Dust Suppression toolbox talk from IQ

The Institute of Quarrying has produced the slide set you can see above, which acts as a toolbox talk. It acts as an overview of the differing ways in which effective dust suppression can be achieved safely and with an environmentally friendly approach to suit differing applications.



You can also view it alone with our own set of Toolbox Talks over on the Demolition Training website.

"White Asbestos Dust is Safe"

Here at C&D we often hear comments from clients and builders about things that they consider to be perfectly safe and we consider to be hazardous, but a site visit by one of our consultants last week brought comments that we found to be unbelievable.

The consultant was carrying out a regular H&S visit to one of our clients who rents a warehouse building for storage of their stock and the building was due to have a fire inspection, hence the visit.

Our client was not aware that the owner of the building was re-roofing the warehouse so they and our consultant were surprised, when they arrived at site, to find a roofing contractor installing metal roofing sheets on top of the existing asbestos cement sheets by drilling through the asbestos cement sheets to install the fixings.

Upon seeing the work we advised our client to keep out of the building until an analyst had visited and advised the roofer to stop work at once as they were releasing white asbestos dust (chrysotile) during their work and their men did not have masks or overalls in use.

The events that followed were simply unbelievable:-

1. The roofers said they had been told by both their boss and the owner of the building that "White Asbestos Dust is Safe" and no special precautions were needed!
2. When we spoke to the Managing Agents of the building they repeated the comment that "White Asbestos Dust is Safe".
3. The roofers were completely unconcerned that chrysotile debris was falling from each screw hole down onto our clients stock below thus requiring all stock to be cleaned and decontaminated, and that they were exposing themselves to deadly asbestos fibres every time that hey drilled a hole.

When you consider that asbestos related diseases kill over 4,000 people a year in the UK it is unbelievable to me that a Managing Agent does not know that dust kills, does not know their duties under CAR2012 and allows workers to be exposed. And it is equally unbelievable that a roofing contractor has not trained his men in the dangers of asbestos.

We carried out a free asbestos awareness toolbox talk on the spot and hope that the guys understood the dangers and the need to be correctly trained as asbestos training CAT B and are face fitted for masks before they do any more work of this type.

We are returning to site later this week to ensure that things have improved.

If you are considering re-roofing a property that has an asbestos cement roof remember that work on that roof falls under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 and all relevant precautions need to be in place to prevent the spread of asbestos fibres and all workers must be suitably trained.

Asbestos Awareness and CAT B courses can be booked through C&D and full course details are on our training site at www.demolitiontraining.com

Mesothelioma Bill

Monday 20th May saw MPs vote on the Mesothelioma Bill which is intended to create a last-resort fund for those sufferers unable to obtain compensation because the insurance companies who insured their employers are no longer trading. The Government thinks that Mesothelioma cases will peak in 2015, but the HSE thought that they would peak in 2010 and they were wrong, and many sufferers will be unable to claim compensation. If the Bill is passed it will open up a £355 million compensation fund which the Government hopes will compensate around 3,500 people.

According the The Sun, Welfare minister Lord Freud said: "There has been a terrible injustice that previous governments could not fix".

Our view here at C&D is that UK Governments have since the 1920's failed to address the appaling loss of life to mesothelioma and the lack of training for those most at risk. C&D deliver both the NDTG Asbestos Awareness course as well as our own to demolition companies nationwide, but we rarely deliver the course to those that need it most. HSE statistics show that the trades most at risk are:-

• Electricians
• Plumbers
• Gas Fitters
• Painters & Decorators
• Joiners
• Plasterers

Let us hope that the Bill is passed and that publicity will increase awareness of the dangers from asbestos and that increased awareness will lead to more people being trained and more masks being worn where there is a possibility that asbestos could be present.

Remember, wearing a mask can save your life as we reminded the industry in this short toolbox talk.

How do I ensure that I do not catch an asbestos related disease?

Asbestos kills, lets not forget that fact, but it doesn't have to kill you, the people you work with or your friends. The only way that you can catch an asbestos related disease is by breathing in asbestos fibres and the more you breath in then the greater the chance of mesothelioma, lung cancer or pleural plaques. So how do you ensure that you never breathe in the fibres?

1. Make sure that all buildings that may contain asbestos have been correctly surveyed in accordance with the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 and that anyone entering that building knows the content of the asbestos survey before they enter.
2. Make sure that all persons who MAY disturb asbestos, and that includes demolition estimators, have recieved asbestos awareness training and, in my opinion, have a suitable and correctly face fitted respirator when entering any building where asbestos may be present.
3. If there is a risk of asbestos being present make sure that there are suitable decontamination procedures on site and do not take fibres home with you.
4. Get into the habit of wearing your mask. "Batman wore a mask to hide his identity but I wear mine to save my life".

C&D Free Demolition Toolbox talks are a success

When we decided to launch our dedicated demolition training website we wanted to try to give something back to the industry for free so we recorded a number of toolbox talks on a variety of topics, posted them to Youtube, and waited to see if we would get any requests for downloads.

The response so far has been very good with many download requests as well as requests for the talks in Turkish and Polish, both of which will be available at a small sum in the next few weeks.

If you would like to see the talks for yourself or arrange for a free download please head on over to DemolitionTraining.com