asbestos risk News
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Updated guidance on managing asbestos risks
Updated guidance is now available to help those responsible for managing the risks from asbestos best protect those workers who may disturb it. 'Asbestos: The survey guide' is aimed at those who commission asbestos surveys, the surveyors who carry them out and those who use them such as architects and demolition or removal contractors. It replaces the MDHS 100 guidance and sets out the role of ...
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UK warns failure to meet responsibilities when dealing with asbestos will be penalised
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reminds the building trade that failure to carry out checks and surveys for asbestos in property refurbishments is unacceptable. This warning follows the successful prosecution by HSE of a building surveyor who failed to meet his legal duties and carry out an asbestos survey during a refurbishment at 92-95 Livery Street, Birmingham. Raymond Joseph Boyle of ...
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Asbestos related deaths stay at record highs
According to a new report from the Health and Safety Executive new report from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), deaths from mesothelioma stayed at record levels for the second year running. The updated figures show that there were 2,538 mesothelioma deaths in Great Britain in 2013, broadly similar to the 2,548 in 2012, but substantially higher than the 2,312 deaths in 2011. Mesothelioma, ...
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National UK campaign starting October 2008 to target tradesmen at risk from asbestos exposure
During October and November 2008 HSE in partnership with key stakeholders will be running a national campaign to target tradesmen who are still at risk from exposure to asbestos. The campaign will build on the success of the previous pilot campaign in the North West. The primary aim of the campaign is to raise awareness amongst tradesmen that they are more at risk than they think from asbestos. ...
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Is asbestos risk lurking in your supply chain?
The HSE ‘Beware Asbestos’ campaign paints a bleak picture of the asbestos situation in the UK. Asbestos is the single biggest cause of work-related deaths in the UK and can still be found in many unlikely places such as ceiling tiles, boilers, lofts, and guttering. If disturbed and inhaled, asbestos can cause a number of diseases – the most fatal of which are mesothelioma and ...
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FAAM and BOHS welcome updated HSE Guidance on Asbestos-it will contribute to better management of asbestos risks
The British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS), a scientific charity and the Chartered Society for Worker Health Protection has joined the Faculty of Asbestos Assessment and Management (FAAM), a leading professional body for those who identify and manage asbestos risk, in welcoming the Health and Safety Executive’s publication of a new updated version of HSG248 Asbestos: The ...
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Don’t miss free health and safety courses
The Working Well Together Campaign runs numerous free and subsidised courses in all areas of health and safety. Courses available include: general health and safety, dust awareness, asbestos awareness, preparing risk assessments and method statements, working at height and manual handling. This is a fantastic opportunity to make sure your business is compliant and that all staff, especially ...
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Companies struggling with asbestos risk assessments, says legislation expert
The risks associated with asbestos are still not given the time and severity that they warrant and facilities throughout the UK are still not following their legal responsibilities, according to specialists in environmental and H&S legislation Cedrec. The new style of asbestos controls, originally set under the Control of Asbestos Regulations SI 2006/2739, and tightened further through the ...
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Register for free health and safety courses nationwide
Free and heavily subsidised courses in many aspects of health and safety are available from the Working Well Together Campaign. The courses include general health and safety, asbestos awareness, preparing risk assessments and method statements, working at height and manual handling. This is a great opportunity to ensure new starters are health and safety aware, and that your business is fully ...
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Secondhand Exposure to Asbestos Discussed in New Video
Today, the IAQ Video Network and Cochrane & Associates announced the release of their latest educational video. Their newest production discusses asbestos and secondhand exposure risks for workers’ families. “Significant exposure to any type of asbestos will increase the risk of lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis,” said Paul Cochrane, President of Cochrane and ...
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HSE runs national asbestos campaign
During October and November 2008 HSE in partnership with key stakeholders will be running a national campaign to target tradesmen who are still at risk from exposure to asbestos. The campaign will build on the success of the previous pilot campaign in the North West. The primary aim of the campaign is to raise awareness amongst tradesmen that they are more at risk than they think from asbestos. ...
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Dumped asbestos posed serious health risk
Builder and roofer Mark Alexander Taylor has been found guilty of dumping asbestos sheeting in someone else’s skip and ordered to do 180 hours unpaid work for the community. He was also ordered to pay £1,000 towards Environment Agency costs by a district judge sitting at a trial at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court today (Mon) where Taylor had denied the charge. The court was told that someone ...
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Cedrec’s Gareth Billinghurst says companies are still struggling to deal with the requirements to carry out asbestos risk assessments
As this year’s Global Asbestos Awareness Week (April 1 – 7th) is marked by BOHS, the Chartered Society for Worker Health Protection, specialists in environmental and H&S legislation Cedrec says the risks associated with asbestos are still not given the time and severity that they warrant and facilities throughout the UK are still not following their legal responsibilities. The ...
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Idaho Transportation Department settles with EPA for exposing untrained workers and mishandling asbestos waste during shop renovation
The Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) has agreed to a settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for alleged violations of federal asbestos regulations. EPA has alleged that ITD hired inmates from the St. Anthony Idaho Work Camp (Idaho Department of Correction) to perform renovation work involving removal of asbestos-containing floor tile at an ITD Maintenance Shop in ...
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Destructive Illinois Fire Leaves Asbestos Concerns for Residents
Last month, a fire destroyed six properties in downtown Minonk, Illinois. The devastating fire took over 100 firefighters to bring it under control and left a large area of destruction in the small community. Along with the immediate concerns caused by the fire, area residents have learned that asbestos has been found in the rubble. According to a report published by the Pantagraph.com, ...
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Mesothelioma and Asbestos Awareness Day inaugurated in Australia
Losing her husband to a deadly asbestos-induced disease, Dorothy Roberts, 72, is one of 12 widows being portrayed during Australia’s National Asbestos & Mesothelioma Day. The ACTU (Australian Council of Trade Unions) will join with asbestos victims and support groups to carry out a day of events that will punctuate the dangers of asbestos. Regarded as the “silent killer,” mesothelioma is a ...
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EPA finalizes Human Health Risk Assessment for Libby Asbestos Superfund site
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced release of the final human health risk assessment specific to the Libby Asbestos Superfund site. EPA completed its rigorous scientific review of toxicity values and a draft risk assessment in December 2014. Comments received during a public comment period for a proposed cleanup decision did not change the agency’s ultimate ...
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EPA inks pair of settlements with Department of Energy and contractors over Hanford asbestos handling violations
The U.S. EPA has signed a pair of consent agreements with the U.S. Department of Energy and two contractors to resolve alleged violations of federal asbestos handling regulations at the Hanford Site near Richland, Washington. Today’s settlements stem from what EPA determined was improper demolition work performed at the DOE Hanford Site. In August 2012, in response to complaints from ...
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Protecting Workers’ Families from Secondhand Asbestos Exposure
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 125 million people are exposed to asbestos in the workplace. WHO estimates that 107,000 die each year from asbestos-related lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis resulting from occupational exposures and that one in three deaths from occupational cancer is caused by asbestos. Workers are not the only ones at risk for exposure ...
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Identifying and Mitigating Asbestos Exposure Risks in Puerto Rico
For decades, thousands of building materials and products that were used in Puerto Rico and across the region contained asbestos. Unfortunately, many of these asbestos-containing materials can still be found in homes, businesses and institutions of all types. The mere presence of an asbestos-containing material is not an immediate threat necessarily. However, if the material has become friable ...
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