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Asbestos Awareness
OCTOBER 2012
In June of this year the Health and Safety Inspectorate carried out an initiative to review how the hotel industry is managing the risks of exposure to asbestos. See the findings here
AUGUST 2012
WEBSITE
The HSE has produced a 45 minute interactive lesson for apprentices on the dangers of asbestos. It can be used as part of a workplace training and will raise awareness of the risks that apprentices face when working with asbestos. The package consists of a powerpoint presentation, an introduction/lesson plan for lecturers, posters and a task sheet where apprentices have to identify the common places asbestos may be hidden within a building.
JULY 2012
Prime minister is 'totally opposed' to asbestos trade
The UK government deplores Canada's plans to produce millions of tonnes of asbestos for export to the developing world (Risks 563), David Cameron has indicated. The response to Labour's Jim Dobbin came at prime minister's questions on 11 July.
The Heywood and Middleton MP, who had pledged to raise the issue when he attended an Action Mesothelioma Day event on 6 July, had said: 'The government rightly donate millions in overseas aid to developing countries, including India, to eradicate poverty and disease. Despite that, the Canadian government, including the government of Quebec, are to invest 58 million dollars in an asbestos-producing mine; this is not for use in Canada, of course, but to export to developing countries, including India, which will put thousands of poor people at risk from deadly asbestosis and mesothelioma. Will the prime minister and the international development secretary encourage international communities, including the World Health Organisation (WHO), to oppose this quite outrageous decision?'
The prime minister responded: 'I will be seeing the head of the WHO later today, so I can raise this issue with them. As the hon. Gentleman knows, asbestos is banned in the UK, in the EU and in a number of other countries. We are totally opposed to its use anywhere and would deplore its supply to developing countries. The Department for International Development does not provide funding to projects that encourage developing countries to import asbestos from any country or for any purpose. We are not aware that DFID funds have been used in that way at all and I would take urgent action were they to have been, but he makes a strong point about the Indian situation.'
Sources say the prime minister's discussions with WHO director-general Margaret Chan led to a flurry of activity within the organisation
JUNE 2012
Changes to UK Asbestos legislation - the position in Jersey
In Jersey, work with asbestos is subject to:-
- Health and Safety at Work (Jersey)
Law 1989 (HSW Law)
- Asbestos (Licensing)(Jersey) Regulations 2008 (Asbestos
Regulations)
- Management of Exposure to Asbestos in Workplace Buildings and
Structures: Approved Code of Practice (Asbestos ACoP)
- Construction (Safety Provisions)(Jersey) Regulations 1970
- Construction (Personal Protective Equipment)(Jersey) Regulations
2002
Consideration has been given to the recent changes introduced in the UK by CAR 2012, but at the present time there is no intention to adopt the new category of NNLW within Jersey legislation.
This is due to the belief that the new requirements relating to NNLW provide no additional benefit to that provided by the current local requirements for workers undertaking non-licensed work.
It is considered that continuing to direct resource to monitor and enforce the requirements of the present local legislation will be significantly more effective in reducing the risks to workers than introducing new, largely administrative, requirements equivalent to NNLW for work with lower risk asbestos materials. This position will be subject to review.
The application of the Asbestos Regulations to licensable work remains unchanged.
JULY 2011- The UK Government's chief scientific
advisor has reaffirmed the status of chrysotile (white) asbestos as
a Class 1 carcinogenic substance, and has concluded that there is
no valid reason to demote it to a less serious category.
Sir John Beddington, head of the Government Office for Science,
concluded that there were no plans to amend current Control of
Asbestos Regulations based on the evidence provided
from experts including the HSE, Imperial College
London and the School of Hygiene & Tropical Medecine.
The Approved Code of Practice, Management of Exposure to Asbestos in Workplace Buildings and Structures, which aims to control the risks from exposure to asbestos at work, has been revised and came into force on the 1st October 2009.
The overall requirements set out in the previous Approved Code of Practice (introduced in January 2005) remain the same but some changes have been made. These changes are:
- amendment of the control limit (the maximum
concentration of asbestos fibres that must not be exceeded)
- inclusion of additional guidance on the steps to be taken
when asbestos materials are inadvertently damaged
- provision of further information on the preparation of the
asbestos management plan
- additional guidance on work carried out by employed persons
or the self-employed in domestic premises
- clarification of the training requirements for all workers
who are likely to come across asbestos during their work
- incorporation of changes which have occurred as a result of
the revision to the Asbestos Licensing Regulations which were
introduced in 2008
updated key references
Copies of the Revised Approved Code of Practice are availalbe from Social Security.
Asbestos could be present in any building that was built or
refurbished before the year 2000. Search the house using
asbestosvision to see where asbestos could be hiding. Below is link
to health and safety executive guide to where it may be
found.
http://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/hiddenkiller/where-is-it-found.htm
Article from the BBC Website entitled 'INSIDE THE GLOBAL
ASBESTOS TRADE'
Includes information on production, where Asbestos is still
mined, consumption and export Click here to
view.
The following presentations are available to
download
Steve Shutler, MD of Burton Environmental Services, an Asbestos
removal agency. What is
Asbestos?
Mike Liston, CEO JEC. Overview of what health and safety should mean in a company
Colin Myers, Director of the Health & Safety
Inspectorate.
An overview of the Asbestos
legislation
JOSHA is an Association for anyone with an interest in health and safety in the workplace.
Click on this link to find out more about JOSHA and how you can join.
