The Health & Safety Executive's targeted health initiative on respirable crystalline silica dust in manufacturing businesses across England, Wales and Scotland is continuing. And it warns it will be prosecuting companies found wanting.
The inspections started at the beginning of October, focussing on the risks to lungs of respirable crystalline silica (RCS), which is found in various concentrations in most stone, rocks, sand and clay, and in products such as engineered quartz and porcelain.
HSE inspectors are visiting manufacturing business where these materials are used. This includes stone companies – and HSE says it will particularly focus on those producing kitchen and bathroom worktops.
HSE inspections will check whether employers and employees know the risks involved when dealing with silica and ensure that control measures are in place to protect workers’ respiratory health.
Prolonged exposure to airborne particles of RCS can lead to life-changing respiratory conditions such as silicosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer, warns HSE.
It reminds stone companies of its recently refreshed guidance on silica specifically for stone companies that can be downloaded here.
The HSE guidance for controlling exposure to stone dust (HSG201) has also been refreshed.
Silicosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer can all be caused by breathing in particles of silica of about five microns size. Over time, exposure to silica particles can harm a person's ability to breathe and cause irreversible, often fatal, lung disease.
Employers have a legal duty to put in place suitable arrangements to manage health & safety and ensure they comply with the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 2002.
Inspectors visiting companies will be looking for evidence that businesses have put in place effective measures, such as Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV), water suppression and, where appropriate, use of protective equipment such as respiratory protection (RPE) to reduce workers’ exposure to RCS.
If any health and safety breaches are discovered, HSE warns it will take enforcement action.
There is general information about silicosis, including a video, here. In the video, which you can also watch below, HSE’s Chief Medical Advisor, Professor David Fishwick, explains more about silicosis.
And in case it has slipped your mind, 17 November is World Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Day.
COPD describes a number of breathing problems where there is damage to the breathing tubes and air sacs in the lungs, conditions which can be caused by exposure to RCS.
More information on COPD can be found on the HSE website – click here to see it.
The prosecution of a company checking air quality and the effectiveness of local exhaust ventilation (LEV) for firms should be a warning to stone fabricators working with high silica content materials such as granites, slate, sandstone, engineered quartz and porcelain to make sure they accurately measure and record the risks in their factories and workshops.
The Health & Safety Executive says one company offering to test workplace air quality and ensure ventilation systems were performing properly could have put hundreds of workers at risk of serious lung diseases by not adequately training its staff.
Manchester Magistrates’ Court heard on 4 November how Airtec Filtration Ltd was used by businesses across the UK to test extraction ventilation systems in workplaces.
But an investigation by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) found the firm, based in St Helens, Merseyside, provided its customers with reports that potentially left staff in those businesses facing risks to their health.
The issue came to light when HSE inspectors requested Through Examination & Tests (TExT) of local exhaust ventilation (LEV) systems from a number of businesses as part of routine inspections and investigations.
Documents presented to inspectors based on tests carried out by Airtec Filtration Ltd raised concerns and an investigation by HSE determined that in 2018 and 2019 Airtec Filtration Ltd was providing TExT of local exhaust ventilation systems claiming its work met the requirements of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH) 2002. However, reports provided to businesses left hazardous substances inadequately identified and it became apparent local exhaust ventilation tests had not been carried out correctly.
HSE inspectors visited multiple sites where testing had been undertaken by Airtec and a number of significant and common failings were found.
As a result, Airtec was served with an Improvement Notice on 23 October 2019.
The Improvement Notice required Airtec to provide training to its engineers to ensure they had adequate knowledge and expertise in the assessment, evaluation and control of risk arising from exposure to hazardous substances.
HSE found that Airtec was aware of the need for a competent person who held professional qualifications to carry out the testing but did not provide the necessary training for its engineers.
As a result, Airtec Filtration Ltd, of Manor Street, St Helens, Merseyside, appeared before Manchester Magistrates’ Court on 4 November this year where it pleaded guilty to contravening Section 3(1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £2,666 and ordered to pay costs of £4,074.
HSE inspector Rose Leese-Weller says: “Airtec Filtration Ltd provided inadequate training to their engineers while claiming to provide a thorough testing service for LEV systems.
“They provided businesses with unsatisfactory reports based on limited or inconclusive evidence, with little or no consideration of the level of risk of different hazardous substances.
“Inhalation of hazardous substances at work can have devastating consequences to workers leading to occupational asthma, cancer, chemical asphyxiation or neuro-toxic effects.
