Poignant pledge tackles Merseyside's asbestos deaths

Date:

6 September 2011

Release No:

HSE/NW/02Asbestos

A Merseyside support group, which helps sufferers of asbestos diseases in the county, is backing a new initiative to provide free training for tradesmen.

A poignant target of 4,000 hours of free asbestos awareness training has been set to help workers across Britain protect themselves from the deadly dust - one hour for each of the approximate 4,000 deaths every year.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), in partnership with the training industry, is calling for businesses to pledge free courses and it hopes to hit the target of 4,000 hours during September.

The scheme is being supported Merseyside Asbestos Victim Support Group, which provides free and confidential services to victims of asbestos-related diseases and their families.

It is hoped that 4,000 face-to-face training hours and an additional 4,000 hours of online training will be offered up by various providers.

The free training will be available throughout October and November and is aimed at tradesmen such as joiners, electricians and plumbers who are most likely to disturb the fibres as they go about their work - around 20 a week lose their lives to asbestos-related diseases such as mesothelioma.

In the North West, there were 1,251 mesothelioma deaths in the five years between 2004 and 2008. David Sowerby, HSE's North West Regional Director, said:

"Our Hidden Killer campaign has helped tradesmen understand the lifesaving fact that asbestos exposure is not just an historical problem - around half a million non domestic premises still contain it.

"This next phase of the campaign is all about tradesmen finding out exactly what they need to do to protect themselves by taking advantage of free training.

"There is, sadly, little we can do to help those who are already suffering the often fatal effects of asbestos exposure in the workplace, but we can prevent this hidden killer claiming another generation.

"Through the continued commitment of asbestos support groups and by industry playing its part, we can all do something practical to ensure that the risk to workers is minimised."

John Flanagan, Training and Information Officer for the Merseyside Asbestos Victim Support Group, added:

"We will often speak to people diagnosed with mesothelioma who have sons working in the construction industry. An added burden on them is the reality that they have encouraged their children, quite innocently, to enter an industry which may cause them to have the same disease.

"Asbestos is still a real issue, and we continue to receive calls from construction workers fearful of working practices where no protection or training has been provided.

"It is therefore vital that good quality training is given to construction workers in order that they do not meet the same fate as previous generations. This initiative will help to meet that essential demand."

Independent Asbestos Training Providers (IATP) and the UK Asbestos Training Association (UKATA) are working with HSE to encourage their members to pledge. Members of the Asbestos Safety Health Environmental e-Learning Association (ASHEeLA) are being encouraged to provide free online training courses.

Training providers looking to pledge hours are invited to visit the campaign website, www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/training-pledge, and those wanting to sign up to free training can see what is being pledged in their area by following links on the site.

Notes to editors

1. The following quotes have been provided by other groups supporting the initiative:
   • Christine Winter, Chair of IATP:
     "We welcome the opportunity to be involved in this training pledge initiative. Asbestos destroys individuals, families and communities and we want to play our part in making businesses, trades and individuals aware of the dangers of asbestos exposure."
   • Eddie Strong, UKATA Vice-Chairman from UKATA:
     "We are pleased to be invited by HSE to participate in this initiative. The initial response from our members has been extremely encouraging and we are confident that pledges of free training hours will gain momentum as the pledge gets properly underway.
     
     "UKATA Training Providers, together with other participating bodies will offer free asbestos awareness training to those individuals who otherwise may not have the opportunity to receive it".
   • Max Lopacki from ASHEeLA:
     "With around 20 tradespeople dying each week from asbestos-related diseases our members are wholeheartedly supporting HSE's initiative by pledging 20 free asbestos awareness eLearning courses per day. The pledged courses will be available online via our members' websites and can be taken at anytime. This is a very convenient way to access asbestos awareness training and will help hundreds of at-risk tradespeople learn how to protect themselves from this Hidden Killer."
2. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice; promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice; and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk
3. There are four main diseases associated with inhalation of asbestos fibres. These are asbestosis (a scarring of the lung tissue caused by asbestos), two kinds of cancer (mesothelioma and asbestos related lung cancer), and diffuse pleural thickening (a non-malignant disease affecting the lung lining). For more information visit www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causdis/asbestos.htm
4. Regulation 10 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 details training requirements. There are three main types:-
   1. asbestos awareness training - for workers likely to disturb asbestos while carrying out their normal everyday work, or who may influence how work is carried out;
   2. training for non-licensable asbestos work - for those workers undertaking planned work with asbestos which is not licensable, such as a roofer or demolition worker removing a whole asbestos cement sheet in good condition or for workers such as asbestos surveyors;
   3. training for licensable work with asbestos - for those working with asbestos which is licensable such as removing asbestos insulation or insulating board.

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