An Argos store in Plymouth has reopened after health and safety chiefs shut it down following the discovery of asbestos. The Argos store, as well as a construction site next-door were both closed suddenly after the Health and Safety Executive discovered the asbestos. The construction site - a former Derry's department store, which is currently being converted into student flats - was where the asbestos was found, and Argos was closed as a safety precaution. 

The Argos store was closed for a week, and work had stopped on the construction site as a precaution in case there were any airborne asbestos fibres. After extensive monitoring, all areas of the site was cleared and wok recommenced on Monday (20th February), and the Argos store re-opened the next day (Tuesday).

Asbestos is a natural fibrous rock that was widely used within buildings until 1999. It was widely used from the 1950s to the mid-1980s, due to it being a good insulator and having good fire protection properties. You will find asbestos in buildings built before the year 2000. Asbestos materials present a risk to your health when the fibres become airborne.  This will happen if you cut, drill or break materials containing asbestos. It's the biggest occupational disease risk to construction workers; and therefore, safety precautions need to be put in place.

Safety signs and labels need to be put in place to warn workers of the presence of asbestos and that suitable safety precautions are made. Here at Label Source we stock an excellent range of Asbestos Safety Warning Labels and Signs to ensure your workers are aware of the substance, reducing the risk to their health and safety. If you wish to view our range of Asbestos safety labels and signs please click here.

The dangers of asbestos are a subject we've covered time and again here on the Label Source blog, but we're continuing to see story after story about people who don't take those dangers seriously enough, and about the consequences that this attitude can lead to.

The latest such story was publish only today by the Worcester News.

Story and photograph from www.worcesternews.co.uk

Back in October 2013, Christopher Whitehead Language College in Worcester hired two 18-year-old workers to remove an asbestos roof from a small lean-to building on the school grounds. The pair accomplished this by knocking the asbestos down from atop the building before double-bagging the material and disposing of it.

If you've ever heard the line about how 'asbestos is perfectly safe as long as it isn't disturbed'*, you'll spot the problem with this method right away. By knocking the asbestos roof down, the two workers at Christopher Whitehead School no doubt released a great number of asbestos fibres into the air and risked inhaling them. While asbestos exposure causes no instantaneous harm, more than 4 thousand people die every year in the UK from slow-acting asbestos-related conditions such as mesothelioma. And while the work was carried out during the October half-term holiday, this doesn't necessarily mean that the two workmen were the only people at risk here, as this story from the British Lung Foundation illustrates. 

So here we are, saying it again: asbestos fibres are deadly and every measure should be taken in order to keep them from being released into the air and potentially breathed in. Knocking apart an asbestos roof is very dangerous; indeed, this was recognised in a complaint about the work at Christopher Whitehead School by public service union Unison. This complaint was upheld by the Health and Safety Executive, who reprimanded the school for poor health and safety practices.

Click here for more information on how to deal with asbestos safely, or visit our Asbestos Signs & Labels department to browse our full range of asbestos safety products.

*From the HSE's web page on asbestos: "As long as asbestos is in good condition and is not disturbed there is negligible risk. However, if it is disturbed or damaged, it can become a danger to health, because asbestos fibres are released into the air and people may breathe them in."

A company in Belfast has been fined £9,000 after committing a series of serious health and safety breaches whilst renovating a bar.

The firm was contracted to carry out renovation on the bar, after plans were made to resurrect a failing business. However, whilst working on the renovation project, the firm disturbed asbestos leading to workers and non-employees being exposed to this extremely dangerous material.

It came to light that the contractors failed to carry out a refurbishment asbestos survey before beginning the work on the bar. It is essential a “refurbishment asbestos survey” is carried out before any work is undertaken on an asbestos-containing premise. During this survey, all asbestos containing materials are identified and located to ensure that no body, workers or non-workers, will be harmed by asbestos materials while the refurbishment is being carried out, and that any work that needs to be done in the areas that contain asbestos is conducted and carried out in a safe manner.

The firm was made aware of asbestos being present in certain locations in the building, which were located in areas where they would not be carrying out any work. They decided that it was safe to begin the renovation without completing a full survey. This oversight led to the workers disturbing asbestos in 2 separate areas of the bar – on the ground floor and the first floor. Asbestos was also located in various other locations around the bar including in a skip and under damaged beams.

It came to light that the company had access to a previous asbestos management survey done by the previous leases, and they believed that that this was a sufficient safety measure, but it turns out that they misread the full report, and believe that it was safe to carry out the work.

Asbestos is an incredibly dangerous material and, even though its usage is now banned, it is still present in a majority of buildings here in the UK. If you own a business that contains asbestos, it is important that you have an asbestos management plan in place and that you are clearly labelling the locations where asbestos can be found in your building.

If you are planning a renovation of your property and you are aware of asbestos containing materials being present in your building, you will need to hire a specialist contracting firm who are specially trained to handle and remove asbestos.

 Here at Label Source, we stock a huge range of signs and labels all relating to asbestos, including mandatory PPE asbestos signs, asbestos warning signs and asbestos warning safety tapes.

Click here to view our full range of Asbestos safety signs. 

Dame Judith Hackitt, of the Health and Safety Executive has criticised the increasingly excessive worries over health and safety in schools, which she describes as “nonsensical”.

The phrase “its health and safety gone mad!” is a regular saying these days, as more and more companies, work places and schools make the decision to ban a seemingly harmless activity or item. For instance, one school in the UK has a ban on their students wearing frilly socks because they are a trip hazard. In one out of four schools, traditional playground games “tig” and British bulldog are now banned, and in some schools even throwing snowballs are banned!

