London Underground records indicate workers lacked fitted asbestos masks for years

Documents expose a long-running safety gap

Internal records indicate that London Underground employees may have worked around asbestos-containing dust for years without individually fitted respiratory masks required for hazardous tasks. Documents reviewed by the Guardian include management emails and meeting minutes suggesting fitted masks were not introduced to some civil-engineering teams until late 2020. The material emerged through employment litigation involving workers who raised concerns about dust exposure.

One disclosed record concerned cleaning work near vents and cables containing asbestos material. Managers acknowledged gaps in training and uncertainty about when suitable respiratory protection had been issued. Another email recorded an oversight that allowed an employee to continue working without a fitted mask. Separate correspondence indicated that asbestos-fibre sampling had not been undertaken in circumstances where workers said dust was being cleaned and disturbed.

Why fitting matters

A tight-fitting respirator protects only when the selected model and size seal correctly against the wearer’s face. UK Health and Safety Executive research explains that competent face-fit testing is needed to identify gaps through which hazardous airborne material can enter. This makes the dispute more significant than a question of whether generic masks were available: protection must be matched to the individual employee and the work being performed.

Transport for London says it has strict controls intended to keep staff and passengers safe, including monitoring locations where asbestos is present. It cited tests showing dust below relevant workplace exposure limits, while acknowledging that traces of asbestos fibre were sometimes detected. Former cleaners challenge whether those tests captured conditions during active cleaning, when damaged material and accumulated dust could be disturbed. The competing accounts are now central to assessing historic exposure.

Tribunal cases and future scrutiny

The documents were disclosed in proceedings brought by former cleaner Micky Steeds, who succeeded in an unfair-dismissal claim after raising safety concerns. A separate official tribunal record confirms another former London Underground cleaner, Rob Donnan, pursued public-interest disclosure and unfair-dismissal complaints. TfL is appealing the Steeds ruling, limiting what it says publicly about that case while the legal process continues.

The next issue is whether the records prompt broader health monitoring, compensation claims or regulatory investigation. Asbestos-related illnesses can appear decades after exposure, so reconstructing old work practices and individual assignments may be essential. TfL will face pressure to show when face-fit testing became standard, how disturbed materials were sampled and whether every affected worker can obtain reliable exposure records. The case therefore links employment litigation with the long-term governance of an ageing public transport system.