Latest HSE Campaign – When duty calls, share your burden with Envirochem

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Despite being banned for a quarter of a century, asbestos has proven to be a problem that won’t go away easily.

In January, the Health and Safety Executive launched a new campaign to draw attention to the serious risks associated with this dangerous material. The regulator says the purpose of Asbestos: Your Duty is to improve understanding around the legal requirements for managing asbestos and preventing exposure.

The campaign is targeted at anyone with responsibility for non-domestic premises built before the turn of the century, which encompasses a wide range of buildings from offices and manufacturing sites to schools and hospitals. Full details of the campaign are available on the HSE website.

Asbestos: Your Duty is the latest in a long line of initiatives designed to keep the problem of asbestos front of mind for those working in our built environment. However, by raising awareness of the legal responsibility related to asbestos, such campaigns can also raise questions among the businesses affected – and at Envirochem, we are here to help.

Envirochem specialises in asbestos management and testing as part of our comprehensive analytical and consultancy services. With our support, customers can ensure they are compliant with their legal duty in relation to asbestos while controlling the environmental risk from this highly carcinogenic substance.

From a legal perspective, responsibility for compliance rests with a building’s dutyholder, who could be the owner, the landlord or the person or entity with responsibility for general upkeep and repair. The Control of Asbestos Regulations state that this individual must protect occupants and users from the dangers of asbestos by determining whether asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) are present, as well as documenting their quantity, location and state.

Several actions are key to fulfilling this responsibility. They are:

Envirochem can deliver support on all these points. Through our accredited testing and surveying services, you can easily establish the risk of ACMs and be guided through the process of making a register. We can also help you in creating, implementing and maintaining an effective asbestos management plan, ensuring you have all the answers you need when questions arise.

In summary, there is no doubt that the HSE should be applauded for the launch of its latest asbestos awareness campaign. At the same time, there is no doubt that fulfilling your legal responsibilities as a dutyholder can be a challenging task – unless, that is, you can access the right level of expert support.

For more information about asbestos risks and how to fulfil your legal duty, contact the Envirochem team in confidence today by email (office@envirochem.co.uk) or by calling 01329 287 777.

Rest assured with our UKAS accredited legionella testing service

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Protecting everyone from Leigonella. Cheers to that!

We all recognise that although it isn’t common, Legionnaires’ disease can be serious. The disease is a severe form of pneumonia. Most people become infected when they inhale microscopic water droplets containing legionella bacteria from environments such as showers, swimming pools and hot tubs.

And while the human cost can be significant, the business interruption cost shouldn’t be underestimated either. The good news is that both can be mitigated with regular testing as a part of a wider water management plan.

“Whether we are working with a cruise ship line or a local leisure centre, spa or hotel, we understand the importance of accurate and reliable legionella testing. Envirochem is all about better health outcomes for our customers’ people. Legionella testing is a key part of how we help our customers better safeguard their employees and customers. Regardless of your sector, if water is involved, reliable legionella testing is essential,” said Envirochem’s Business Development Manager, John Stead.

At Envirochem, our UKAS accredited service can deliver you legionella test results within two weeks. Get started today by purchasing your text kit here

If you would like any more information about the risks from legionella or our partner-led, novel UKAS-accredited legionella sampling service, please get in touch with our lab team today by email (micro@envirochem.co.uk) or by calling 01329 287 777. If you would prefer us to get in touch with you, please fill out the form below;

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After the dust settles. Reflections on OH2023.

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As advertised, the recent Workplace Health Protection Conference, otherwise known as OH2023, was both insightful and engaging in equal measure. With a programme covering a wide range of subjects from Researching Prevention and Control to Educating for Occupational Health and Designing out Health Risks to Changing Attitudes and Behaviours; our team of Occupational Hygiene specialists revelled in hearing from their contemporaries, while meeting clients and prospects, both old and new.

It also gave us a unique opportunity to showcase our improved, highly compliant occupational hygiene portfolio services.

With so much great content to digest, it is almost impossible to pick out all the highlights for fear of an ‘Oscar’ moment and not acknowledging everyone. However, in the interests of brevity, here are our top takeaways…

Renewed focus on technology

The discussion on the limitations of some widely used sampling methodologies was valuable, as were the insights into alternative approaches, including qualitative methods to review the effectiveness of existing control, such as the assessment of CNC enclosures and LEV systems. This of course was music to our ears as our assessments are radically different from what was being considered in the past, and embrace a more comprehensive approach to provide overall assessment of Occupational Hygiene risks.

Monitoring & Risk

Although it has been demonstrated that we’re still not at a point where real-time monitoring can replace traditional monitoring methods from a compliance perspective, the use of real-time monitoring is gaining traction and becoming a readily available tool in a hygienist’s armoury. From a control perspective, real-time monitoring is extremely useful in identifying ‘peak’ exposures within a workers shift and therefore aiding the implementation of control measure in the most pertinent processes.

