Archive for the ‘Why UKAS Accredited?’ Category
Schools asbestos survey challenges official line
Just 20 per cent of school safety reps confirmed they have been given asbestos awareness training, according to a new nationwide survey that highlights inconsistencies with an earlier HSE report.
The survey of 600 school safety reps was carried out at the end of last year by the Joint Union Asbestos Campaign (JUAC) – a coalition of six education unions, as well as the education sections of Unison, Unite, GMB and UCATT.
JUAC campaigns on the effective management of risks associated with asbestos in school buildings. It encourages the Government to be open about its policy on asbestos in schools, and, ultimately, wants the substance to be safely removed from all schools. Read More
Asbestos campaigners launch asbestos awareness survey in conjunction with UKAS
British asbestos campaigners have today launched a national survey exploring general awareness and understanding of asbestos in buildings and the regulations designed to protect UK workers from being exposed to asbestos in their workplace.
The survey can be taken here:
The Great British Asbestos in Buildings Survey 2011
The survey has been developed in conjunction with the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) the organisation that currently accredits over 100 asbestos inspection bodies to carry out asbestos surveys. Known as the Great British Asbestos in Buildings Survey 2011, the survey will be promoted across all industries via the UK’s leading trade associations and trade unions, membership organisations and industry institutions. Tradesmen, building occupiers, dutyholders, clients, FM’s, property managers of non-domestic buildings will be encouraged to take the survey.
According to the HSE, asbestos is responsible for an estimated 4000 deaths each year and is the single greatest cause of work-related deaths in the UK. Results are expected to give an insight into awareness of the Duty to Manage Asbestos and highlight areas for raising awareness of the risks of asbestos in the workplace.
The Survey has the backing of high profile asbestos campaigners across the UK. Annette Brooke MP and Chair of the Asbestos in Schools Group welcomed the survey:
“This survey is a welcome step in the right direction. It is so vital that we highlight the dangers surrounding asbestos and I hope that participation in this survey is as wide as possible. ”
John Richards, Managing Director of analytical and surveying firm, Thames Laboratories said:
“With recent public sector funding cuts and the Government’s review of Health and Safety, we are concerned that this important subject maybe overlooked. Currently in the UK, more people are dying from asbestos exposure than in road accidents and yet our approach to asbestos still ranges from apathy to paranoia.
Recent conflicting reports produced from ATAC and HSE, and the issues of low level asbestos exposure, have led to the development of this research project, aimed at establishing what is really happening”.
Jon Murthy, Marketing & Communications Manager at UKAS said:
“This is the first industry initiative of its kind in which UKAS has participated and we hope to see this repeated annually to measure what improvements are happening within the asbestos sector. UKAS will play its role by ensuring the questionnaire is circulated to as many individuals as possible, from all industry sectors, via Unions, Trade Associations, Industry Institutions and Membership Organisations”.
The survey results will be published in a report in the summer 2011 via the campaign website www.asbestosinspectionbodies.co.uk and should highlight the issues arising from the most comprehensive review of the subject to date.
Company fined after failure to manage asbestos
A construction company has been fined after failing to carry out work correctly or properly manage asbestos while demolishing an old church in Snodland, Kent.
Maidstone Magistrates’ Court heard the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) received a complaint from a member of the public about demolition works taking place on the corner of Holborough Road in the town.
The site was owned by Bernard Berry of Berry Estates Development Limited that was also carrying out the demolition of the building. Read More
BOHS announces the closure of ABICS
The British Occupational Hygiene Society [BOHS] announced the closure of the Asbestos Building Inspectors Certification Scheme [ABICS] last week. This means that individual surveyors who don’t work for UKAS accredited organisations, can no longer demonstrate competence, as recommended in HSE’s guidance HSG 264: Asbestos, the Survey Guide.
The following is from the BOHS Press Release:
Steve Perkins, Chief Executive of BOHS, states, “Despite the support of the Health and Safety Executive [HSE], the cooperation with UKAS, and the high level of initial interest from individual surveyors that ABICS has always generated, we have come to the conclusion – after eight years of significant and unsustainable investment – that a voluntary certification scheme is not viable in the extremely competitive environment of asbestos surveying.”
It was recognised many years ago that there are individual asbestos surveyors who are competent but who operate as sole traders or in small companies outside UKAS accredited organisations, and who are not likely to apply for UKAS accreditation for commercial reasons. The concept of personal certification was developed out of recognition of this need, and ABICS finally achieved UKAS accreditation as a personal certification scheme in February 2009, launching as a cost-effective alternative to company accreditation for individuals and smaller companies.
At BOHS we remain committed to the control of exposure to asbestos at work and in the community, and we maintain our original position, behind the decision to develop ABICS in the first place, that competence is key in this particular sector where lives can be put at risk through incompetence. It is estimated that there are between half a million and a million non-domestic properties which still contain asbestos, and there is an increasing requirement for the more invasive refurbishment/demolition surveys which are particularly demanding. In the worst case scenarios, incompetent surveying can and does result in uncontrolled exposure to asbestos if a tradesperson disturbs a material they wrongly believe to be free of asbestos: there are some 4,000 asbestos related deaths annually in the UK, with the greatest occupational risk for tradespeople, such as electricians, plumbers and joiners, etc. Read More