The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Britain’s regulator for workplace health and safety, pledged 4,000 hours of free asbestos awareness training in September 2100 to help construction workers protected themselves from deadly asbestos dust.
The HSE partnered with the training industry to call for free training hours to be offered by providers during September with the aim of hitting a target of 4,000 – the approximate number of deaths each year from asbestos related diseases. Read the full story on the HSE website, here.
Asbestos presents a significant source of risk to construction industry professionals, such as project managers, surveyors, architects and engineers, particularly those involved in retrofits and refurbishments.
“Many professional indemnity insurance policies exclude cover for asbestos related risks or have a reduced indemnity limit,” warns Dylan Hughes, Director, Brunel Professional Risks. “Surveyors, architects and other construction professionals are likely to be in the firing line if asbestos is missed, or not managed in accordance with strict industry safety rules. It is essential that professionals have full PII cover for asbestos risks and we make sure that the PII policies for our clients either provide full cover or we recommend they buy additional cover from the open market.”