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HSE Warns Roofers About Hidden Dangers of Asbestos

ROOFERS ACROSS GREAT BRITAIN are being warned about the hidden dangers associated with asbestos.

The warning comes as part of the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) Asbestos and You campaign targeting tradespeople about the personal risks from asbestos that still exist in properties across the country today.

Around five thousand people a year die from asbestos related illnesses and asbestos can still be found in buildings built or refurbished before the year 2000.

HSE is warning despite the ban on its use, many buildings still contain asbestos, and it is still a serious risk to anyone exposed to it at any age.

Tim Beaumont, HSE’s acting head of construction policy sector, said: “Asbestos can be found in things like Artex, cement boards under eaves, garage roofs, old bath panels, boiler houses and fires and even mortar between bricks can contain asbestos.

“There is no known safe level of asbestos exposure but that’s not to say it can’t be managed safely.

“All tradespeople should make sure they know the basics about identifying asbestos. Before carrying out any construction work, there’s a legal requirement to identify whether asbestos is present and could be disturbed.

“Younger tradespeople need to know the dangers behind asbestos as it could affect them in later life like it is affecting older tradespeople now.”

Asbestos is only dangerous if not maintained in a safe condition or if physically disturbed without the right measures in place to control exposure to fibres.

Gary Walpole, National Federation Roofing Contractors (NFRC) safety, health and environment officer, added: “Ensuring sound risk management when it comes to identifying asbestos is as important today for roofing contractors as it ever was, especially when there is no asbestos register on a domestic property to highlight the location and condition of the materials that contain asbestos.

“We welcome and support HSE’s campaign ‘Asbestos & You’ to get the message out there that despite being banned in the UK, asbestos is still a relevant risk. In day-to-day work roofers have the potential to come across materials that contain asbestos such as profile roof sheets, gutters, downpipes, soffits and flues.”

Hidden Dangers of Asbestos

From the 1950s until 1999, materials containing asbestos were used extensively in the construction and maintenance of buildings in Great Britain.

When materials that contain asbestos are disturbed or damaged, fibres are released into the air. If these fibres are inhaled, they can cause serious diseases such as mesothelioma, asbestos related lung cancer, asbestosis, and pleural thickening. These diseases will not affect you immediately as they often take a long time to develop, says HSE, but once diagnosed, it is often too late to do anything.

It can take 20 to 30 years before symptoms appear. Symptoms include shortness of breath, persistent cough, wheezing, extreme tiredness, pain in your chest or shoulder, and in more advanced cases, swollen fingertips.

HSE warns if asbestos cannot be safely managed, it should be removed by a licensed asbestos contractor. Where present, asbestos should be closely managed by those responsible for the building.

Further guidance on asbestos is available here.

 

>> Read more about the Asbestos and You campaign in the news

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