Control of Silica Risks in Construction
The HSE has a long term plan to deal with 'long latency' health risks. Asbestos is now well known for both the high fatality rate in excess of 3000 people per year in the UK (comparable with deaths on the road) and the long time which elapses between exposure and symptoms becoming apparent.
Less well known are the issues associated with Respirable Crystalline Silica (RCS) or silica dust. Whilst silicosis itself kills a much smaller number each year, it is estimated that 800 deaths every year are as a result of lung cancer caused by silicosis.
Silicosis comes in three forms - Chronic, Accelerated and Acute. Chronic Silicosis typically develops as a result of relatively low concentrations over a long period. Accelerated Silicosis develops over 5 to 10 years from initial exposure to high levels of silica dust and Acute Silicosis may develop within weeks to 5 years of exposure to high levels of silica dust.
Silicosis is not curable and treatment is restricted to alleviation of symptoms. The key to reduction of the misery is that where the risk is recognised it can be reduced significantly with practical steps.
Key sources of silica dust in construction include the cutting of roof tile, kerbs and paving by machine cutter. If the design process can ensure that for example, whole tiles can be used wherever possible and that half tiles are available without need for cutting, risk will be reduced. In most instances, the needs for valley or ridge tiles requires some cutting on site.
Managing 'necessary' risk: In cases where cutting is unavoidable, use of wet rather than dry cutting (preferably away from the additional risk of working at height and slipping on wet surfaces) will help. A dedicated cutting area on the scaffold with a water supply can help manage both risks. Such an area should be designed into the construction plan. Additional protection through half mask respirators is necessary but these must be worn properly by clean shaven operatives. Bearded operators should opt for powered respirators to ensure protection factors.
Exposure limit: There is a workplace exposure limit of 0.1mg RCS per m3 over an 8 hour period. Legislation: The primary legislation is the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regs 2002 (CoSHH) but on site, lack of provision of suitable cutting areas may be dealt with under the CDM Regs 2007.
The HSE view the risk due to RCS as 'Serious Health Effect' so will use Prohibition or Improvement notices to enforce appropriate risk management practice but given the avoidable nature of this hazard, no-one should wait for the HSE to get involved!
Further information and guidance: If you would like further insight into managing risks due to Respirable Crystalline Silica, give BSA a call on 01483 467270
BSA 'Affordable Training'
With 'competency' being a key driver of safety, BSA has developed a 2 day Site Supervisors course which will be held in Guildford on the 7th and 8th December.
The course will cover
- The Health and Safety at Work Act and relevant regulations
- Specific site issues, which will include site set up, controls, working at height and CoSHH
- Tool box talks
- Control of subcontractors
- Health issues including asbestos and silica dust
The course will include continuous and multiple choice assessment and a certificate issued to succesful candidates. The cost is just £250 + VAT per person - Click here for further details.
BSA Seminar Season
In addition, we are going to run a 'public' half day training course on Manual Handling at a cost of £75 per person at the Holiday Inn, Brentwood on the afternoon of 16th March 2011.
If you might be interested in more details on this course which is a practical way to demonstrate that reasonable training has been carried out, please email us via bsims@bsims.co.uk . If you have particular Manual Handling needs - office, site, workshop, delivery, construction etc, let us know and we will try to ensure that we cover your needs in the appropriate detail. All our courses are delivered by competent coaches and certificates of attendance are provided.
We also run 'private' or one-company specific courses on a wide range of Health & Safety subjects - Call Glen, Roger or Bernie on 01483 467270 to discuss what you need.
BSA Northern Office on the Move
With armfuls and transit vans full of risk assessments and the prospect of a new colour monitor which we use for conferencing with the Guildford and Glasgow offices (avoids travel), the BSA Northern Team are moving to a new office in Leeds.
The move will take place on 19th November 2010 and apart from necessary disruption on this day, current phone lines will be automatically transferred for the next 6 months and email addresses will remain the same. The new postal address will be
13 Fusion Court
Aberford Road
Leeds
LS25 2GH
Primary BSA contacts are Jonathan Heap and Keith Mallon
Quick profile of David McSween - BSA Glasgow Office
Our Glasgow office is led by Dave McSween who joined BSA earlier this year building on the earlier work by Gillian Simcox.
Dave comes highly qualified with a BA in Occupational Health and Safety Management and is a Technician Member of Institution of Occupational Safety & Health.
David served time in the Armed forces, with the Corps of Royal Engineers, where he was trained in construction activities including: - demolitions, water supply, and road, airfield & bridge construction. Overall since leaving the armed forces David has taken a keen interest in the promotion of site safety - he won positions on a number of sites as a junior team member and was promoted to assist company Safety Officers to implement their occupational health and safety management systems and practicable safe working practices.
Overall, David has been employed within the construction, civil engineering and production industries for 19 years.
David is an approachable, enthusiastic individual who enjoys both teamwork and using his own initiative to make informed "practical" decisions. If you are in Scotland and would like a little more local help, give Dave a call on 07788 713435 or email on david.m@bsims.co.uk
