Online Tool To Provide Guidance And Advice

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has launched a Beware Asbestos app designed to give tradespeople tailored information regarding the deadly material and how to ensure it is handled in a safe manner.

Bristol Post reports that the free online tool has been made available after research found an average of 20 trade workers die every week from asbestos-related diseases including mesothelioma.

Samantha Peace, HSE’s regional director for the Bristol area, told the newspaper that the aim was to provide “straightforward advice to help them do the job safely”.

She added: “Using this web app could save your life. Asbestos is not a thing of the past. It was banned in 2000, but could be in any building built up to then.

“What we're finding is that tradespeople don't know enough about asbestos – and could be exposing themselves to the dust without even knowing it.”

Expert Opinion

This new online tool is a vital step towards ensuring tradespeople are educated and informed regarding the dangers that asbestos can pose to them. <br/> <br/>"Through our work, we see hundreds of cases in which workers have developed serious terminal illness as a result of exposure to asbestos which could and should have been avoided in the workplace. <br/> <br/>"Safety must always come first and it is vital both workers and employers do what they can to ensure that steps are taken to reduce the risk of exposure." Virginia Chalmers - Partner