Noise risk reduction

There would appear to be a broad, albeit not universal, consensus that the current practice has failed and there is a demonstrable need for change. Evidence suggests that engineering control measures don’t have to be expensive and can be relatively simple in implementation when employing the right specialists from the outset. Inexperience or a lack of expertise could lead to poor decisions and ultimately, exposure to unnecessary risk or costly adaptations which do little to address the risks.

A real highlight for us all was the warm welcome we received from senior members of the BOHS board and committee. Great conversations led to wonderful networking opportunities and the offer of guidance and mentoring for our team by some senior figures was welcomed and greatly appreciated.

Overall OH2023 was of huge benefit to us, individually and collectively. Having the opportunity to meet, learn and update our own knowledge was invaluable and will pay dividends for our clients, now and in the future.

To find out more about our combination of scientific knowledge, sector experience and deep technical knowledge in the arena of Occupational Hygiene, please contact Sam Davis, AFOH, Operations Manager for Occupational Hygiene at sam.davis@envirochem.co.uk

Or, if you have any specific technical questions, please do reach out to Rachel Powis, MSc CertOH LFOH, our Occupational Hygiene Technical Manager at rachel.powis@envirochem.co.uk

Asbestos risk: Moving from awareness to action

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It’s a stark fact that asbestos-related diseases are estimated to cause around 5,000 deaths every year in Great Britain. In light of this shocking figure, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) deserves credit for highlighting the very real dangers of this now-banned substance through the launch of its new Asbestos & You campaign.

The initiative is explicitly targeted at younger workers in trades such as plastering and joinery who started out in their careers after asbestos was banned in 1999. According to the HSE, this is a group that “need to take the risk of asbestos much more seriously” as they might mistakenly think it’s only relevant to older workers who were in employment prior to the ban.

The truth, of course, is that asbestos is still present in millions of buildings constructed pre-2000 and tradespeople of all ages could be exposed to asbestos fibres as part of their everyday work. Raising awareness of this danger is a critical first step in helping protect workers, but in doing so, the HSE campaign also raises important questions. For example, is awareness of the problem matched by awareness of the available solutions? When there’s suspicion of asbestos, is it clear what people should do or where they can go for help?

At Envirochem, our wealth of analytical expertise helps clients manage a range of environmental risks from a variety of sources, including asbestos. Here we look at the best-practice approaches to managing this highly carcinogenic substance.

Be prepared

Under regulation 4 of The Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR) 2012, every non-domestic building should be surveyed as part of a duty to “take reasonable steps” to ascertain whether asbestos-containing materials (ACM) are present in the premises, where they are located and what condition they are in. This information is contained within an asbestos register that should be available to any contractors to inform them about any asbestos present. In cases where a building is being refurbished or the work involves demolition, a Major refurbishment/demolition asbestos survey is required to locate and identify all asbestos materials so they can be safely removed. Before starting any work, request a copy of the asbestos register from the asbestos survey or get confirmation that the asbestos has been appropriately removed so you’re aware of what you are dealing with.

If in doubt, stop

If you do come across what you think might be asbestos, cease work immediately. Even if you are under time pressure, don’t be tempted to assess the risk yourself, work around the situation or, worse, carry on regardless. It’s essential that appropriate personnel with management responsibility are informed of the potential danger and then tests are conducted to confirm the properties of the material in question.

Seek out expert help

If you are unsure about what to do, seek out expert advice. You might be tempted to start this journey with a Google search, in which case, make sure the information you are accessing is from a verified, trustworthy source. Better still, speak to someone with knowledge and experience of managing asbestos risks. Independent consultancies will be able to respond to any queries and guide you through next steps in terms of sampling, surveys and testing. All analytical testing should be carried out to the internationally recognized standard ISO/IEC 17025 by companies accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS).

Take appropriate action

Where asbestos is present, the level of risk involved will determine whether it should be dealt with by a licensed or non-licensed contractor. In either case, the work should be carried out under highly controlled conditions to a plan of work by trained individuals and with relevant insurance in place. Again, expert consultancies can provide valuable support on the nature of the work required and how it should be carried out. At Envirochem, we are always on hand to offer professional advice and guidance where these questions arise.

For anyone in the trades – young or old – the above steps provide some practical, essential guidance on what to do when faced with the possible threat of asbestos, a substance that might now be banned but certainly has yet to be consigned to history. Indeed, Mesothelioma UK’s ‘Don’t let the dust settle’ campaign reminds us that a possible 6 million tonnes of asbestos could still be present in 1.5 million buildings across the UK.

Looking to the future, it’s not only important that such campaigns maintain awareness levels among those potentially exposed, but that individuals also know they can access a network of asbestos experts to mitigate their personal risk. Perhaps less a case of Asbestos & You and more a case of Us vs Asbestos.

If you would like any more information about the risks from asbestos or the UKAS-accredited sampling, surveys and testing services available from Envirochem, get in touch with our team today by email (office@envirochem.co.uk) or by calling 01329 287 777. If you would prefer us to get in touch with you, please fill out the form below;

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