Posts Tagged ‘UKAS Accredited’
Asbestos – understanding the risks
Asbestos continues to cause untold damage in the construction industry. Ian Rippin, commercial director of the National Laboratory Service (NLS), explains what it is, what it does and how to test for its presence
WHEN asbestos is damaged fine fibres become airborne and can be inhaled which can penetrate the lung tissue and trigger an inflammatory reaction. The body registers the problem and white blood cells are sent to engulf and attack the fibres. However, the fibres usually destroy the blood cells, causing fibrosis – irreversible scarring of the lungs.
Popular in the late 1800s, during the time of the Industrial Revolution, asbestos was used routinely as insulation for steam pipes, turbines, boilers, kilns, ovens and other high-temperature products. Previous observations of the health risks were forgotten or ignored at that time.
The first diagnosis of asbestosis was made in 1924 following the death of a woman aged thirty-three, after twenty years of working with the material. As a result of the diagnosis, a study was commissioned on asbestos workers in England, revealing twenty-five percent suffered from an asbestos-related lung disease. Laws were passed in 1931 to increase ventilation and to make asbestosis a recognised work- related disease.
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Asbestos Surveyors – Competence is key: Ensure asbestos surveyors are qualified for the job
Asbestos surveys are only effective if competent surveyors are employed to do them…That is one of the key messages being promoted at roadshows to help explain new guidance devised for those responsible for managing the risks from asbestos.
‘Asbestos: The survey guide’ (Ref: HSG264) which was published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in January is aimed at those who commission asbestos surveys, the surveyors who carry them out and those who use them such as architects and demolition or removal contractors.
A number of successful road shows, attended by surveyors and health and safety professionals have already taken place with further events scheduled for Cardiff (19 May), Birmingham (16 June) and London (30 June).
The new guide stipulates that clients and duty holders only engage a surveying organisation that is competent. This can be demonstrated either through the organisation being accredited and/or individual surveyors having their own certification.
The guide strongly recommends the use of UKAS accredited or ABICS certified surveyors for asbestos surveys
Said Dr Martin Gibson, author of the guide and a Principal Specialist Inspector for HSE:
“Ensuring that contractors are competent to do asbestos surveys should be a top priority for those responsible for managing the risks from asbestos. 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
HSG 264 – Implemented and the impact on asbestos surveys in schools
HSG 264 is now fully implemented within the market place and all businesses should now see a marked difference in the approach to asbestos surveys under this new guidance. Asbestos Consultancies have had to make a number of changes to meet the requirements of HSG 264 some of these are as follows:- Read More