One of the top stories reported by Health & Safety at Work magazine this month is that the HSE is examining ways to change the law to lower the frequency of medical checks for workers carrying out licensed work under the Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR).
It is proposed that the frequency of statutory health check will be from two years to three years - with the aim of bringing the licensed sector into line with workers undertaking notifiable asbestos handling.
This move has been criticised by the TUC as “totally irresponsible”.
Meanwhile, in another asbestos related story, an asbestos contractor from Wiltshire has been fined £100,000 and one of its directors handed a suspended jail sentence over a raft of failings, including allowing untrained workers to rip out asbestos from a hotel building by hand.
Workers who said they had never received any training were told to pull the asbestos pipe lagging off by hand, according to the Salisbury Journal.
The area was hoovered and wiped down after the work was finished, but the hotel manager later found debris, the paper said. An employee subsequently used wet wipes to clean up the dust.
A truly shocking example of irresponsible management regards staff welfare whilst dealing with the deadly material that is asbestos.
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