Our Services
(please 'click' on a title)
Our experience in
the workplace ensures that you can be confident of practical
solutions. You may require help with a large risk management
project or a solution to a discrete problem, such as uncontrolled
dust exposure. We can provide that help.
Among our services,
we offer the following:
Asbestos management
Around 3000 people a
year in Great Britain die from diseases caused by past exposure to
asbestos and the figure is expected to rise to nearer 10,000 by
2010. People who work with asbestos are at risk, particularly
those who are involved in the refurbishment, repair or maintenance
of buildings like plumbers and carpenters. Research undertaken in
1995 by Professor Peto and HSE epidemiologists showed that 25% of
those 3000 people who die each year from asbestos-related diseases
worked in the building industry at some point in their working
lives.
If building trades
unknowingly work on asbestos containing materials or in areas
where asbestos debris remains post removal work, they are
increasing their risk of developing asbestos related diseases.
That is why it has been necessary to expand CAWR and its ACOPs to
make the requirement to manage asbestos in premises more explicit.
Regulation 4 of the
new Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations (CAWR) came into force
on the 21 November 2002, which introduced a new regulation 4, the
‘duty to manage’. The duty to manage will come into force on the
21 May 2004; following an 18 month lead in period. This will have
a major impact on UK industry, requiring duty holders to manage
their asbestos.
Asbestos management
means to protect your workers and others from developing asbestos
related diseases. How is this achieved? If these two groups of
workers are protected, then it means you are managing your
asbestos. All work, from the changing of a light fitting to a new
extension, should be controlled and any work on asbestos
containing materials done in a safe manner. They are many ways to
achieve this. Surveying is only one of them. Count the number of
buildings you have and imagine how long it will take to survey
them all, if it takes a full day to survey a single building (it
often takes much longer). The Health and Safety Executive knows
that every asbestos containing material will need to be found at
some time, but not now, not before the 21 May 2004. It could take
several decades, therefore manage your asbestos, don’t simply
survey all your buildings.
Workplace
Environment Solutions won’t recommend you survey all your premises
We will help you
develop a compliance strategy with a structure that:
- Defines roles
and responsibilities
- Ensures work
on ACMs is controlled
- Provides a
risk based approach
- Ensures
compliance with CAWR and minimises risks to health
We want to show you
how to manage your asbestos today, tomorrow and for as long as it
remains on your premises. We can do this through the development
of a compliance strategy that looks at your business and what
works best for you. We can include awareness and competent person
training. Awareness so that tradesmen and others know their
responsibilities, what steps to take to protect themselves and how
to work safely on asbestos. BOHS module P402 is the recognised
qualification for those wishing to carry out surveys for asbestos.
However, competency is only achieved after many months of survey
experience to build upon the theoretical knowledge provided by
P402. Therefore if you wish to have survey capability in house, we
can help the delegated individuals develop the experience. We can
also provide the in house competency training, as it may be
beneficial to have your own bespoke training course on your own
premises. You may want us to help you design your inspection /
survey strategies, or simply audit your current system.
Why use
Workplace Environment Solutions?
- Extensive
practical experience in all aspects of asbestos over the last
two decades (e.g. management, supervision, surveying,
clearance testing, training etc.)
- Providers of
the technical expertise to the development of the Control of
Asbestos at Work Regulations and associated Approved Codes of
Practice.
- Participated
on many HSE and joint industry committees.
- Authors of HSG
227 – A comprehensive Guide to Managing Asbestos in
Premises, and the ‘Contractors guide’ and ‘Analysts guide’
- We have
trained HSE inspectors and help develop HSE inspection packs
- Delivered
numerous presentations to professional / industry conferences
on asbestos
COSHH Assessments and Air sampling.
The
control of exposure to hazardous substances is about the
development of effective solutions. Solutions that work long term
and that are cost effective. Expensive engineering controls may
sometimes be needed, but in many cases modifications to the
process or working practices can bring about improved control.We
can carry out your COSHH assessments or a one-off air sampling
exercises for a particular issue. But, more importantly we can
help you develop your own in-house systems and expertise. For
example we can train
employees to be COSHH assessors, or carry out short COSHH
awareness training.
- Produce
generic COSHH assessments that can be placed on an intranet
site, allowing COSHH assessors to utilise these across your
business.
- Review
you COSHH database system to see if the approach meets the
requirements of your local HSE or LA Inspector.
- Carry
out audits of your sites to see whether you have any major
issues.
Noise assessment and control.
WES
can provide a comprehensive noise survey service to help clients
to comply with the Noise at Work Regulations 1989, and to develop
their compliance strategies for the new Noise at Work Regulations
due out in 2004. Our noise survey service includes:
Real time
measurement of personal noise exposure using logging
dosemeters.These measurements can identify noise exposure patterns
and and help in the identification of sources of noise exposure;
- Area noise
measurements using an integrating sound level meter to
identify noisy machinery, and to designate hearing protection
zones;
- Octave
band analysis using an integrating sound level meter to assist
in the identification of effective noise control solutions and
suitable hearing protection;
- Advice
on the development of audiometry programmes to monitor the
workforce’s hearing;
- Training
for workforce, supervisors and managers.
Ventilation.
Ventilation,
whether general or local exhaust ventilation (LEV) can be an
important part of an exposure control programme. WES can help you
to ensure that you are getting efficient ventilation by:
- Carrying out
14 monthly thorough examination and test of existing LEV as
required by the COSHH regulations 2002;
- Identifying
where LEV will be an effective means of control; and
-
Providing information to aid the design of appropriate LEV.
Training.
After
consultation to establish your requirements, we can develop and
deliver targeted training courses on subjects like asbestos
management, COSHH, Noise, Display Screen Equipment and Personal
Protective Equipment (PPE). Our training will get your individuals
to the standard you require, whether simply aware of the issues,
or a level of competency that will allow them to fulfill their new
duties.
- We will keep
legislation to a minimum
- A mixture of
theory and practice, with the delegates gaining first hand
experience
- Practical
demonstrations, for example how engineering controls work and
the use of PPE
- Assessments on
your site
- Demonstrations
of electronic systems (e.g. e-COSHH Essentials)
- Delegate
handouts (copies of the slides or handbooks, that can be taken
away and used as a reference source on a daily basis)
- Linked to your
systems
We
can advise you on all elements of these programmes, showing you
what PPE is most effective, and how to keep it that way.
Our recent HSE
experience enables us to act as expert witnesses when required.