Since 2000, Yvonne Waterman has visited and spoken at many asbestos and asbestos related conferences worldwide: all across Europe and the USA, also far-flung places like Ottawa, Bogotá, Yokohama, Hong Kong, etc. All the time, she wondered why all countries have the same asbestos problems and yet at the same time haven’t a clue about the neighbours’ solutions. 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 2024, the foundation was renamed the Global Asbestos Forum (as it really was all along). Over the years, the foundation has become involved in so much more: awareness campaigns, scientific projects, innovations, international collaborations of every kind. True to the foundation’s motto ‘Collaboration, Acceleration, Eradication’, Yvonne travels tens of thousands of kilometers every year on behalf of her foundation, raising awareness and encouraging collaboration across the globe.
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 at waterman@globalasbestosforum.org.