Welcome to our December newsletter from Environmental Essentials.

This Month

	Welcome to our Christmas 2009 Newsletter
	Employee of the Month
	Internal News
	New recruits
	Topic of the Month
	Asbestos Re-inspections
	Diary: Open Asbestos Awareness Training
	Diary: Duty to Manage Training
	Diary: Open Non Licence Working Training (category 2 training)
	News: HSE “SHOCKED” AFTER WORKED EXPOSED TO ASBESTOS
	News: Is asbestos still a problem in schools?
	News: Post-2010 asbestos bill could set councils back £436 million
	News: Asbestos dangers on timetable for trainee tradesmen in Dorset

Our Mission

It is our intention to provide accurate workplace solutions and impartial advice whilst maintaining an uncompromising level of quality and Commitment that is second to none

UKAS Accredited Surveys

All our surveying services are fully UKAS accredited and are carried out to the highest standards, providing you with a cost-effective and efficient service. Find Out More

Asbestos Removal

Our experienced consultants provide a comprehensive management service Find Out More

Free Asbestos Seminars

During 2008 and 2009 EE have delivered FREE monthly seminars for Duty Holders and contracting organizations throughout the UK. Find Out More

Other Training

IOSHH Working Safely (1 day course)
IOSHH Managing Safely (4 day course) Confined space entry/egress and breathing apparatus (1 day)

Welcome to our Christmas 2009 Newsletter

We would like to wish all our clients, suppliers and friends a very merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Employee of the Month

December’s employee of the month goes to Richard Beevers who is an analyst and has been nominated for his professionalism and ability to manage even the most difficult jobs.

Internal News

Environmental Essentials is proud to announce the opening of our new Asbestos Laboratory in Bellshill, Lanarkshire, Scotland which houses both offices and a state of the art laboratory facility for the analysis of bulk asbestos materials. To assist with our expansion, we have been successful in securing a grant from North Lanarkshire Council to help with investment to create more local jobs.

Bellshill Address: Suite 26 Evans Business Centre, Bellshill Industrial Estate, Belgrave Road, Bellshill North Lanarkshire, Scotland. ML4 3NP

To celebrate the opening we are offering a 10% discount on any new orders for Asbestos Bulk Analysis placed with our Scotland Lab before the end of December 2009. For more details please contact Rosie Greer on 0845 4569953.

New recruits

We would like to welcome Susan Murdoch who has joined us this month as Trainee Laboratory Technician and Graham Mills who is an experienced surveyor both based in our Scotland Branch.

Also joining us this month is Alicia Roberts who’s joined the Newcastle-under-Lyme branch as a Trainee Laboratory Technician and Nick Thompson who has over 20 years experience within the asbestos industry.

Full details of our expansion has been issued in our November press release. To see full details click here http://www.environmentalessentials.co.uk/latestnews.htm

Topic of the Month

Asbestos - keeping safe

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has launched a new campaign to highlight the measures that should be in place to protect employees from asbestos. Inside Out have looked at some of the measures workers can take to protect themselves.

Top safety tips

The campaign clearly outlines the proper procedures for those working with and around materials containing asbestos.

To comply with health and safety regulations, workers should adopt the following safety regulations and practices:

• Employers and those in charge of work should find out if asbestos-containing materials are present.
  They should plan the work to avoid disturbing these materials if possible.
  
  Taking action - safe asbestos removal.

• Avoid working with asbestos if possible. If you are not sure if there are asbestos materials where you are working, don’t start work.
  Your boss should inform you if there is asbestos present.

• Don’t start work if you haven’t been trained to work safely with asbestos.

• Do not work with certain types of asbestos as these are too dangerous.
  Only licensed contractors should work on asbestos found on sprayed coatings, board or insulation and lagging on pipes and boilers.

• You should only continue work if you've received training in asbestos work, the work has been properly planned and the right precautions are in place.
  For example, you should have the right equipment to undertake the work safely.

Asbestos Re-inspections

GENUINE OFFER FREE ONLINE ASBESTOS MANAGEMENT DATABASE

Normal Price £4550 + vat

The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 require that the condition of asbestos-based products need to be inspected regularly and records updated accordingly. The recommended frequency of the asbestos inspection regime should not exceed 12 months but is dictated by the risk that the asbestos poses. The risk is assessed by the type, extent, condition and location of the asbestos.

As a commitment to raise the standards of Asbestos Management

nationally, we are offering you the unique opportunity to receive a free web-enabled asbestos database.

All you need to do to take advantage of this fantastic offer is to place an order with us to complete your statutory asbestos condition re-inspections and quote NL/Tracker351/2719.

We can use your existing asbestos survey data and re-assess its condition whilst at the same time create a “live” on-line database that you can then use as your on-going management tool. We can interface with most asset management databases and tailor the database to your needs. To see a demo of the database follow the instructions below

•  Access www.environmentalessentials.co.uk

•  Click on Client Login

•  Username: DEMO

•  Password: 194137

•  Scroll down to: Reports

•  Enter Chapel Street into Building search box

•  Select: Chapel Street Depot you can then view the pdf or access the live asbestos register / non-asbestos register / plans

For more information contact Richard Powner on 0845 4569953 or email rpowner@environmentalessentials.co.uk

Diary of Events

Open Asbestos Awareness Training

18th November 2009, 23rd December 2009 and 15th January 2010

Who should attend? ‘All employees whose work could anticipate exposure to asbestos' (Reg.10 - Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006), this course is aimed at all delegates from company directors, managers and supervisors to tradesmen, engineers and contractors. Places are charged at just £75.00 + vat per person and includes refreshments.

