CHAMPION OF ASBESTOS VICTIMS HONOURED

Middlesex woman who has spent 30 years battling industrial giants on behalf of asbestos victims was celebrating today after being honoured with a lifetime achievement award.Nancy Tait MBE has pioneered a campaign to secure compensation for workers with asbestos-related illnesses since her husband, Bill, died in 1968 of a rare form of cancer resulting from his exposure to asbestos.Mrs Tait founded Enfield charity the Occupational and Environmental Diseases Association (OEDA) in 1978 to support victims of asbestos and their families in their fight for compensation.Her campaign to protect workers exposed to asbestos has helped to bring about new legislation, such as the 1999 ban on importing, supplying and using white asbestos.Receiving her award from the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, Mrs Tait said: "The award was made to me but I consider it to be recognition of the efforts of thousands of people who over the years have shared my conviction that asbestos kills and that something must be done."When Mr Tate died of mesothelioma there was no obvious connection between his job as a post office engineer and the presence of barely detectable asbestos fibres in his lungs. His employers refused to admit liability and withheld his widow's pension.However, after a four-year campaign Mrs Tate finally proved that there was a link between her husband's occupation and the disease that killed him.Following a flurry of publicity surrounding her case, the asbestos industry ridiculed Mrs Tate's claims that asbestos posed a safety risk to workers and ran a campaign declaring that asbestos was safe.Ms Tait said: "Confronted by one of its posters at the foot of the stairs at Victoria tube station, my reaction was `we need an organisation to fight back'."It is now widely accepted that thousands of people have died and contracted illnesses resulting from asbestos and that many more will be affected during the next 15 years as asbestos-related diseases can take years to develop.The OEDA plans to use the bursary that forms part of the award to publish a leaflet alerting self-employed builders and DIY enthusiasts to the potential dangers of asbestos in buildings.For more information about the OEDA call 020 8360 6413, email oeda@oeda.demon.co.uk, or visit www.oeda.demon.co.uk