According to a court judgment, employees of a Dutch flower auction company were allegedly exposed to asbestos for years. The employee’s tasks, which included general manual labour and drilling, saw them exposed to the material in asbestos plates at a site in Aalsmeer, south of Amsterdam.
In the judgment, the court noted that FloraHolland knew from as far as 1990 that there was material containing asbestos in the building where employees were working. It was only in about 2009 that the company began issuing safety warnings and instructing staff on the proper safety methods for dealing with the material.
According to the court documents, the same work is now only done in full protective suits, while it was previously done entirely unprotected.
Due to the latency period for asbestos-related illnesses, it is not yet known how many employees are affected.
“At the moment, no disease has manifested itself, at least as far as we know, but if it does occur, it is now clear in advance that there has been exposure,” explained FNV union leader Jeroen Brandenburg.
The union for the flower market workers, which handles occupational diseases, has filed the lawsuit now on behalf of approximately fifteen employees due to a transfer in the management of the FloraHolland locations.
A spokesperson for FloraHolland said on Tuesday evening that he was unable to respond immediately to the verdict.