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Welcome to our January 2010 newsletter from Environmental Essentials. This Month 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) |
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We would like to welcome all our new recruits who have joined us this month. Paul Hitchin, joins the head quarters in Newcastle-under-Lyme as a trainee surveyor. Lorraine Muir and Jordan Kane joins our ever expanding Scotland office. Lorraine has been employed as an experienced asbestos surveyor / Lab analysts and Jordan has joined as a Junior Administrator.
Environmental Essentials are proud to announce our IATP membership (Independent Asbestos Training Providers) which was confirmed in February 2010. Membership of both IATP and UKATA allows us to offer out training to an even wider audience. In response to the HSE ‘Hidden Killer' campaign in 2009 EE have been successful in training nearly 3,000 people to work more safely with asbestos.
This month's employee of the month goes to Liz Adams. Liz deals with all the training administration, the training diary, health & safety and HR as well as undertaking the majority of our reception duties. Liz has also assisted the company in achieving a 100% increase in training courses over the last 12 months and always finds time to help people or share a joke whenever she can.
We would like to thanks Frank Chesworth from North Wales NHS Trust (Central Division) for his support this month in our nominated charity CRY (Cardiac Risk in The Young) . The prize for our raffle is a night's accommodation, breakfast plus a meal for 2 at Waterhead Hotel Coniston in the Lake District . Tickets are just £10.00 each, if you would like to purchase a raffle ticket please email Rosie rgreer@environmentalessentials.co.uk
The new surveyors guide released 29th January 2010Asbestos: The Surveyors Guide which was released on 29th January 2010 replaces and expands on the MDHS100, surveying, sampling and assessment of asbestos-containing materials. New survey guidance
Aims and Objectives of New Guidance
New Guidance : Main Feature
Survey TypesNew term: to assist in the use of the building purpose of the survey.Management Survey- continued use of the building:
Refurbishment/demolition survey:
Surveys can involve combination of sampling and presuming ACM’s presentFor the full guide please click here
Seminar Dates: The Duty to Manage Asbestos in Schools, Social Housing & Public Buildings Seminar - An Update on the Legislation Following the introduction of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 an the new surveyors Guide HSG 264, the question posed by many is…. how do the regulations affect me? In response, we are holding a series of FREE morning seminar. The purpose of the seminars is to address why there was a need for the CAR 2006, the impact on companies, organisations and individuals and also to provide practical guidance on compliance.
You and a colleague are hereby invited to attend the seminar, if you would like to book your place(s) please complete the attached booking reference form and return by fax on the given number at your earliest opportunity to avoid disappointment. Who should attend?In particular, the seminar will be invaluable for the following people: Local Authorities, Facilities Managers, Health & Safety Professionals, Housing Associations, Planning Supervisors, Construction Managers, Architects, Maintenance Managers and any other property related professionals. *Places will be limited to 50 and will be on a first come first served basis! To reserve your space contact Rosie on 0845 4569953 or email rgreer@environmentalessentials.co.uk
Diary of Events Open Asbestos Awareness Training Dates: 19th Feruary, 31st March, 28th April 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.
Dates: TBC 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) Dates: 14th April 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. For a bespoke quote for your company for any training please contact Liz on 0845 4569953 or email ladams@environmentalessentials.co.uk
News : Prosecution launched against a high street retailer and four contractors for exposing people to asbestos during refurbishment (12 January 2010) At Bournemouth Magistrates' court today the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) initiated criminal proceedings against Marks and Spencer plc and four other companies for asbestos-related breaches during refurbishment work at shops in Reading , Bournemouth and Plymouth where staff and members of the public were exposed to asbestos fibres. Marks and Spencer plc pleaded not guilty to breaching three counts of section 2(1), relating to their own staff, and three counts of section 3(1), relating to members of the public and other workers, of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. Each of these charges relates to each of the three stores and date from September 2004 to November 2006. Styles and Wood Ltd, based in Cheshire , pleaded guilty to contravening sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. These charges relate to offences committed between 24 April 2006 and 13 November 2006 at the Marks and Spencer plc store at 12 Broad Street , Reading . The company will be sentenced at Crown Court at a later date. Willmott Dixon Construction Ltd of Hertfordshire, entered no plea to the allegations of contravening sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 between 5 February 2007 and 3 July 2007. These alleged breaches took place at the Marks and Spencer plc store at 23 Commercial Road in Bournemouth . Manchester-based company PA Realisations Ltd (formally Pectel Ltd), faces allegations of contravening regulation 10 of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 between 24 April 2006 and 12 November 2006, and regulation 15 of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 on dates between 5 May 2006 and 12 November 2006 at the Marks and Spencer plc store in Reading. PA Realisations Ltd was not represented in court today. A committal hearing date has been set for 2.15pm on Tuesday 9 February 2010 at Bournemouth Magistrates' Court.
Insurers could appeal after asbestos-law challenge fails (12 January 2010) A group of insurers has failed in its bid to overturn a law in Scotland that allows people with asbestos-related pleural plaques to claim for compensation. Aviva, AXA, RSA, and Zurich brought a judicial review against the Damages (Asbestos-related Conditions) (Scotland) Act 2009, which made pleural plaques a compensatable condition in Scotland, reversing a decision by the House of Lords in October 2007. Pleural plaques – areas of fibrosis that can develop on the inner surface of the ribcage and diaphragm as a result of exposure to asbestos – are asymptomatic, causing no pain or discomfort. The insurers challenged the lawfulness of the Act, arguing that it contravened the established need for real, or material ‘damage’ to have occurred before a claim of negligence can succeed. In a ruling on 8 January, Lord Emslie explained: “In this respect, according to the petitioners, the Scottish Parliament in passing the Act has contrived to do the opposite of many foreign legislatures which, faced with an intolerable escalation of claims by ‘the worried well’, have brought in measures to negate the actionability of pleural plaques. And, it is said, the Parliament has done so by means of a blatant controversion of established – and indeed, agreed – medical fact.” The insurers claim that the decision to allow pleural-plaques sufferers a right to compensation unfairly burdens them with additional liabilities under indemnity insurance policies, which could potentially run into billions of pounds. The judge conceded: “There is clearly room for differences of opinion as to whether the Parliament was right to legislate in the way it did, and it remains to be seen whether the 2009 Act will prove to have adverse legal, or political consequences in years to come.” Nevertheless, he rejected the insurers’ challenge, concluding that their complaints did not “come anywhere near the standard of ‘irrationality’, which would be necessary in order to invalidate a primary Act of the Scottish Parliament”. Reacting to the judgement, Nick Starling, director of general insurance and health at the Association of British Insurers, said: “Insurers brought the review on the grounds that the Damages Act is fundamentally flawed, as it ignores overwhelming medical evidence that plaques are symptomless, and the well-established legal principle that compensation is payable only when there are physical symptoms. “Insurers will now be considering carefully this judgement, and are seriously looking at the grounds for an appeal against it. This is not the end of the road.” Asbestos action groups welcomed the decision. Harry McCluskey, chair of Clydeside Action on Asbestos, said: “It is absolute rubbish to say that pleural plaques don’t affect victims. They’re as dangerous as any other asbestos-related disease. Most sufferers have some form of breathlessness, but the biggest strain is the worry of developing fatal conditions like mesothelioma, which happens with frightening regularity.” Environmental Essentials |
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