Experience of Japan in Achieving a Total Ban on Asbestos

Bibliographic Data

ID15501046
AuthorsSugio Furuya (Japan Industrial Safety and Health Association, corresponding author), Ken Takahashi (0000-0002-7310-2257, The University of Sydney)
Year2017
Volume14
Issue10
Pages1261-1261
Publication date2017-10-20
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1661-7827 • E-ISSN: 1660-4601
PublisherMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3390/ijerph14101261
PMID29053631
OpenAlexW2765595570
LanguageEN
Citations received1

This paper aims to examine the process through which a total ban on asbestos was achieved in Japan. We reconstructed the process, analyzed the roles of involved parties/events, and drew lessons from the Japanese experience of achieving the ban. In Japan, a bill to phase out asbestos was proposed in 1992 but rejected without deliberation. Wide support for such a ban subsequently grew, however, largely due to the actions of trade unions and civil societies in establishing a coalition, raising awareness, organizing asbestos victims and their families, and propagating information on international developments. A governmental decision towards a ban was made in 2002 based on several national and international factors. A huge asbestos scandal in 2005 preponed the achievement of a total ban and led to the establishment of comprehensive measures to tackle asbestos issues. However, challenges remain for the elimination of asbestos-related diseases

Asbestos · Business · Deliberation · Environmental health · Political science · Politics · Air Quality and Health Impacts · Law · Medicine · Occupational and environmental lung diseases · Public Administration · Radiation Dose and Imaging

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