Mesothelioma -Do You Know Enough About this Deadly Disease?

Asbestos contains tiny fibres which are too small for the eye to see, yet they can do great damage to the lungs if breathed in. Mesothelioma is a cancer of the lining of the lung and is just one of the diseases associated with the material. The latency period for symptoms of the disease can be long – often 10 or more years – and there is currently no cure.

5 Key Points for Managing Asbestos

1. Asbestos could be present in any building either built or refurbished before the year 2000. Check building and renovation plans if you are unsure, as well as any asbestos surveys undertaken. Ceiling and floor tiles, older boilers, lagging and asbestos cement are often key areas to look at.
2. The material only poses a significant risk to health if it is accessible and in a poor or damaged condition. It is therefore important that you know what type of asbestos you have and the condition it is in.
3. Those most at risk are people who work on the fabric of the building – carpenters, plumbers, electricians and builders, for example, as well as any maintenance staff on site. There is therefore a duty to tell those who may be on your premises about any asbestos in the building before they undertake work. You should do this before they carry out a risk assessment/method statement so that all risks and control measures are factored in.
4. Some work with asbestos – either removing it or working with it – may require a licensed asbestos contractor. Check that any contractors you use have the correct licence to do the work.
5. Making others aware of the existence of asbestos is vital. As a visual prompt, label your asbestos with industry-recognised stickers so that it is clear that asbestos is in the vicinity should anyone be undertaking work in the area.

Asbestos is a killer and any amount of exposure can be dangerous – preventing exposure is therefore the key to limiting the number who develop asbestos-related diseases. Protect your staff, contractors and visitors so they never have to suffer.

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You thought you knew the top dangerous jobs in the UK, the list below may surprise you. Some jobs are more dangerous than others but we weren’t expecting a few of these.

Builder

The top most dangerous job comes as no surprise builders are putting themselves at risk everyday – 39 people died in the construction industry between 2012 and 2013, the majority of them by falling from a height.

Refuse collector

This isn’t the most pleasant job to have, but being a refuse collector should also carry a health warning. 10 people died collecting, treating and disposing of waste between 2012 and 2013 according to the Health and Safety Executive‘s latest figures. The industry had a fatality rate of 7.8 per 100,000 employees in 2012/2013

Farmer

Agriculture, forestry and fishing has the highest risk of all industrial sector, this sector accounts for an average of one in five fatal injuries. Out of the 29 workers fatally injured in 2012 / 2013 almost 50% were farmers, 17 % were hired hands in the industry. 5 of these were killed by animals, 5 more died by drowning or asphyxiation.

Miner

With only three deep pit coal mines left operational in the UK there is still a threat to miners on a daily basis. In 2012 / 2013 there were 2 fatalities and over 150 injuries in the mining and quarrying industry. As the industry has reduced in size, the fatality rate is now the highest in the country at 9.6 per 100,000 employees.

Shopkeeper

Although there was no fatal injuries in the retail industry between 2012 / 2013, there were 1619 “major injuries” in the sector with close to 7,000 injuries reported in total.

Mechanic

Mechanics and Car Salesmen are also at risk with 8 deaths recorded in 2012 / 2013 and close to 300 major injuries.

Teacher

Education is reportedly the most injury prone sector with 1,736 people reporting non-fatal major injuries in 2012 / 2013, although there were no reported fatalities.

Estate agent

It might seem like an unlikely career for you to be at risk,  but HSE statistics say that 4 people died in the rental and leasing activities industry in 2012 / 2013, with 70 people suffering from major, but non-fatal, injuries.

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Depending on which industry you work in there are a different variety of hazards you may come into contact with.

One example is an office worker is much less at risk from being burnt than a chef as you would expect.

There is however a range of common accidents and injuries which occur across all occupational sectors – and slips / trips and falls invariably top the table.

In 2013/14

• over half the fatal injuries to workers were of three kinds: falls from height; contact with moving machinery; and being struck by a vehicle (RIDDOR)
• falls and slips & trips, combined, account for over a third (35%) of employee injuries. They made up more than half of all reported major/specified injuries and almost three in ten (29%) over-seven-day injuries to employees (RIDDOR)
• handling was the most frequent cause of over-seven-day injury (RIDDOR)
• an estimated 1.9 million working days were lost due to handling injuries and slips & trips (LFS).

Source HSE

Overall, the three most common types of accident/injury were:

• Trips/slips or falls
• Machinery / Moving Objects
• Manual handling/lifting

Some of the most common injuries were:

• Sprains and strains
• Back injury
• Head injury
• Neck injury
• Repetitive Strain Injury

Most Common Risks

Overall, slips/trips and falls or damage caused by manual handling/lifting remain the main culprits of injury in the workplace.

Some of these risks may have been able to be managed if a risk assessment and workforce training had been carried out. If you need an up to date risk assessment or tool box talks download our free documents below:

RA1 – Working at Heights

Slips, Trips and Falls Tool Box Talk

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