She said the company had potentially put hundreds of workers at serious risk, adding: "HSE will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those that fall below the required standards. We hope this sentencing sends out a stark warning to the industry.”
HSE says people who believe they may have been exposed to a hazardous airborne substance in the workplace will understandably be anxious and concerned about the possible effects on their health.
Anyone who is concerned is advised to consult their GP and ask for a note to be made in their personal record about possible exposure, including date(s), duration, type of substance and likely exposure levels (if known).
In some circumstances, the GP may refer people to a specialist in respiratory medicine.
Many stone companies already offer annual silicosis checks to employees as part of their duty of care to employees.
Research from Imperial College London suggests that around 900 cases of lung cancer each year in Britain can be attributed to past exposure to silica dust in the workplace.
This year has seen the launch of a device, the Trolex Air XS, that specifically measures levels of RCS in the air in real time. It is easy to use and mobile. It is made in the UK and is being supplied to the stone industry by Stone Industry Group (SiG) based in Derbyshire. It has already won several awards. Read more about it here.
Gerry Van Der Bas (left) and Simon Bradbury of SiG (Stone Industry Group) at Marmo+Mac in Verona, Italy, this year. They are with the new Trolex Air XS unit sold by SiG for monitoring crystalline silica dust concentrations in the air in real time.
This year has also seen a new range of British-made face masks launched that have been designed to be more comfortable to wear for an extended period. It is called the Alpha Sentinal range from Globus Group. There is more about that here.
One of the masks in the new Alpha Sentinal range from Globus Group.
The new Levine Building at Trinity College in Oxford, for which Lovell Stone Group supplied 540m3 of Bath Stone block from Hartham Park underground quarry, received the 2022 Georgian Group Award for a New Building in a Georgian Context on 25 October and the following week an award from the Oxford Preservation Trust.
The Georgian Group Awards were presented at the RIBA headquarters in Portland Place, London, on 25 October. Sponsored by Savills, the Award was presented by Dr John Goodall, Architecture Editor of Country Life, to Hugh Petter, the Director of Adam Architecture who headed the design team for the new building.
Also involved in the project were contractor Gilbert-Ash, consultant Bidwells, consulting engineers Silcock Dawson & Partners, landscapers LDA Design, civil & structural engineers Price & Myers and Cotswold Natural Stone, who supplied the building stone.
The Levine Building comprises a cluster of four new builds on Trinity's historic site. The first major upgrade of the College’s academic facilities in more than 50 years, it provides 46 new student bedrooms, a major new auditorium, a suite of new world-class teaching rooms, a community space and café, function space with rooftop garden, and a new library wing that incorporates disabled access to the listed Trinity College Library.
On a site in a listed garden with significant historic trees nearby, as well as having archaeological interest, the new building sits comfortably with the College’s built and landscape heritage.
The Levine Building was officially opened in May by Prince (now King) Charles. He said at the time: “It’s a great responsibility to create new state-of-the-art facilities within an inspiring and historic setting – and indeed one that includes buildings by such giants as Christopher Wren. I offer my warmest congratulations to the many people who contributed their talents and expertise to create a building worthy of this historic site."
Hugh Petter from Adam Architecture said on winning the Georgian Group Award: “It is an honour to be awarded the Georgian Group Award 2022 and is testament to the exceptional team who have worked so well together to create a flexible, modern, multi-function building that is fit for the 21st century. The opportunity to put a major new building next to listed buildings by some of Britain’s finest architects in a listed garden and within a conservation area is a rare one.”
The Oxford Preservation Trust Award winners were announced on 1 November, when the Levine Building was a Certificate Winner in the New Building category. The award recognises the building’s positive contribution to Oxford’s built and natural environment in its design, contribution to its historic environment, and ability to engage the local community.
The Oxford Preservation Trust is dedicated to conserving the best of Oxford’s past and helping to create a positive future for the city through education, community outreach programmes and buildings, normally through conservation but also new build as appropriate. The Trust’s Awards seek to recognise the contribution that building projects, large and small, can make to Oxford’s character and communities.
Following the success of the lime mortar training day at the Abbey Ruins in Reading, Berkshire, in August, Cliveden Conservation, which presented the course, is planning more of the lime days at various locations next year.
The course gave attendees the chance to learn more about using lime mortar on historic buildings, and to hone their skills on the historic Reading Abbey Ruins.
The course content included:
An introduction to using lime mortar on historic buildings
Walk down through the Reading Abbey Ruins to The Reredorter
H&S toolbox talk
Mixing demonstration of different binders
Practical sessions on the application of mortar and techniques for pointing, consolidation and tending.
