Tokyo, June 9 (Jiji Press)–The Diet, Japan’s parliament, approved on Wednesday a bill to provide financial assistance to former construction workers exposed to asbestos.
The new law, expected to go into force by next April, comes after the Supreme Court last month found the government liable to pay damages for the asbestos-caused health problems of former construction workers. The law requires the government to promptly compensate the damages of victims who have not filed lawsuits, to the extent that its responsibility is recognized by the highest court. The compensation amount will differ based on the extent of the illness caused by asbestos, with a maximum of 13 million yen being given to cases in which former construction workers die due to severe diseases such as mesothelioma or lung cancer. The relief will cover workers who were involved in asbestos spraying work between October 1972 and September 1975, or were engaged in certain indoor construction work between October 1975 and September 2004, as well as their families. [1]
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