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Personal Protective Equipment at Work (Amendment) Regulations 2022

What does this mean for employers?

Up to now, many employers have resisted providing these groups of workers with PPE. They have often argued, for instance, that it was up to either the agency supplying the labour to pay for the PPE, or that the agency workers themselves supply, e.g. their own safety footwear.

This is especially true if the worker could only be on site for a couple of days at most. So, there are likely to be some interesting conversations ahead.
For most employers, the changes to the regulations will involve very little change, as most organisations will likely have already been providing PPE based on the nature of the role itself rather than the status of the person doing it.

In the case of employers who largely rely on workers - for example food delivery companies and construction companies - it will be a significant logistical and financial commitment having to now provide safety equipment to all their workers, where previously they would just have made it a condition of work that one was worn, with the worker or their firm having to supply their own.

ASBESTOS

When materials that contain asbestos are disturbed or damaged, fibres are released into the air. When these fibres are inhaled they can cause serious diseases. These diseases will not affect you immediately; they often take a long time to develop, but once diagnosed, it is often too late to do anything. This is why it is important that you protect yourself now.

Asbestos still kills around 5000 workers each year, this is more than the number of people killed on the road.
Around 20 tradesman die each week as a result of past exposure
However, asbestos is not just a problem of the past. It can be present today in any building built or refurbished before the year 2000.

Asbestos can cause the following fatal and serious diseases:

Mesothelioma is a cancer which affects the lining of the lungs (pleura) and the lining surrounding the lower digestive tract (peritoneum). It is almost exclusively related to asbestos exposure and by the time it is diagnosed, it is almost always fatal.
Asbestos-related lung cancer is the same as (looks the same as) lung cancer caused by smoking and other causes.
Asbestosis is a serious scarring condition of the lung that normally occurs after heavy exposure to asbestos over many years. This condition can cause progressive shortness of breath, and in severe cases can be fatal.
Pleural thickening is generally a problem that happens after heavy asbestos exposure. The lining of the lung (pleura) thickens and swells.

Asbestos Awareness Training

Information, instruction, and training for asbestos awareness is intended to give workers and supervisors the information they need to avoid work that may disturb asbestos during any normal work which could disturb the fabric of a building, or other item which might contain asbestos. It will not prepare workers, or self-employed contractors, to carry out work with asbestos-containing materials. If a worker is planning to carry out work that will disturb ACMs, further information, instruction and training will be needed. Contact our office for details on this course.

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