It is said that asbestos poses no problem in a building unless it is disturbed or starts to disintegrate. Its presence in any domestic home remains a serious issue, however, and was recently highlighted by the plight of a family in Hemel Hempstead. The young couple who have a four-month old baby have been forced […]
Category Archives: Asbestos awareness training
School fined £46,000 for asbestos failings
A secondary school in Chelmsford has been fined £26,000 and ordered to pay £20,000 in costs for breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act, 1974. Failing to put a plan in place to manage asbestos in the school led to maintenance workers, staff and pupils being exposed to asbestos debris and dust. Tom Forster […]
HMRC causing delays for asbestos compensation claims
Outdated technology is being blamed by HM Revenue and Customs for long delays in obtaining records for employment-related asbestos compensation claims. Although claims by surviving mesothelioma victims have now been guaranteed a 10-day turnaround time, the average wait for sufferers of other asbestos-related disease is around 383 days. Awareness of the danger of asbestos at […]
Simplify administration by tracking your licences
If you have several employees taking an asbestos course it can be difficult to monitor progress, and to collate all their details and results. That’s why we’ve included the ‘Track Courses’ page on our website – it’s a helpful facility that makes training admin that little bit easier. You just need to enter the first […]
Asbestos awareness – what to do in an asbestos emergency
For tradespeople working on older buildings, whether it’s a one-off job or a long-term renovation project, it’s crucial to know what to do if asbestos dust and fibres are inadvertently released. When considering the potential dangers of breathing in asbestos, awareness training is all about avoiding the substance, protecting yourself and those around you by […]
Safety issue caused by burning asbestos sheets
Although extremely resistant to high temperatures, smoke from a fire where asbestos is involved still represents a significant health risk because of the tiny particles of dust and fibre that are dispersed. Local environmental health officers were recently called to a fire in Witchford, Cambridgeshire, which had been burning for a week and had been […]
Poor asbestos awareness led to fine for heating engineer
It’s not just commercial properties that present an ongoing danger from asbestos. Any residential home built after 1999 could contain the substance, posing a potential health risk to tradespeople and homeowners alike. The dangerous presence of asbestos in our buildings was highlighted recently when a self-employed heating engineer was taken to court by the Health […]
“Scourge of asbestos” and the danger in our schools
The National Union of Teachers has described a danger within UK schools as ‘the scourge of asbestos’. Although potentially lying dormant in the main, the risks of being exposed to the deadly substance are ever-present for children, teachers, and school support staff. Jenny Darby, a former science teacher who taught between 1969 and 1996, in […]
Asbestos Awareness – a Europe-wide issue
The high quality of asbestos training courses in the UK reflects the serious consequences of being exposed to the substance and the many asbestos containing materials still present in our buildings. UKATA online training courses enable workers to identify the material, understand the risks of it being disturbed, and know why they should call in […]
Scotland sees the largest asbestos removal operation in Europe
The removal of asbestos should only be carried out by contractors who are trained and licensed by the Health and Safety Executive, due to the serious risks posed to health. For tradespeople and other workers who might come across asbestos during a working day, awareness training covers the dangers of disturbing asbestos, and why it […]