There are many preventable deaths in the workplace that are caused by workers being exposed to carcinogens leading to cancer.
The U.N. calls on all employers to remove any such dangerous substances from the workplace and all job sites.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) there are at least 200,000 people who end up dying from work-related cancers.
The WHO stresses that "the risks for occupational cancer are preventable."
The most common types of work-related cancers are lung cancer followed by mesothelioma and bladder cancer. These occupational cancers must be and can be eradicated.
The WHO states that there are approximately 125 million people in the world today who are still being exposed to asbestos at their jobs. There are at least 90,000 workers who are still dying from asbestos-related diseases.
In addition, exposures to benzene, particularly used by workers in the chemical and diamond industries result in thousands of deaths from the resulting leukemia, another form of cancer.
According Maria Neira, WHO's Director of Public Health and Environment, "The tragedy of occupational cancer resulting from asbestos, benzene and other carcinogens is that it takes so long for science to be translated into protective action."
"Known and preventable exposures are clearly responsible for hundreds of thousands of excess cancer cases each year. In the interests of protecting our health, we must adopt an approach rooted in primary prevention -- that is to make workplaces free from carcinogenic risks," Dr. Neira added.
Surprisingly, most of the cancer-related deaths from occupational hazards are still occurring in the developed world.
The WHO predicts that if the current unregulated use of carcinogens in the workplace continues in these developing countries, the increases in deaths from cancers from these jobs will significantly increase in the following decades.
"To achieve this [that is, "the control of carcinogens in the workplace", the] WHO supports countries in developing comprehensive national cancer prevention and control plans, which are essential to prevent millions of cancer deaths each year," stated the WHO's Medical Officer for cancer control.
Health and safety standards in the workplace must be met to avoid these preventable deaths from continuing to occur.
