January 2019

Industry News
NEW INITIATIVES TO RAISE ROOFERS’ ASBESTOS AWARENESS
Roof work can expose workers to hazardous
dusts including asbestos and silica which can
cause cancer, along with other diseasecausing
substances such as dust from bird
droppings.
Roofers lifting tiles, replacing damaged soffits,
clearing gutters and handling insulation are at
increased risk, so the main roofing trade body the
National Federation of Roofing Contractors
(NFRC) partnered with IOSH, the Institution of
Occupational Safety and Health, to support its
award-winning ‘No Time to Lose’ (NTTL)
campaign.
NTTL provides information and solutions to tackle
occupational cancer. Now the NFRC is developing
its support to inform and educate members.
The NFRC is more than an NTTL supporter; it is a
campaign pledge signatory committed to an
occupational safety and health plan for managing
exposure to workplace carcinogens and sharing
practical information and messages across their
networks.
On Friday 30th November, IOSH co-presented the
No Time to Lose campaign’s focus on asbestos
and distributed co-branded pocket cards for
roofers during the first annual NFRC Contractor’s
Day exhibition at Twickenham Stadium, London.
IOSH Vice-President Louise Hosking spoke about
disturbing findings from an IOSH-commissioned
survey of construction workers for the NTTL
Asbestos phase launch in April 2018.
“Nearly one in four UK construction workers
believe they may have been exposed to asbestos
fibres, placing them at higher risk of contracting
terminal cancer later in life,” said Louise.
She asked for a show of hands from the audience
to identify those who thought they might have
been exposed to asbestos in the past.
Similar to the NTTL survey, around half answered
‘yes’, which is unsettling.
Above l-r: IOSH Vice-President Louise Hosking; Kirsty Phillips
of Gully Howard Technical; Gary Walpole and Damien Carr of
the NFRC; Simon Butt-Bethlendy of IOSH; and Amanda
Brackey of the NFRC with the NTTL Asbestos resources at
Contractor’s Day.
The survey also found a third of those questioned
do not regularly check asbestos information or
surveys before starting work.
Almost a fifth of respondents from different UK
trades said if they discovered asbestos they
wouldn’t be clear what to do.
Louise co-presented with Gary Walpole, Health and
Safety Officer at the NFRC and Kirsty Phillips from
Gully Howard Technical, who have developed a new
asbestos awareness e-learning course for roofers.
“Over 20 tradesmen die each week from
asbestos-related diseases. We have to find new
ways of engaging more,” said Gary.
“At the No Time to Lose Asbestos launch in April
this year, we talked about Gully Howard Technical
exploring the possibilities of developing an e-
learning asbestos-awareness course we could
use with our members.
“New information and advice on avoiding contact
with these causes of cancer is now set to reach
more roofers thanks to NFRC’s support for NTTL,
bolstered by the new e-learning developed by the
NFRC and asbestos consultants Gully Howard
Technical.
“I think the benefit of e-learning is less time lost
from site,” continued Gary. “The course we’ve
developed is available for all platforms and could
be done while the contractor is sitting in a van. It
could be raining, or they could be on a break.
They can stop the course halfway through,
“These initiatives
represent a great
opportunity to show
the new e-learning
course and NTTL
resources to more
people from the
roofing industry”
complete a little later, so it offers flexibility.”
Kirsty Phillips, Training and Marketing Manager at
Gully Howard Technical, said: “Having co-hosted
the asbestos presentation with IOSH Vice-
President Louise Hosking, it is evident what a
fantastic and timely opportunity this was.
“Speaking to a room full of roofing industry
professionals, it was clear they were not fully
aware of where it might be found in an image of a
school building. This shows there is still a
significant knowledge gap we need to bridge so
people can work safely.”
“These initiatives represent a great opportunity to
show the new e-learning course and NTTL
resources to more people from the roofing
industry, help them know how to identify
hazardous substances and situations and make
safe choices,” said IOSH’s Louise Hosking.
“We can’t wait if we are to reduce occupational
cancer in the industry, we need to make changes
now as there really is No Time to Lose.”
For more information about the campaign and to
sign up visit www.notimetolose.org.uk.
14 TC JANUARY 2019