Asbestos awareness

A poignant target of 4000 hours of
free asbestos awareness training has
been set in a new initiative to help
tradesmen in London and across
Britain protect themselves from the
deadly dust.

The Health and Safety Executive
(HSE), in partnership with the
training industry, is calling for
businesses to pledge free courses
and it hopes during September to
hit the target of 4000 hours
reflecting the approximate number
of deaths each year in Britain from
asbestos-related diseases.

It is hoped that 4000 face-to-face
training hours and an additional
4000 hours of online training will
be offered up by various providers.

The free training will be available
throughout October and November
and is aimed at tradesmen, such as
joiners, electricians and plumbers,
who are most likely to disturb the
fibres as they go about their work.

Training providers looking to
pledge hours are invited to visit the
campaign website www.hse.gov.uk/
asbestos/training-pledge and those
wanting to sign up to free training
can see what is being pledged in
their area.