Nancy Tait 1920-2009
The Guardian's obituary of Nancy Tait, the tenacious campaigner for the victims of asbestos-related diseases:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/feb/23/nancy-tait
Nancy Tait (right) receiving the IOSH lifetime achievement award in 2005 with Karen Baxter of Sypol, the organisation sponsoring the IOSH lifetime achievement award.
News release from 7 December 2005:
Asbestos campaigner's achievements honoured
A woman whose search for the true cause of her husband’s death has helped protect thousands of workers’ health and ensured adequate compensation for victims of asbestos-related disease, has had her work honoured.
Nancy Tait MBE, the founder of the Occupational and Environmental Diseases Association (OEDA), received the prestigious IOSH (Institution of Occupational Safety and Health)/Sypol Lifetime Achievement Award at the Institution’s Annual Dinner and Awards, held at Alton Towers.
Recent previous winners of the Lifetime Achievement Award include Professor Julian Peto, the late George Brumwell and the late Lord Harold Walker of Doncaster. The award is only given to those who have made substantial contributions to furthering the understanding and importance of health and safety.
For Nancy, it was the tragic loss of her husband Bill in 1968 to mesothelioma that led to her personal search for the cause of his death and to the establishment of the Society for the Prevention of Asbestosis and Industrial Disease (SPAID) in 1978, which became OEDA in the 1990s.
Commenting on receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award, Nancy said:
“This award recognises the efforts of thousands of people who have shared my conviction that asbestos kills. In the 1990s it was claimed the asbestos problem had been dealt with, so SPAID decided to look at other problems and we changed our name because of this. Then Julian Peto found that plumbers, painters, carpenters and electricians were getting mesothelioma.
“Today, there is still an asbestos problem that we need to tackle and this is why we’re proposing to use Sypol’s bursary to try to make people aware that asbestos in their home could kill and that this accounts for the number of mesothelioma deaths that do not qualify for industrial disablement benefit.”
Sypol managing director, Karen Baxter, said:
“Nancy Tait is, in many respects, a unique winner of this award because it has never before gone to someone for an entirely voluntary effort. The illness and death of a partner would completely rob most people of their ambition and energy, but with Nancy it galvanised her to fight against occupational disease.
“The fact that she has gone on to play such a significant role in helping to raise awareness and tackle such a key issue to occupational safety and health as asbestosis, is indeed testimony to her drive and indefatigability.”
Other awards presented on the night were the Practical Project Award, sponsored by Zurich Risk Services, which went to Stewart Gray, for his video on ‘Safe working in labs’ and the Technician Safety Practitioner Scholarship, sponsored by the Safety and Health Practitioner (SHP) magazine, which was awarded to Kelly Lawrence.
Notes for editors: Established in 1945 and incorporated by Royal Charter in 2003, IOSH is Europe's leading body for health and safety professionals, representing over 28,000 members. Principally a UK-based body, it also has an increasing international profile, with members in more than 50 countries. An independent, not-for-profit organisation, the Institution regulates and steers the profession, maintaining standards and providing impartial, authoritative guidance on health and safety issues. IOSH provides a centre of excellence for professional standards; promotes awareness of the importance of health, safety and sustainability; advances research and disseminates knowledge; encourages, facilitates and leads communication of information, good practice and expertise; and supports and develops the competence of members
February 2009
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