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Armco Asbestos Surveys
Last Updated on 8th August 2016 by
BOHS (The Chartered Society For Worker Health Protection) launched their new ‘Breathe Freely initiative’ back in April of this year which aims to control exposures to prevent occupational lung disease in the construction industry.
People who work in construction are at very high risk of developing lung cancer. It is estimated that approximately 3,500 people died from cancer related diseases in 2015 due to exposure to asbestos alone, with a further 500 dying from silica dust. Another 5,500 people were diagnosed with occupational cancer.
People breathe in harmful substances every day without knowing that could one day cause them serious harm or that they will eventually die from.
The BOHS Breathe Freely Initiative partners with leading organisations in the construction industry and sets out to provide necessary the tools, guidance and resources to help companies take control of exposures within the workplace.
As part of this new initiative, BOHS have also launched a Health Industry standard self assessment tool. The aim of this tool is to help managers within construction to better manage workplace health risks by using a 6 point framework.
The tool will help managers to identify strengths and weaknesses, set priorities and develop action plans.
The new resource for managers is free to download from the dedicated website www.breathefreely.org.uk
Whilst this framework was developed with the construction industry in mind, it could be just as easily be applied to other sectors too. BOHS are encouraging people to use it and welcome feedback on the tool. They welcome completed examples to be sent to them to go onto their website.
They want to show how it’s been used and the sorts of actions people are developing once they have filled in the details. You can sign up to say you will adopt the HI standard via the BOHS breathe freely campaign website.
A total of over 120 companies have signed up to pledge their support for Breathe Freely (including us!) since it’s launch last April, and you can too! It’s totally FREE to sign up as a supporter.
All that BOHS ask is that you openly show your support for the campaign by sharing on social media, adding information to your website, telling customers about it in your newsletters and so on.
So if you would like your company to sign up as a supporter, just contact BOHS Communications and Marketing Manager, Sharon Brunt, at sharon.brunt@bohs.org with a statement of support and your company logo which will then be added to the BOHS Breathe Freely Initiative website.
In return, you will be issued with the logo for the campaign to use on your website.
Duty holders and employers have a legal responsibility to manage asbestos in their building so as not to put employees at risk. Contact our Armco office for asbestos management and refurbishment/ demolition surveys on 0161 763 3727 or by visiting https://www.armco.org.uk/. Alternatively call 0161 761 4424 or visit https://www.armcoasbestostraining.co.uk/ for enquiries or to book a training course.
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Published Jul 25, 2016
