"Cancers caused workplace activities and exposure to carcinogens kill, one person in the UK every 30 minutes. The report says the prevention of workplace cancers has a much lower profile in the workplace than preventing injuries, 'despite the fact that only 220 to 250 workers die each year as a result of an immediate injury as opposed to the 15,000 to 18,000 that die from cancer.'

The TUC is calling for greater efforts to prevent cancers, through removing the cause from the workplace, better standards and enforcement and greater union involvement in finding solutions. The guide notes: 'Trade unions have been at the forefront of the campaign against the use of carcinogens in the workplace. Many substances that employers once claimed were safe have only been recognised as dangerous because unions highlighted the fact that workers were dying as a result of exposure, or because unions have campaigned for their ban or control.'"

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