By Martin Walker
A national firm based in Newton Aycliffe is launching a series of training seminars to help firms handle asbestos.
Shield Environmental Services, which has just opened a new branch on Aycliffe Business Park in County Durham, will hold the training programmes for local companies, in light of the recent Supreme Court judgement which could see insurers pay out as much as £5bn.
At the end of a legal battle that has lasted more than five years, justices at the country’s highest court ruled by a four to one majority that insurance companies’ liability had been triggered when individuals were exposed to asbestos dust, with some claims dating back to the late 1940s.
The multi-billion-pound ruling will benefit thousands of families who’ve been affected by asbestos.
Now Shield Environmental Services (SES), one of the market leaders in asbestos removal, is offering training seminars to local firms, so staff can be better equipped in dealing with the dangerous component.
Lee Berry, SES’s strategic development manager, said: “Asbestos is obviously an extremely hazardous component which can only be handled by experts who’ve been trained to handle it.
“While we’re one of the market leaders in asbestos removal, we’re also keen to work with local firms to enable them to be better equipped to deal with it themselves.”
SES specialises in the national provision of asbestos services to clients in the Insurance and Social Housing Sectors, such as Loss Adjusters, Registered Social Landlords, Local Authorities, or Principal Contractors carrying out this type of work, and work closely with Social Housing provider Livin, formerly Sedgefield Borough Homes, and Mears, the UK’s leading provider of social housing maintenance and home care services, which also has a branch in Newton Aycliffe.
The training seminars will be run in partnership with SES’s main clients to start with, but they are keen to open the seminars and training sessions up to other local firms.
Mr Berry added: “We see it as an ideal opportunity for firms from various industries, mainly in construction, to ensure their employees are fully aware of the dangers of asbestos.
“The venues can be flexible, we can host them or we can take them to firms, providing there’s sufficient numbers.”
Full and half-day courses are available which are UKATA-accredited and fully compliant with requirements of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, due to come into force on April 6th, 2012.
Employees will gain a better understanding of asbestos in buildings, duty holders responsibilities, health effects of asbestos, managing asbestos, the role of the asbestos removal company, types of asbestos containing materials (ACM’s) and emergency procedures.
To get in touch with the new Shield Environmental team at Aycliffe, call the office on 01325 313234, or email [email protected]