Health and Safety Update (November 2008)
Asbestos - the Hidden Killer
The HSE is currently running a campaign to highlight the dangers
of asbestos. It is fact that 20 tradesmen die from an
asbestos-relegated disease each week. The HSE has developed a
web site with links to numerous resources about asbestos to help
tradesmen especially in the construction, maintenance and
refurbishment sectors to be fully aware of what asbestos is, what
it can do, and what they can do to protect themselves,
www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/essentials.
What is asbestos, where will it be and what are its
effects?
Asbestos is a naturally occurring fibrous material and has been
used as a building material since the 1950s. It has good
insulating, fire stopping and anti corrosion properties. It
is often difficult to know if something contains asbestos as it may
be mixed with other materials, but it is likely that buildings
built before 2000 will contain come asbestos.
It can be found in many areas- insulating materials,
textured wall coatings, wall panels, gutters, roofing and many
other areas. Tradesmen likely to disturb asbestos containing
materials include electricians, joiners, plumbers, gas fitters,
roofers, plasterers and many other construction based trades.
The fibres when released can enter the respiratory system and
cause serious and sometimes fatal diseases such as mesothelioma,
asbestos-related lung cancer, asbestosis and pleural
thickening.
Ensure that your employees have sufficient knowledge and
training to recognise a material that may contain asbestos and most
importantly to stop working immediately, inform a person in charge
and wait for the person in charge of the premises to proceed with
testing of the material and formulate an asbestos management plan
if necessary.
Ideally, you should ask the question before work begins - does
the client/occupier have an asbestos management plan? If
working on a site built before 2000 it is possible that there will
be asbestos containing materials within the structure.
If asbestos is present and in good condition it should not be
disturbed. If asbestos must be worked on, the following
precautions should be taken:
- only fully trained persons with the correct equipment should
work with asbestos;
- hand tools should be used in preference to power tools to
minimise dust;
- materials should be kept damp, but not too wet;
- properly fitted, suitable respirators must be worn;
- smoking, eating and drinking in the work area must be
prohibited;
- a class H vacuum cleaner should be used to clean up during the
job, not a broom / brush
- asbestos should be double bagged and labelled and disposed of
appropriately;
- asbestos must never be carried in a car or taken home;
- suitable disposal overalls and boots without laces must be
worn;
- overalls must not be taken home to be washed - they must be
bagged in special asbestos waste bags after use and disposed of
appropriately;
- after work, workers must be decontaminated, overalls wiped down
with a damp rag and taken off before the mask is removed.
If your business is in the above category you must be aware of
the dangers and a new generation of skilled employees will avoid
these life threatening and destructive diseases. Call our Telephone
Advice Service for more information or contact your dedicated
Consultant.