Jane Buxey, the Stone Federation Chief Executive, said of the event: "Training and the promotion of best practice is at the top of the Federation’s agenda. The opportunity to give those in the heritage stone sector the opportunity to hone their skills with the experts from Stone Federation member Cliveden Conservation has been fantastic."
Lewis Proudfoot, the Managing Director of Cliveden Conservation, added: "Our first lime training day was a great success, with Stone Federation members from around the country coming to learn about the practical implications of using lime mortar on historic buildings.
"It was wonderful to see companies showing their commitment to the continued professional development of their employees, especially in an area that is so critical for the sustainable success of our nation's heritage.
"Cliveden Conservation looks forward to hosting more training sessions around the country to further develop traditional skills."
If you would like to be among the first to know about next year's lime courses as they are arranged, email info@clivedenconservation.com and the company will inform you when and where they will be taking place.
There are more pictures from the Reading Abbey Ruins day below to whet your appetite.
The undercroft at Priory House in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, is a rare and almost complete example of 13th century stonework that is currently on Historic England's Heritage at Risk register. To get it off the register, a project began in September to safeguard the historically significant structure, which is suffering the effects of movement that is cracking the stonework.
The repair of Priory House is being run by Dunstable High Street Heritage Action Zone. The £95million Government-funded High Streets Heritage Action Zone programme, which is delivered by Historic England, is intended to unlock the potential of historic high streets, fuelling economic, social and cultural recovery. It is working in partnership with Dunstable Town Council and Historic England at the Priory House.
The project to repair the undercroft sensitively, protecting and retaining as much of the original 13th century fabric as possible, is being progressed by structural engineers The Morton Partnership, building contractor Messenger and conservation specialist Cliveden Conservation.
Trudi Hughes, Historic England Heritage at Risk Surveyor, says: “The really exciting thing is that the undercroft, about which we knew very little other than it was reported to be 13th century, now reveals itself as the ground floor and part of the first floor of a 13th century building, with evidence of partitions.
“There’s a lot more medieval fabric within that 18th and 19th century shell than anybody ever thought before. It’s important that we save, restore and protect this much-loved building for local people and visitors to continue to explore and enjoy.”
As specialist contractor, Cliveden Conservation is focusing on the conservation and repair of the stonework and the external render.
The first stages of the work involve investigating the deterioration of the clunch stone in the undercroft from above and below the vaults to determine the most effective and appropriate method of conservation treatment.
Sarah Tattersall, Conservation Accredited Engineer for The Morton Partnership, says: “The project team have worked hard to understand the causes of the complex structural and environmental issues that have resulted in deterioration to the stonework, through research, investigation and monitoring.
“On the basis of this detailed understanding, proposals have been developed to conserve and sensitively repair the fabric, sourcing clunch stone from the local quarry operated by H G Clarke & Son at Totternhoe.”
Alongside the repair and conservation work, new research will record the rare features of the medieval undercroft and look to understand its relationship with Dunstable Priory more fully. The repairs and renovation are expected to take approximately 10 months.
There is more about the project here and you can watch an eight-minute video about it below.
Companies are being encouraged to enter the Risk-Reduction Through Design Award by explaining how they have reduced the risk of injury faced by their employees at work.
Last year’s winner redesigned a trolly and an oven so resin mixing bowls could be wheeled straight into the oven with no re-handling.
It not only eliminated lifting the bowls off the trolly and on to shelves in a hot oven, which involved lifting and twisting, often the cause of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), and the risk of spills and contact with hot parts, it made the job much quicker and improved productivity, as better health & safety so often does.
Not taking care of health & safety also risks losing injured staff while they recover – and most companies cannot afford to lose staff.
To help inspire employers to make workplaces safer the Risk Reduction Through Design Award encourages companies of all sizes to share their successes and, hopefully, inspire others to think about how they could improve the way they work.
The competition is open to all UK employers and is sponsored by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) and the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics & Human Factors (CIEHF).
All employers are obliged to try to remove or reduce the risk of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in staff as much as possible and simple changes to the design of workplaces, tasks or activities can have a big impact.
Employers in the UK who have designed a solution to reduce risks and avoid MSDs can nominate the design change for the Risk-Reduction Through Design Award.
How to enter
Explain on no more than two sides of A4 paper how you, as an employer, have reduced the risk of MSDs for your workers.
The competition is open to employers only. Nominations from consultants or marketing companies cannot be accepted, although they might have been involved in finding the solutions.
