelerate asbestos bans and promote safe, asbestos-free alternatives through rights-based and worker-centred policies.