Dame Judith argues that these ludicrous bans are undermining the efforts of the HSE to improve safety in dangerous industries, such as construction and farming.  So much so, she has said that children should be allowed to climb trees and play games that have a risk of injury, going on to say that not allowing children to learn to handle risk will lead to young adults who are poorly equipped to deal with realities of the real world.. The will become a liability in any workplace if they don’t have the basic skills, to exercise judgement”.

In the most part we agree with what Dame Judith is saying. Health and safety management is not about ruining peoples fun, it’s about managing and preventing serious risks.

Instead of worrying about what type of sock your students are wearing, schools should be concentrating on managing real risks such as Fire Safety Procedures and asbestos management.

Asbestos Management in Schools

As it stands at the moment, government policy states that if the asbestos is in good condition and is unlikely to be disturbed, they will not remove the asbestos that in the school, instead opting for safe management of the material for its remaining life. This means that a majority of our schools, here in the UK, still have asbestos present in the building. This policy of not removing asbestos unless it is truly necessary often leaves schools with asbestos that is either in bad condition, unsealed or hidden.

 Some of the schools in the UK have developed an effective asbestos management system; however, a majority does not.

A nationwide study conducted in 2010 of 600 school safety representatives highlighted the shocking fact that only 28 per cent of schools had the presence of asbestos clearly marked, and perhaps even more shockingly, when they were asked if they had an accurate register of where the asbestos was located in the buildings, only a third of the representatives where aware of the register, and only 20 per cent said that the register was shown to contractors before they began building work.

There seems to be a common trend here, which is the serious lack of awareness about asbestos. Over the years inspections have been carried out which has highlighted that many schools have an inadequate management system in place and/or the school safety representatives are confused by where the responsibility lies when it comes to managing asbestos. This has forced the authorities to have to provide advice or even enforcement action against some schools.  

Shockingly, inadequate surveys have been conducted and the presence of asbestos has not been identified because it is located in a hard to access area. Inadequate surveying and inefficient management systems has led to the Asbestos Consultants Association to conclude that, in many schools, asbestos management is ineffective, and at times dangerous.

The fact of the matter is, asbestos can be disturbed through normal school activity, and this can cause the fibres to be released over a period of years, meaning that children and teachers could be at risk of contracting asbestos related illnesses.

It is important that schools start managing asbestos correctly, and label any asbestos risks present in the building correctly.

Summary

We are fully aware that there are hundreds of serious risks that are managed successfully on a day to day basis by schools and for that we are grateful; however, wrapping a child up in cotton wool isn’t going to help with developing their own risk judgements. If a girl trips over her frilly sock and hurts her knee, it is very unlikely she will wear that pair of socks again.

We believe that schools should allow children to make their own judgements, and focus on putting into place health and safety management systems that will really make a difference, not only for the children but for the staff as well.

The amount of schools that are reported to be managing asbestos correctly is incredibly low. We believe that this is unacceptable, and more must be done to help raise awareness of asbestos in school buildings and how to manage asbestos correctly. This includes labelling any area of the school that is known to hold asbestos, keeping fully comprehensive records of the location and condition of the asbestos, and passing this to any contractors who are going to be undertaking any work on the building.

Here at Label Source we are proud to offer a comprehensive range of asbestos signs. However, if you can not find the exact sign you require, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.  

During the mid 1970 – early 1980s the use of blue and brown asbestos was banned herein the UK, while the ban of using white asbestos happened much later in 1999. This means that there is an extremely high chance that buildings constructed before 2000 will contain asbestos, somewhere. This means that even today, 16 years after the ban, people, especially construction workers are at risk of exposure to this deadly material.

Before you start working on any building built or refurbished before the year 2000, you will need to ensure that there is no asbestos present. Before starting any work – of any kind you need to do the following:

Identify if asbestos is present.

The first step is to identify whether there is any asbestos present in the building. the people who are responsible for the maintenance of the building should have a detailed report about any areas of the building that contains asbestos, and what condition it is in. Failing this you can get the building professionally surveyed. By getting the samples of the material that you are going to be working on analysed, will not only tell you if they contain asbestos, but it will also inform you of what type of asbestos is present.  If you can’t get the samples analysed, then it is advised that you approach the work materials that you will be working with, with extreme caution and implement the appropriate precautions to safeguard yourself against any possible asbestos exposure.

Identify the type of asbestos, and its condition

It is important to understand what type of asbestos you are dealing with. The different types of asbestos all have different uses, for instance, Tremolite asbestos (brown) has heat resistant properties and was spun and woven into cloth, whereas Actinolite asbestos was often used as a light-weight insulation material.  Knowing the type of asbestos present, makes it easier to identify where it is being used and how to remove it.

Carry out a risk assessment

Carrying out a detailed risk assessment is crucial when you are planning dangerous work. Working with asbestos is no exception. When conducting your risk assessment, you need to clarify if it is possible to carry out the work that you are tasked with, without disturbing the asbestos.

If it impossible to carry out the work without disturbing the asbestos, you have to identify the people who will be at the most risk of exposure and implement the correct precautions to ensure their safety while to work is being carried out.

Hire Professionsals to Remove the Asbestos

 If you find that the building you are working on has asbestos, you will need to call in a specialist asbestos remover. These people are fully trained to the risks of asbestos exposure, and are experts at protecting themselves and other around them. Asbestos removal will need to be carried out by a contractor, who holds a license from the HSE.  

If you are managing a building which contains asbestos, it is vital that you clearly label the areas where the asbestos is found in the building. It is customary that you do this by implementing warning signs. If you have recently discovered asbestos, or need to replace your current asbestos warning signs in your workplace simply click here to view our truly comprehensive range of asbestos warning signs. 

We pride ourselves in providing a truely comprehensive range of warning signs and safety labels, however in the unlikely circumstance you can not find the sign you are looking for you can call us on 0800 3761 693 or email us at info@labelsource.co.uk and we will be more than happy to assist you.