Air Corps Chemical Abuse Survivors
An information resource for serving & former members of the Irish Army Air Corps suffering illness due to unprotected toxic chemical exposure in the workplace.
Please find below a link to a very useful “Toxicant & Disease Database” hosted by the The Collaborative on Health and the Environment in the USA.
Enter a disease and see what evidence there is for known chemical causes. Enter a chemical and see what evidence there is for diseases caused by this chemical.
The organisation representing members of the Defence Forces is still waiting for a reply after raising concerns about the exposure of members of the Air Corps to cancer- causing toxins.
PDFORRA wrote to both the Defence Forces and Department of Defence six months ago — prior to the publication of a damning Health and Safety Authority report on working conditions in Baldonnel — the details of which were revealed in an Irish Examiner investigation.
Ger Guinan, deputy general secretary of PDFORRA, said he became “acutely aware” of chemical exposure concerns having met with Dutch counterparts at a European Organisation of Military Associations (Euromil) conference last year.
Read more on Irish Examiner Website
There is growing pressure on the Government to launch an independent inquiry into the exposure of members of the Air Corps to cancer-causing toxins at Casement Aerodrome. Six members are suing the State, claiming their health was adversely affected due to working with hazardous chemicals.
An investigation by the Irish Examiner also revealed the Health & Safety Authority threatened to prosecute the Air Corps in 2016 unless it implemented improvements in the management of employees’ exposure to hazardous chemicals. It found staff did not have access to basic equipment, such as gloves, goggles, and protective clothing.
Calling in the Dáil for separate investigations, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin described the revelations and lack of response as a “serious scandal”. He also accused Taoiseach Enda Kenny and the Government of trying to “bury” the controversy.
Read more on Irish Examiner Website
On the 25th of January 2017 Minister Paul Kehoe TD the Junior Minister with responsibility for Defence made a statement in Dáil Éireann that he had appointed an “independent 3rd party” to investigate the Air Corps whistle-blower claims.
This “independent 3rd party” a Mr. Christopher O’Toole hails from the same Attorney Generals office that some of the whistle-blowers are taking legal action against.
Opposition parties are to raise whistleblowers’ concerns on the management of air corps staff exposure to hazardous chemicals in the Dáil today.
Read more on the Irish Examiner website
.@aosnodaigh supports pending court cases being brought by air corps personnel https://t.co/fB72FifzWe pic.twitter.com/m9SxRxFVCq
— Sinn Féin (@sinnfeinireland) January 23, 2017
The State is facing at least six separate legal actions from former members of the Air Corps who allege they have suffered serious illnesses as a result of “chronic exposure” to the chemicals they came in contact with as a part of their daily duties.
Read more on the Irish Examiner website
The Air Corps was told three months ago it needs to monitor its workers’ exposure to harmful substances, observe their health for early detection, and give them the equipment to protect themselves against chemical exposure.
Read more on the Irish Examiner website
One plaintiff’s summons list contains 26 examples where they claim negligence, including that he was regularly required to use Trichloroethylene without any training as to how to use it, or the proper protective measures required to use it. Medical advice has attributed mental and physical health problems to exposure to such chemicals, writes Joe Leogue.
Read more on the Irish Examiner website
