Key facts
- Hundreds of London Underground workers may have been exposed to asbestos without protective masks for nearly 20 years.
- TfL has paid out more than £7 million in asbestos-related compensation and legal fees.
- A former cleaner, Micky Steeds, won an unfair dismissal claim after raising concerns about asbestos exposure.
- Face-fitted masks were not issued to some London Underground staff until late 2020.
- Asbestos dust fibre sampling was not conducted in some instances.
- TfL states that asbestos test results show levels below relevant workplace exposure limits.
Hundreds of London Underground workers may have been exposed to asbestos without adequate protection for nearly two decades, according to documents obtained by The Guardian. Safety regulations introduced in 2002 require employers to provide workers with individually fitted face masks to prevent the inhalation of toxic dust, but emails and meeting minutes indicate that these masks were not consistently issued until late 2020.
These revelations come as Transport for London (TfL), the body overseeing the Underground, faces potential legal claims, having already paid out over £7 million in asbestos-related compensation and legal fees. The documents were disclosed as part of an employment tribunal brought by Micky Steeds, a former cleaner who successfully argued he was unfairly dismissed after raising concerns about exposure to asbestos and other hazardous materials.
Meeting minutes from 2018 show a manager had no record of face-fitted masks being issued to teams cleaning dust from vents, which contained asbestos-sheathed cables. Another manager in December 2020 stated that "a lot of people aren’t face-fitted" and acknowledged that staff "shouldn’t have worked without face fit, but it has happened," attributing the failure to a lack of training.
An email from 2019 described allowing Steeds to work without a fitted mask as an oversight to be rectified, while a 2023 email from a different manager admitted that required asbestos dust fibre sampling had not been conducted. TfL has identified over 20,000 asbestos-containing materials across its network. Despite these findings, TfL maintains that it has strict controls in place to manage asbestos risk, with specialist teams monitoring locations and test results showing levels below relevant workplace exposure limits. However, Steeds and a former colleague noted that tests were not always conducted during cleaning and disturbance of asbestos.
Experienced cleaners reported encountering damaged asbestos chunks and cables, often continuing work with "common sense" rather than proper protection. Catriona Ratcliffe, a solicitor specializing in personal injury, highlighted that damaged asbestos poses a higher risk of fibre release and that employers with knowledge of exposure risks who fail to take precautions could face legal claims. She noted that the documents in Steeds' case could lead to further injury claims, especially given that prolonged exposure, even at low levels, increases risk.
Steeds expressed anger over TfL's alleged failure to provide fitted masks and to address his concerns, stating that hundreds of workers' health may have been put at risk. Rob Donnan, another former cleaner, estimated that around 80 cleaners in the vents department and 300 staff in the escalator department worked without fitted masks between 2002 and 2020. TfL stated it could not comment further on the case as it is appealing against Steeds' tribunal ruling.