The nomination should include:
a description of the task or activity and workplace before you made the change
a description after you made the design change
clear before and after photos
a quote demonstrating what your workers think about the design change
Make it clear:
if you designed the solution in-house or if someone else helped you. If someone else helped, say who it was and what they did
explain what the impact of the design change is and how an MSD risk has been reduced
say how many people this affects
explain any other advantages of the design change. For example, other health or safety benefits, productivity improvements or environmental benefits
itemise how you involved your employees in the process
Do NOT include any contact details on your nomination.
Email an entry of no more than two sides of A4 paper to msdpp@hse.gov.uk
In the email include:
your name, email address and telephone number
the full name and address of your business
your company number
Closing date for nominations is 31 January 2023.
The winner will be announced in the summer next year at the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics & Human Factors awards event (a date for which has yet to be announced).
In previous years the judges have commended some nominations as well as choosing one as the winner.
HSE will use the winning entry and some of any commended entries as case studies which it will share widely.
See the latest podcast on manual handling in construction
The HSE’s latest podcast is linked to its current 'Your Health. Your Future' initiative to protect construction workers from work-related MSDs. (Listen to the podcast here)
Construction sites across Great Britain are currently (October and November) being visited by HSE inspectors as part of its initiative to raise awareness of health issues in relation to moving and handling materials.
Last year, 40,000 construction workers reported suffering with work-related MSDs and the new podcast discusses what companies can do to promote change and protect their workforce from the risk of MSDs.
The podcast includes conversations with Matt Birtles, Principal Ergonomics & Human Factors Consultant at HSE, and Peter Crosland, National Civil Engineering Director at the Civil Engineering Contractors Association.
They talk about the impact MSDs can have on workers, employers' legal responsibilities and sensible control measures that can be introduced, regardless of the size of the company or the construction site.
You can assess your company’s risk of MSDs among employees using a digital version of HSE’s Manual Handling Assessment Charts (MAC) tool available free here.
And you can find out more about HSE's 'Your health. Your future' campaign here.
Worktop Fabricators Federation (WFF) members, sponsors and prospective members from as far afield as Sheffield and Clacton converged on Dunstable, Bedfordshire, this month (October) for its latest face to face meeting, hosted by Michael Cohen’s natural stone and porcelain wholesale business of Imperial Stone.
Surrounded by some spectacular natural stones, several members felt the natural stone industry has a big education job to do, advising fabricators which natural stones can be used for worktops and what care and maintenance is needed for each.
Many felt it was of growing importance because of the trend towards a return to natural materials at the top end of the market, which is likely to remain buoyant even if the current cost-of-living crisis impact on mid-value sales starts to worsen.
Emerging from the general discussions and information-sharing, the WFF is now pushing ahead with several policy objectives:
CSCS Cards – members were keen to press on with developing a qualification or accreditation process to enable installer teams to obtain blue CSCS cards. WFF is looking to convene a small group of interested members to review the work so far and check through the various National Occupational Standards. Any members interested should email WFF Administrator Chris Pateman if they would like to be part of this.
Members were keen to pull existing best practice into a common Health & Safety “things you must address” policy framework which all WFF members could use to benchmark their own H&S policies – particularly helpful where H&S consultants lack specialist knowledge of the stone industry.
There was a lot of support for a Best Practice method statement on main contractor sites for how to approach onsite working (who does the first site visit, who moves materials around, and so on).
A live issue for several members was the question of free displays for kitchen showrooms. The idea of model terms & conditions for showroom displays (emphasising retention of title and creating a common process of, for example, invoicing in advance) was well received. The idea being that those using the document could always choose to waive their rights with any customer they chose to. But if there is no clear contract in place, the fabricator risks ending up in acrimonious disputes if the showroom later decides to sell the display – or, come to that, the business.
Discussion then extended to model T&Cs for all clients – one for consumers, who are covered by the Sales Of Goods Act and other consumer legislation; one for the kind of sub-contract / brokerage agreement with showroom customers, to cover issues such as who-is-responsible-for-what-and-how-far in the event of consultations, samples, call-backs and disputes; one for housebuilders and commercial contractor clients. Volunteers to get this rolling are again invited to contact Chris Pateman on administrator@worktopfabricators.org.
The next face-to-face meeting of WFF is on January 23 at Granite Tops UK in Preston, Lancashire. Any WFF members, or companies that would like to attend with a view to joining the WFF, should email Chris Pateman. If anyone has any items they are keen to be added to the agenda for the meeting, they too should be sent to Chris.
