The Hazards Campaign
is a network of
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on health and safety at work

CONSTRUCTION SAFETY CAMPAIGN - 14 December 2005

Don’t allow the Government to downgrade your protection from deadly asbestos

• Being exposed to asbestos currently kills around 3,500 each year; this is more people than any other workplace related death.

• The Health and Safety Executive are intending changes to the asbestos regulations, which they plan to introduce some time after a consultation period on 31st January 2006. Some of the new proposals we don’t oppose, in particular those concerning the lowering of asbestos fibre control levels. (We want nil exposure) The requirement to “identify whether asbestos is present and to what extent and if in doubt assume that asbestos is present”

• They have however introduced what are very damaging proposals these are: "Sporadic and Low Intensity Worker Exposure" and "Short-Term Exposure Limits". If not defeated these proposed changes will allow employers to dictate that workers can work with asbestos with less safety controls that currently apply.

• Insurance companies, large landlords and some employers are behind wanting these regulations as certain types of asbestos removal work can be done more cheaply with less stringent methods without the use of asbestos licensed contractors. When after being exposed to asbestos after 30-40 years Asbestos Cancer has been diagnosed and workers make claims for compensation then employers will argue that they are not liable as they were only following the law.

Only specialist asbestos removal workers should work on asbestos
No work should be carried out with asbestos other than by a joint specialist asbestos removal construction repairs teams.

Please act by: contacting you MP. MEP. Councillor, Tenants organisation your Trade Union. Get them to support opposition to the detrimental parts of the HSE proposals.
Only option is Zero Exposure – So Don’t allow this Asbestos Proposals to become law

Their proposals if agreed will decrease the use of specialist asbestos removal teams while at the same time they will allow increasing numbers of Labourers and Tradespersons to be used by employers to carry out this dangerous work

The only lasting solution is to ban asbestos from the UK
We got asbestos imports banned in 1999. We now require that all asbestos be safely removed from all properties throughout the U/K.

What they plan
They plan that workplaces can be exempt from having to have asbestos removal licenses, notifying the HSE of work, arrangements to deal with accidents, incidents and emergencies and health records and medical surveillance when:

a) The exposure of employees to asbestos fibres is sporadic and of low intensity;
b) It is clear from the risk assessment that the Control Limit for asbestos will not be exceeded in the air of the working area; and;
c) The work involves-
(i) Short, non-continuous maintenance activities,
(ii) Removal of materials in which the asbestos fibres are firmly linked in a matrix,
(iii) Encapsulation or sealing of asbestos-containing materials, or
(iv) Air monitoring and control and the collection of samples to ascertain whether a specific material contains asbestos.
(v) Picking up asbestos debris.
(vi) Removal of very small amounts of residual asbestos removal work.
All these proposals act so as increase the amount of occasions that workers can work with asbestos.

CONSTRUCTION SAFETY CAMPAIGN 0774 779 5954

Make your views known by writing to:
Thomas Slater, Health and Safety Executive, Rose Court, 2 Southwark Bridge, London, SE1 9HS.
Phone number 020 77176197.Fax 020 77176190.

The Hazards Campaign, c/o Greater Manchester Hazards Centre, Windrush Millennium Centre, 70 Alexandra Road,
Manchester, M16 7WD . website www.hazardscampaign.org.uk