Mesothelioma In Former Staff At Australian Hospitals

Asbestos is a problem not restricted to construction workers, former hospital workers have come out and said in an interview with the ABC's 7.30 Report.

A former administrator at Sydney's Concord Hospital, Russell Mills, who was diagnosed with asbestos cancer mesothelioma, said he did not expect to get the disease given his role saw him spend the majority of his time in an office.

"I had no idea that that could be a possibility," Mr Mills said.

"I was floored."

The 7.30 Report managed to locate a number of other former hospital workers whose exposure to asbestos - unbeknownst to them - has left them in the same position as Mr Mills.

John van Drunen, a 1968 Dutch Olympian turned radiographer upon emigration to Brisbane, worked at the Princess Alexandra Hospital and died five years ago from mesothelioma.

His lawyer, Sean Ryan, said Mr van Drunen spent a lot of time in the hospital's "dungeon".

"It was in that area that a lot of exposed pipes lagged with asbestos were located, often in a deteriorated state, and often he brushed up against those pipes ...  And that's primarily where his asbestos exposure occurred," Mr Ryan said.

At a children's hospital in Adelaide, among others, Joe Dennie sprayed a combination of asbestos fibres and glue onto buildings and ceilings to fire-proof them. Mr Dennie, too, has the asbestos cancer.

The Federal Government's Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency's chief executive Peter Tighe said mesothelioma among former hospital workers was not exclusive to Australia.

"We've seen the same sort of instances in the UK with doctors and health professionals coming down with asbestos-related issues," Mr Tighe said.

"They are people who are radiologists, health workers, who are moving from one building to the next in the hospital's underground tunnels, where the hot water pipes have often been lagged with asbestos."