NEGATIVE — EMPLOYMENT — WORKPLACE GENETIC SCREENING 312

IT PROTECTS PEOPLE FROM JOBS WHICH MIGHT KILL THEM

GENETIC SCREENING CAN KEEP PEOPLE OUT OF JOBS WHICH MIGHT KILL THEM

Jo Lenaghan, Senior research fellow, IPPR, The Guardian (London)

July 19, 1999, SECTION: Guardian Leader Pages; Pg. 17 TITLE: Threat of gene tests // acs-EE2001

The HGAC argues that employers should test employees for genetic variations that would put them at increased risk of developing a disease if they worked in a particular job. What would this mean in practice? For example, approximately one in 20 people who are heavily exposed to asbestos will develop the rare lung cancer, mesothelioma. If we follow the recommendations of the HGAC, then employers would be encouraged to identify and exclude those workers with a predisposition to lung cancer, instead of being obliged to remove or reduce carcinogenic substances from the workplace.