A recent survey by ElectricalDirect has shown the effects of asbestos on tradespeople across the UK. According to this survey, 72% of tradespeople have encountered asbestos in their job at some point in their working life.
60% of these workers will find asbestos at least once every year, with 35% saying they find it at least once a month and 8% saying they will typically find asbestos once a day!
The consequences of this exposure is clear and severe, 44% of those surveyed have previously had the symptoms of an asbestos related......
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A group of villagers from Barford, South Warwickshire have been protesting for the last six years against one of the wealthiest colleges in Oxford over the opening of a new 220-acre quarry.
The area for this proposed quarry would be Wasperton Farm, this land is owned by St Johns College, which are a University of Oxford constituent college and villagers of the nearby Barford say this could expose them to “toxic fine particulate silica dust”, which could cause “permanent damage” to their lungs.
The college had asked for Warwickshire County Council to......
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A school in Dover, Kent has recently reopened following a new expansion after it was covered in asbestos, was crammed with too many pupils and began to slip down the hillside that it was built on 91 years ago.
The new facilities, built at a cost of £25.5 million had their formal opening in September after the construction which began in June 2020 was completed. This new set of buildings can take up to 900 pupils and include carpentry workshops, food technology rooms, elaborates, a sports hall and art rooms.
The chairman......
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Poundland were recently fined £565,000 following multiple cases of asbestos mismanagement in their Ipswich store between 2011 and 2018.
Before they took over what was a former Woolworths store in the town the business had organised for a survey to take place on the site and this then found numerous asbestos types all over the building. Following this the retailer arranged for consultants to return annually and monitor these discoveries but Poundland did not have "proper asbestos management plan for staff and visitors" according to Ipswich Borough Council during the hearing......
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Across the last ten years Cumbria City Council have paid out more than £300,000 to school staff in compensation following injuries sustained at the workplace.
Since 2012 the council have settled a total of 29 claims which include staff receiving compensation for slips, falls and assaults by their own pupils.
Teachers have also received pay-outs as a result of asbestos exposure from the school buildings. During the 2018/19 school year, one worker was paid over £200,000 due to a claim they made in 2006 after exposure to the deadly material years before......
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Elstree Film Studios, located in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire have recently discovered asbestos in large sections of their ageing buildings which could be effecting the filming of some of the biggest shows on TV.
The studios which are home to TV phenomenon’s such as BBC hit ‘Strictly Come Dancing’, Netflix’s historical royal drama ‘The Crown’ and major daytime quiz shows ‘The Chase’ and ‘Pointless’. It has been confirmed that ‘Strictly’ will continue as planned as the show is made in an area that is not affected by this asbestos scare but all filming......
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The cost that a primary school in Hereford will be facing for repairs has been revealed.
According to a recent article in the Hereford Times, the amount to be spent on Hampton Dene Primary School in Tupsley will be up to £370,00 which will be used to fix ceilings and roofs Herefordshire council have said.
A previous survey had identified asbestos in two areas of the building that would need to be removed with work on the larger of the two sections having taken place across the summer, the council have explained......
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The final resident of an Australian town referred to as “Australia’s Chernobyl” has failed to reach the deadline to leave imposed by the Western Australian Government of 31st August.
The town of Wittenoon is the Southern Hemisphere’s largest contaminated industrial site due its previous roots as an asbestos mining town. Exposure to the deadly substance was blamed for the deaths of 2000 workers of the Wittenoom mine and their families. The mine which used to export blue asbestos around the world was closed down in 1966 with a lack of profitability......
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The UK Government have been urged to take on the growing problem of England’s faltering school buildings. Figures detailed by the Guardian have revealed that of 20,000 school buildings surveyed between 2017 and 2019, 19,442 had a minimum of one element with “major defects” or “not operating as intended” with repairs and replacements clearly needed.
The National Education Union (NEU) said the numbers being reported were “shocking” and shared their belief that the £1bn the government are putting into what they called “state of the art” refurbishments to 61 schools was......
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Directors of Keebar Construction Ltd, James Keegan, 65, and Alan Barraclough, 51, who took on a £2.4m contract to transform a department store into student accommodation have been convicted of putting their employees at potentially fatal risk from asbestos.
The crown court in Newcastle discovered that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) visited the site in October 2017, several months after work had begun, subsequently stopping the construction after discovering multiple workers had been exposed to asbestos.
A prosecutor for the HSE, James Patrick McKeon, told the court (held in recent weeks)......
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