Posts Tagged ‘Asbestos Inspection Bodies’
Asbestos Removal – Glan Clwys Hospital asbestos removal brought forward
Work to remove asbestos from one of north Wales’ main hospitals has been brought forward.
Removal of asbestos from ceilings above theatres and corridors at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd in Bodelwyddan, Denbighshire will now start in the new year.
Asbestos was a popular building material when the hospital was constructed in the 1970s.
A spokesman for Betsi Cadwaladr Local Health Board said the asbestos posed no “immediate risk” to patients’ safety.
Emergency and elective surgery will continue despite the disruption.
The Health Board said medical staff will lead the planning to make sure patients can access care during the work.
The work is expected to be completed by next winter.
A spokesman for the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board said: “We would like to reassure patients, visitors and staff that there is no immediate risk to their safety.”
Asbestos is a problem when fibres become airborne and are inhaled, and can lead to life-threatening illness.
In a statement, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board said air quality at the hospital is regularly monitored.
Source: BBC News Wales
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Asbestos found in most schools
- Click HERE to view the full table of schools containing asbestos.
ASBESTOS is lurking in about 70 per cent of Swindon’s schools, including classrooms, halls, toilets and changing rooms. Latest figures reveal that the potentially hazardous substance is present at 54 schools in the borough.
Swindon Council says there are tight controls and regular inspections to ensure all asbestos stays safe and manageable. However, a local lawyer claims the material should be removed, claiming that any amount of exposure could cause fatal cancer.
Asbestos was once used widely as insulation in construction. However, exposure to asbestos dust can cause cancers, such as asbestosis and the fatal mesothelioma.
The use of such products was completely banned in 1999. The figures from Swindon Council show that 39 schools contain asbestos in their teaching areas.
A total of 19 have asbestos in halls and 24 have the substance in wet areas, which include toilets, changing rooms and showers.
Meanwhile, asbestos is lurking in staff-only areas at 36 schools and in the circulation areas at 15. Among the parts of the schools which contain asbestos are floors, walls, ceilings, window sills, voids, pipes, roof coverings and downpipes.
The schools with the most effected areas are Dorcan, Churchfields, Warneford, Kingsdown and The Ridgeway.
Swindon Council claims a further 25 schools are unlikely to contain asbestos – 19 were completed after its use was banned and surveys detected no asbestos at a further six.
However, the authority claims it is impossible to guarantee that any premises are asbestos free because only visible suspect material was tested to avoid unnecessary damage.
The council claims that there are no records of children being exposed to asbestos above permitted levels while at Swindon schools. Council spokesman Richard Freeman said: “As we have repeatedly pointed out, asbestos in buildings is not in any way dangerous if it is managed properly. Read More
Inside the global asbestos trade
(BBC News: 21st July 2010) Banned or restricted in more than 50 countries, white asbestos continues to be widely used in China, India, Russia and Brazil, and many developing countries. The BBC’s Steve Bradshaw and Jim Morris from the ICIJ report on an industry supported by a global network of lobby groups.
The Jeffrey asbestos mine in Quebec is an astonishing sight. “Big and beautiful,” says one of the regular flow of tourists and locals who peer into its depths from a public observation deck.
Asbestos production, consumption and export
Kites glide above the tiny azure pool far below.
Elsewhere in Quebec Province, Janice Tomkins, an amateur watercolourist, is painting birds for the first time. She does not know how many more she will paint because she has mesothelioma – a rare illness linked to asbestos.
Janice believes she is ill because of exposure decades ago to blue and brown asbestos – forms of the mineral now banned.
What is mined in Quebec is a different kind of asbestos – white asbestos or chrysotile – the only kind now used commercially worldwide. Countries like Russia, China, Brazil, and India – although not Canada – use it widely as a cheap and effective building material.
The president of the mine, Bernard Coulombe, told us their chrysotile is “sold exclusively to end-users having the same industrial hygiene practices as Canada,” and said the federal and provincial governments have proof this is the case.
But, despite still being mined in Quebec, white asbestos is now banned or restricted in some 52 countries, on the grounds that any form of asbestos can cause devastating illnesses like Janice’s.
Opposition
Many scientists fear the continued use of asbestos could significantly prolong a global epidemic of asbestos-related illnesses that began when blue and brown asbestos were legal. The WHO says white asbestos “is a known cause of human cancer,” including mesothelioma.
Dr Vincent Cogliano, of the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer says: “My own personal view is that these risks are extremely high. They are as high as just about any known carcinogen that we have seen, except, perhaps, for tobacco smoke.
“Any exposure is going to prolong the asbestos epidemic – continued export and continued use of chrysotile will increase the incidence of lung cancer and mesothelioma for many decades to come, he said.”
Janice does not want the Quebec provincial government to approve a C$58m (US$56m, £37m) loan guarantee that would enable the Jeffrey Mine to boost exports to developing nations such as India. Read More