Asbestos

Asbestos and Young People

It often appears that, millennials, gen Z workers and other younger people who work as plumbers, electricians, and in other trades are not too concerned about the risk of asbestos.

This is often due to believing that, as asbestos was banned in 2000 in the UK, the illnesses associated with asbestos will only affect the older generation.

It is estimated that around 1.5 million premises in the UK still contain asbestos.

Why? It is not illegal to have asbestos in a building.

Undisturbed asbestos isn't a danger and for this reason, it's still present in many homes today.

All businesses must have an asbestos survey carried out on any of their premises which may contain asbestos. All finding should be logged on to a register which must be made available to any person likely to work near or may come into contact with the asbestos.

A recent, 2022, research was carried out by Labour Research Department (LRD) for the TUC and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Occupational Safety and Health.

The survey found a total of at least 2,690 premises with asbestos (excluding schools and housing), owned by a sample of 31 local authorities in England (equivalent to nearly 10% of local authorities).

Only one council in the survey, Chorley Council, had removed asbestos from all its premises.

The TUC says the extent of asbestos presence in the research sample raises concern that the full figure for England could be in the tens of thousands.

Source https://www.tuc.org.uk/news/thousands-local-authority-buildings-still-contain-asbestos-new-tuc-research

Asbestos is only dangerous when not maintained, disturbed or damaged without the right measures in place to avoid fibres being released into the air.

If asbestos fibres are inhaled, they can cause serious diseases such as mesothelioma, asbestos related lung cancer, asbestosis, and pleural thickening. Construction workers of any age are at significant risk if they disturb materials containing asbestos during repairs and refurbishment.

These diseases often take a long time to develop, and it can take 20 to 30 years for symptoms to appear.

It is therefore, of major importance that all workers know how to recognise the dangers and take the right actions to protect themselves and those around them from being exposed to asbestos fibres.

Any worker who may come into contact with asbestos during the course of their work should receive instruction, training and supervision in line with the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974.

There are 3 levels of training:

1. Asbestos Awareness should as QNUK Level 2 Award in Asbestos Awareness (RQF) - Anyone who may come into contact with asbestos must receive this or similar training each year.
2. Unlicensed Removal – Anyone trained at this level will be able to remove certain asbestos such as garage roofing sheets, wall boards where this no, or very minimal risk of breaking the product.
3. Licenced Removal – At this level, all workers must be trained in removal and working for a licenced company who is registered with the HSE. There are very strict rules which the company must work to.

SaFA Training & Consultancy Ltd offer the 3 hour QNUK Level 2 Award in Asbestos Awareness.

For group booking of 10 delegates, this would work out at around £30 + vat per delegate

Call or email us for a personal quote.