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.