Enquin Environmental backs free asbestos training campaign
Following the success of the Train Safe, Work Safe, Keep Safe campaign developed by the UK Asbestos Training Association (UKATA) that saw hours of free asbestos safety training delivered to DIY enthusiasts and tradesmen in 2015, the campaign for 2016 is underway and Enquin Environmental has announced they are taking part.
The campaign forms part of the ongoing commitment of UKATA and its members to emphasise the importance of sourcing a competent training provider and the Health and safety Executive (HSE) advice that workers and supervisors must be trained to recognise Asbestos Containing Materials (ACMs) and be able to know what to do should they encounter them.
On 18 October 2016 Enquin Environmental are providing free asbestos training to smaller traders and individuals as a way of highlighting the dangers of asbestos. With around 20 tradesmen still dying every week in the UK as a result of past exposure to asbestos fibres, the initiative has the potential to save many lives.
“I would like to thank Enquin Environmental for their support and backing of our Train Safe, Work Safe, Keep Safe campaign,” said Craig Evans, General Manager of UKATA. “In the last few years our members have delivered nearly 400,000 asbestos training courses but there remains a real need for essential training for all who may encounter the substance. Thousands of tradespeople have received no asbestos training of any kind and Enquin Environmental is playing a key role in helping UKATA to do what we can to make a practical difference to those who need training most.”
Damage caused to the lungs by asbestos inhalation can lay dormant for up to 60 years and resulting diseases like mesothelioma are responsible for the weekly death toll amongst small traders that includes eight joiners, six electricians and four plumbers.
With experts predicting the UK’s annual death rate from asbestos of around 5,000 is set to soar in the next five years, the role of UKATA and members like Enquin Environmental has never been more necessary.
“As a company committed to asbestos training, we are proud to be involved in the UKATA Train Safe, Work Safe, Keep safe campaign,” said Sally Cuff of Enquin Environmental . “We train workers from many big organisations but smaller companies and the individual tradesamn can be in the dark over asbestos, so this scheme is a great way to help tackle the issues surrounding the lack of asbestos awareness training in this country in a practical way.”
The legacy of more than half a century of exposure to asbestos at work is about to be seen in thousands of former ship-builders, boilermakers, builders, plumbers, teachers, nurses and their families. Mesothelioma alone is thought to be silently afflicting one in every 100 men born in the 1940s in the UK and Guy’s Hospital in London has predicted that 100,000 people in the developing world who are alive now will die from the condition.
“Small traders can be on the front line of asbestos exposure by inadvertently coming into contact with deadly fibres if they disturb asbestos during building work,” added Craig. “This makes the Train Safe, Work Safe, Keep Safe campaign so important and without the support of members like Enquin Environmental it would not be possible. I would like to personally thank Enquin Environmental for working with us and I hope together we can get achieve a great result.”