working near asbestos

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sizer73

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could anyone tell me what's the regs for working near asbestos , we were putting a job up and some got knocked and covered a lad , obviously the firm tried to blame us, now we're stripping a job that been passed off and all the poly stripped, we spotted some asbestos told the assy lads , they just picked it up and brushed the dust away with his hand!.. could anyone tell me what sort of training if any we should have, what sort of things should be in place etc , should we even be there?? thanks in advance
 
Assessment of work which exposes employees to asbestos

This sectionnoteType=Explanatory Memorandum has no associated
6. (1) An employer must not carry out work which is liable to expose employees of that employer to asbestos unless that employer has—
(a)made a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risk created by that exposure to the health of those employees and of the steps that need to be taken to meet the requirements of these Regulations;
(b)recorded the significant findings of that risk assessment as soon as is practicable after the risk assessment is made; and
(c)implemented the steps referred to in sub-paragraph (a).
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (1), the risk assessment must—
(a)subject to regulation 5, identify the type of asbestos to which employees are liable to be exposed;
(b)determine the nature and degree of exposure which may occur in the course of the work;
(c)consider the effects of control measures which have been or will be taken in accordance with regulation 11;
(d)consider the results of monitoring of exposure in accordance with regulation 19;
(e)set out the steps to be taken to prevent that exposure or reduce it to the lowest level reasonably practicable;
(f)consider the results of any medical surveillance that is relevant; and
(g)include such additional information as the employer may need in order to complete the risk assessment.
(3) The risk assessment must be reviewed regularly, and immediately if—
(a)there is reason to suspect that the existing risk assessment is no longer valid;
(b)there is a significant change in the work to which the risk assessment relates; or
(c)the results of any monitoring carried out pursuant to regulation 19 show it to be necessary,
and where, as a result of the review, changes to the risk assessment are required, those changes must be made and, where they relate to the significant findings of the risk assessment or are themselves significant, recorded.
(4) Where, in accordance with the requirement in paragraph (2)(b), the risk assessment has determined that the exposure to asbestos of employees of that employer may exceed the control limit, the employer must keep a copy of the significant findings of the risk assessment at those premises at which, and for such time as, the work to which that risk assessment relates is being carried out.

The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012


As a bare minimum you should have had asbestos awareness training. With regards to the lad that got covered the incident needs to be logged and your employer has a duty to ensure the lad has regular medicals as in years to come he may b e wanting to make a claim
 
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should issue clearance cert when they finished
 
Asbestos awareness course as a minimum to put up an asbestos job
 
just plank point refuse if i ever see it ro hear of it on the job am goign no were near it yan set of jobs taking the middle of linked houses houe semis with a bedrorm linking the house under passage clear that was all assy work and there was that much ***** on the board you would never no. yan lad ha a chest infection and lads started saying its the asbestos gaffer tried telling us all theres ne assy in them the feking baw bag. how do they clear the boards after an assy stripp????
 
Boards are covered with plastic coretex type stuff, all standards are usuall taped up etc, the assy boys would make there containment on the scaffold and it be cleaned and checked before the take there containment down
The fibres are measured to the air space (f/cc) and they do have a safe! limit(if you call assy safe)
I work for a large assy company for there scaffold division and I dont go near the stuff
 
Awareness is the basic you shouldn't go near the stuff
I do a yearly assy course (UKATA thingy) a medical every 2 years, face fits etc.
Like i said i dont go near the stuff got 2 types of masks( good for very kinky sex) in the van!
 
asbestos is a very lethal and dangerous substance it can lay dormant in the body for 20years or more.My Da died from MESOTHELIOMA which is caused by the fibres sticking to the lungs which over time grow bigger until they basically sufficate you.A HORRIBLE DEATH WITH NO CURE
THE FACT THE GUY PICKED IT UP IN HIS HAND TELLS ME HE DOESNT HAVE THE PROPER KNOWLEDGE AND RESPECT FOR THE STUFF AND IS THEREFORE A DANGER TO HIMSELF AND OTHERS:mad:
 
Thats what got me old man as well Happy,10 yrs now,still miss him. Dont you think these asbestos awareness courses are a sham. How can a 3 day course on asbestos or any topic qualify you as an expert??
 
I've got my ticket for that I remember a video I saw years ago and it still sticks in my head honestly happy and fred my heart goes out to ya and anyone else affect by it

My course fred was in the yard for a few hours apparently you CAN touch it as long as you don't breath any in, I myself wouldn't risk it
 
To be honest Fredrik they are the one course that are not a sham IMHO. They are not there to make you an expert but give you awareness of where asbestos can be found and what the fibres can do to your lungs. I think we all must have picked a drill up and drilled into the fabric of a building not knowing asbestos could be present. From what I gather the death rate will not peak until around 2015 which is shocking. One major player I worked for has millions ring fenced by the government for claims being made against them for exposure when they were a big importer of the stuff years ago , the same company are now removing the stuff worldwide although they dare not step foot in the USA for legal reasons
 
you can get thousands of fibres on a finger tip if not more HOW THE FECK DO YOU KNOW YOU HAVENT BREATHED IT IN.
I worked on a job in a nuclear powerstation which was deemed NOT AN ASBESTOS JOB but as the Lagging had ASBESTOS TWINE the company gave us an ASBESTOS AWARENESS COURSE.THE COURSE WAS GOOD ENOUGH but when the strip started the stuff was double bagged and sent down by way of several chutes and Crash Decks the FIRST bag got sent down and the bags burst with the STOOR/DUST OR ASSY FIBRES WENT EVERYWHERE.We finnished up for Christmas a couple of days later and i never went back.
THE DAY I SAT THE COURSE WAS THE ANNIVERSARY OF MY DAD BEING TOLD HE HAD MESOTHELIOMA
 
You may well be right DS,ive had 4 hr inductions on asbestos in Australia years ago where they were light years ahead of us on this topic. All major jobs had the pro's in for removal and exclusion period for 90 days before other trades could go in. Some of this rockwool insulation in texture and composition seems very similar to asbesto's fibre,would take more than a short course to spot the difference.
 
There's one bloke who delivers the course who lost his wife to mesothelioma , she was a school teacher. Apparently she developed it from sticking drawing pins into the wall to hang children's paintings in the school. One drawing pin can release upto 10000 fibres.

---------- Post added at 09:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:52 PM ----------
frederik said:
You may well be right DS,ive had 4 hr inductions on asbestos in Australia years ago where they were light years ahead of us on this topic. All major jobs had the pro's in for removal and exclusion period for 90 days before other trades could go in. Some of this rockwool insulation in texture and composition seems very similar to asbesto's fibre,would take more than a short course to spot the difference.
Click to expand...

It would be difficult to tell , I stopped some lads from working on Didcot a few years ago because of what I suspected was an asbestos fall , they got the analyst in and it came back clear , like you say it's very difficult to tell so always treat suspect material as asbestos until you know better
 
i remember a case up here of a Lady who cought Mesothelioma from polishing her dads workboots and others that cought it through washing coveralls and workwear.Traditionally it was deemed that it would be shipyard workers but they now suspect that the building trade will be the next wave as it was used in plaster and and artex
KELLOGGS BROWN AND ROOT nearly went under in the US about 12 years ago due to compensation claims if i remember correctly
 
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