This week Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a change to coronavirus restrictions in England that will come into effect on 19th July and the CEO of the BiKBBI Damian Walters urged those within the industry to approach these relaxations "with extreme caution".
In an interview with the BBC Mr Walters affirmed his support to the Prime Ministers statement and called on tradespeople in particular to stay aware of the dangers of COVID saying “We’re all keen to banish COVID to the history books, but we’ll only be able to achieve this if we’re......
Continue Reading
There have been a couple of recent discoveries of asbestos found in Britain, these demonstrate two of the common ways that asbestos ways is disrupting public areas. These are fly tipping and waste not being disposed of correctly and then appearing later down the line in a public area.
In Carmarthenshire, Wales a material was uncovered following coastal erosion that tests arranged by the council have now confirmed is asbestos. Concerns had been raised by local residents after children were seen decorating sandcastles on the stretch of beach near Burry Port......
Continue Reading
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) agreed in June to tighten its process for asbestos data collection after continued pressure from a coalition formed of multiple states, this now brings the country closer to a total ban on the deadly substance.
One of the main contributors to this decision was a ruling from United States District Judge Edward Chen back in December of last year who ruled that the EPA would need to improve this data collection around the amount of asbestos and asbestos related products are being brought into the......
Continue Reading
A national taskforce in Australia that was setup in 2019 to investigate dust related diseases in the country is due to publish their report in the coming days.
According to the official website for The Department of Health for Australia the main aim of this taskforce, announced in July 2019 by the Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer, Professor Brendan Murphy, is ‘to develop a national approach for the prevention, early identification, control and management of occupational dust diseases in Australia.’ In the seventh meeting held by the taskforce at the end of......
Continue Reading
Fears are being raised over potential asbestos exposure in schools located in the Welsh town of Conwy. This comes after a pupil recently damaged a wall that exposed the deadly material but was not flagged up when inspections then took place following the incident.
This has led to the education department at Conwy council asking for £100,000 in order to resurvey all schools in the county due to concerns over these potentially inaccurate inspections that officers reported to the council had “raised alarm bells”.
The Welsh government published guidance in 2019 that stated every......
Continue Reading
Here’s a roundup of December’s talking points from the world of Asbestos.
Bradford Hotel Face Asbestos Removal Fine
A hotel in Bradford’s city centre faced a fine earlier this month due to what were described as ‘unacceptable delays’ in the removal of asbestos on the site.
In November of 2017 there was asbestos found in many different areas of the Midland Hotel in Bradford, these areas were used by the hotel’s staff but were not open to guests such as a corridor in the basement and a lift shaft. However the court was......
Continue Reading
Here’s a roundup of October’s big talking points from the world of Asbestos that we haven’t already covered on the blog.
Retired Sound Engineer to Sue ITV for Asbestos Exposure
John Sanders, an 81-year-old former sound engineer is suing media giant ITV over his claims that he contracted mesothelioma after his work on the creation of their former South Bank base, The London Studios for ITV predecessor London Weekend Television.
Mr Sanders legal representation Simon Kilvington QC explained to the high court how his client worked on the London Studios creation when it......
Continue Reading
As has been the case for the last four year, The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is continuing to send out inspectors to assess dust inhalation standards on building sites. In addition, inspectors will now be checking that all firms are being compliant with the necessary COVID-19 rules.
These unannounced inspections are typically to ensure that all businesses are prioritising the health of their staff by putting measures in place that protect them and most importantly their lungs from encountering asbestos, silica and wood dust. According to the HSE, approximately 100......
Continue Reading
After nearly a year since it was announced that the town of Asbestos in Quebec, Canada would be renamed the residents have voted for the new name of Val-des-Sources by a large majority it was revealed on Monday.
As we have been detailing throughout the year in our blogs, the town decided it needed an image change after they believed the image that was given to potential investors through the town being called after the toxic material, which came from the formerly operating asbestos mine which closed operations in 2011, was......
Continue Reading
Here’s a roundup of September’s big talking points from the world of Asbestos that we haven’t already covered on the blog.
Derby Man Dies Due to Asbestos Poisoning
At the start of this month Barry Richards, an 83-year-old former city council worker died from mesothelioma. An inquest into Mr Richard’s death heard that the Derby resident most likely contracted an asbestos related disease in his 20s and 30s when he worked on repairing and maintaining houses that were built using asbestos.
Another place of work where he may have been exposed was Southgate......
Continue Reading