Since 2000, Yvonne Waterman has visited and spoken at many asbestos conferences worldwide, from Washington to Yokohama and from Ottawa to Athens. All the time, she learned and wondered why so many countries have the same asbestos problems and at the same time haven’t a clue about the solutions their neighbours came up with. Yet the growing knowledge is out there for all to share – it’s mostly the network that is lacking. On the premise ‘if you build it, they will come’, she founded the European Asbestos Forum foundation to organise this conference as an annual event where asbestos networks may be build and the best of science, technology, policy, innovations, awareness campaigns etc. may be shared, with the ultimate aim of saving lives.
In daily life, she runs the niche law firm Waterman Legal Consultancy in the Netherlands, which specialises in all things pertaining to asbestos, asbestos law and employers’ liability law. She also teaches liability law classes to lawyers and frequently publishes in legal journals and legal handbooks.
Yvonne always welcomes your questions and feedback about the EAF foundation, its conferences and activities at either waterman@watermanlegal.nl or yw@europeanasbestosforum.org.