Assure Risk Management

Telephone 0333 444 2360
email info@assurerm.co.uk

Asbestos Exposure Monitoring

Written by Admin on Monday September 15th 2014

My experience is that personal monitoring is a much underused tool in the box, often given lip service, ignored completely or done in a huge rush in the 6 months before license renewal. When it is not overlooked it is rarely used in a way that is of much practical use. Certainly the asbestos management databases that I have seen out there don’t seem to handle the data in any meaningful way.

Exposure monitoring should not be seen as another regulatory requirement that must be complied with, rather an excellent way of auditing removal techniques and therefore designing better ones.

Other than ‘Error’ (test results representing something other than what was stated). Measured exposure significantly above or below that anticipated indicates one of the following:

  1. Something went wrong on site and the method was not followed
  2. The selected method was followed, but it was inappropriate for the real task at hand
  3. The anticipated levels are artificially high or low due to poor understanding of the process
  4. Excellent innovation by the Contracts Manager in designing the method
  5. Excellent innovation by the site team

All of these events should be investigated – 1 & 2 as something went wrong, 4 & 5 because there is good practice to pass on. In fact 1 & 2 should be treated as an accident/incident and investigated. Measured exposure at the anticipated could be viewed as a near-miss.

A well constructed Excel sheet can process this data adequately, but a database would make the extraction and investigation a smooth joined up process.

Obstacles to the process that I have come across are – actually doing the personal monitoring with regularity and enough spread to cover all activities, the site team (‘we’d get in trouble if we gave them a high reading’) and the analyst themselves (too high limits of detection and vague/non-existent description of the activity tested). The last two can be solved by education.

Properly collected and collated data could then inform better research (at company or industry level) in areas that might make a big difference to the lads in the enclosure.

Three reasons why we are the Health and Safety Specialists for You

Written by Admin on Tuesday July 29th 2014

When it comes to looking for expertise in asbestos competence and health and safety, we know there are lots of options available to you and you could become overwhelmed by the choices.

Regardless of where you live in the UK, a quick search on the internet will give you a variety of companies in your local area.  But a lot of choices doesn’t mean they’re all right for you, does it?

It’s extremely important you get a good understanding of any company you want to do work with, which is why we’ve taken the time to write this blog post and give you three reasons why we are the perfect health and safety specialists for you.

1.  Experience

With over 20 years experience in the health and safety industry you can be assured of not only expertise but a sound practical approach.

Here at Assure RM, our risk analysis based approach to providing audits combined with the wealth of experience we have gathered over the years allows us to bring a unique holistic edge to our health and safety management schemes.

2.  Knowledge

As you can imagine, being in the health and safety industry for over two decades has meant we have grown a very large knowledge base.  This helps us be confident that whatever your problem may be, we will have the necessary experience and knowledge to help you solve it.

For us, the knowledge we have is actually one of our most favourable traits – we love knowing that whatever you ask us – or ask of us – we’ll be able to provide you with the answer or solution you need.

3.  Respect

As much as we’re proud of the reputation and respect we receive as health and safety consultants, what we want to tell you about here is the respect we have for you as our customers and clients.

We completely understand that people are different, so we will never assume we know what you require; we will only ever give you the service you ask for.  That way there will be no surprises or shocks at the outcome.

With so many companies out there for you, it’s important you choose the right one; which is why we’re certain we can deliver to your requirements here at Assure Risk Management.

Feel free to contact us with any questions or queries you may have.

Three Key Services we can provide for you here at Assure Risk Management

Written by Admin on Thursday July 17th 2014

Here at Assure Risk Management, we pride ourselves on being able to provide you with a number of differing services, all of which encompass health and safety, or the dangers of asbestos.  We offer professional Health and Safety advice to the asbestos and construction industry.

We specialise in audit and competence schemes, outsourced health and safety management, legal expert witness services and asbestos consultancy and training.

Our risk analysis based approach to providing audits combined with the wealth of experience we have gathered over the years allows us to bring a unique holistic edge to our health and safety management schemes.

Having been in this industry for over 20 years, we are also extremely proud of the reputation we have gained from continually satisfying our customers and clients, whilst always hitting high standards with the quality of our work.  This ensures you can be assured of not only expertise but a sound practical approach.

We do offer some services that may come in useful for you in your workplace setting, which we will inform you of here.

Asbestos Removal Competence Scheme

With changes to the licensed asbestos training environment, the asbestos industry will have to understand its workforce in much more detail.  Our Health and Safety Management system gives you the correct understanding of the Asbestos Removal Competence Scheme.

A powerful online database, married with our Audit Scheme, allows the most comprehensive analysis of the asbestos removal process available.  Uniquely, the system allows you direct access to the data and all of the reports.

We also have an iPad application that allows you to compete internal audits independently, which means you don’t need to rely on any external consultants.  However, it does allow you to use third party auditors to expand your coverage.  This synchronisation of both internal and external audits allows for a larger data set, and therefore more accurate data analysis.

Licensed Asbestos Removal Support

Our ability to provide both generalist health and safety expertise and detailed forensic understanding of the asbestos hazard gives all of our clients the assurance they need.

We provide specialised expert advice in support of licensed contractors either applying for their first HSE licence or at the time of renewal.

We can also provide the following services – amongst others – to many licensed asbestos removal clients, aiding them to build a streamlined, well managed company:

  • Internal and external audit schemes
  • Method statement consultancy for complex, multi-hazard projects
  • Practical solutions to health and safety challenges

And these three are just examples of what we can do, there are other areas we get involved in.

Asbestos Awareness Training

Here at Assure Risk Management we understand that training is not just presenting facts to a group of delegates; asbestos awareness training is about saving not only the lives of the staff you are responsible for but also safeguarding their families.  It also ensures work stoppages are kept to a bare minimum allowing you to meet your deadlines

Our training is tailored to each client, offering operative and management focused courses to ensure you have asbestos competence.  We also provide duty to manage bolt-ons for managers with a responsibility for buildings.

Our final bespoke training service is the provision of high quality e-learning packages for larger clients.  These interactive presenter led courses incorporate broadcast quality filming and innovative techniques to deliver the most effective e-learning experience.

As always, we do as much as we can to fully satisfy our customers and clients, and the services above give an overview of those we offer, but if you have any questions at all, feel free to contact us here.