Duty to Manage Training

All 2009 Dates are full, 1st and 2nd February 2010

Designed for those with ‘duty to manage' responsibilities for asbestos management within the workplace and specifically for duty-holders under Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006. The course provides comprehensive information on how to assess whether premises contain asbestos, how to assess the risks from asbestos and how to manage those risks. Places are charged at £275.00 + Vat per person and includes refreshments and lunch.

Further dates are scheduled

Open Non Licence Working Training (category 2 training)

19th November 2009, 11th December 2009 and 10th February 2010

Who should attend? Anyone who may be required to undertake minor work on ACMs during their working day. Aimed at personnel such as roofing contractors, demolition workers and general maintenance staff. Places are charged at just £150.00 + vat per person and includes refreshments.

For a full list of future course dates please click here.

News :

HSE “SHOCKED” AFTER WORKED EXPOSED TO ASBESTOS (ContractorsCompare.com - 29 October 2009)

Public liability insurance customers have been warned about the importance of risk assessments after prosecutions for exposing workers to asbestos.

Recon Packaging of Ashton-under-Lyne pleaded guilty to breaching rule 4(3) of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 and was fined £3,000 and ordered to pay costs of £5,000.

Industrial Commercial Building Services (ICBS) of Stockport and its managing director also pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety and asbestos licensing regulations and were fined £2,000 each.

Trafford magistrates court heard how ICBS employees came into contact with the cancer-related material while demolishing part of Recon's recycling plant in 2006.

However, no risk assessment was carried out on the premises and the company was not licensed to remove the material.

Stuart Kitchingman, Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector, said that he was "shocked" that workers were exposed in this way.

The prosecution comes only days before that start of a new national campaign to raise awareness among public liability insurance customers about the dangers of asbestos, with figures revealing that 20 tradesmen die every week from related diseases.

Is asbestos still a problem in schools? (BBC News 30th November 2009)

Asbestos is versatile and fire resistant and used to be used routinely in the construction of school buildings. However, it is also has a high health risk.

The government says as long as asbestos is maintained in a good condition and closely monitored it poses no risk to teachers or pupils.

However, there is growing concern that the problem is not being taken seriously enough.

Graham Satchell reports.

Post-2010 asbestos bill could set councils back £436 million

Councils will face a £436 million bill to remove asbestos after the government’s 2010 decent homes deadline passes, new figures reveal.

Research for the Communities and Local Government department predicts that almost 70,000 homes will need work to remove the potentially deadly insulating material.

The cost of dealing with asbestos in each property is likely to be £6,250. Most of the affected homes were built between 1945 and 1964 or are of a ‘non-traditional’ type according to the Review of the major repairs allowance report.

The lion’s share of properties which fall below the decency standard in 2010 will be those that are most difficult to refurbish, the study adds. This is because landlords have put homes in need of most work at the back of the queue.

‘Although the Communities and Local Government is expecting only around 5 per cent of homes to be non-decent by 2010, a disproportionate number of these are likely to be problematic in this and other respects,’ the report states. Homes containing asbestos fall into this difficult category, it adds.

The researchers assumed that 10 per cent of all property types likely to contain asbestos remain untreated.

Gwyneth Taylor, policy director at the National Federation of Arm’s-Length Management Organisations, agreed that properties costly to refurbish were left to the end of decent homes programmes. Landlords had to balance whether it would be better to demolish and replace such properties, she added.

Asbestos dangers on timetable for trainee tradesmen in Dorset

The dangers of asbestos are a high priority area for trainee tradesmen at Bournemouth and Poole College in Dorset and a special ‘lesson’ from a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) expert put it top of the timetable on Thursday (26 November 2009).

HSE’s visit to The Fulcrum campus, in Vantage Way, Poole, is one date in a college tour across Britain, aimed at promoting its ‘Asbestos: The hidden killer’ campaign which was launched earlier this month.

Around 20 tradesmen each week die from asbestos-related diseases and the sessions aim to give the next generation advice on where they are most likely to find it and how to protect themselves from breathing in the deadly fibres.

Any building built or refurbished before 2000 may contain asbestos, including an estimated 500,000 non-domestic buildings. It is tradesmen who are most at risk of exposure by disturbing or damaging it through cutting or drilling.

Sarah Mallagh, HSE’s asbestos expert who led the session, said:

“Asbestos-related diseases claim around 4000 lives every year. Roughly a quarter of these deaths are people in the building trades. Though many deaths are currently from exposure to asbestos 20, 30 or 40 years ago, it isn’t just a risk of a bygone age and tradesmen cannot afford to be complacent. It is still present in thousands of buildings and risks being disturbed or damaged by the work they do.

“The college tour and the wider campaign are about arming today’s workforce with the information they need to take to protect themselves from this deadly dust.”

The campaign is being supported by unions, employers representatives, health charities, sufferers and victims groups.