I had an invitation to speak ESS Safeforce and we set off for Welling in the motorhome as Daniel had said it would be great for us to park in the car park the night before instead of the camp site we were going to book into.
The Journey can be crazy on the M25 and M1 so we just couldn’t risk travelling up on the morning.
We arrived in good time and parked in the car park, all to the amusement of the Office girls. They were just a bit worried as there had been problems before about Travellers so we convinced them we were OK.
They all went home and we had a lovely quiet night and slept well apart from an occasional Juggernaut going off on their journey.
Louis loved all the walks he got.
Next morning we got up had breakfast, walked Louis and we were nice and fresh to start the day. The welcome was just great and we all introduced ourselves and settled down to listen to each other.
Daniel Hill Branch Manager Opened the day by giving us a history of the Face Fit Testing Company’s success. The ACOP recommends that the initial selection of tight-fitting face-pieces should include a fit test. This is to ensure that the selected respiratory protective equipment has the potential to provide adequate protection for the user.
WHAT IS FACE FIT TESTING?
It is a method for checking that a tight-fitting face piece matches the person’s facial features and seals adequately to the wearer’s face. It will also help to identify unsuitable face pieces which should not be used.
SPECIALIST SERVICE:
No other fit tester can quantitatively test all types of respirators – Gas Masks, Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus, Respirators and even Disposable Respirators. If the mask requires fit testing then our PortaCount Pro+ fit tester provides the fastest and easiest approved fit test method. Self-contained breathing apparatus users who rely on their positive pressure mask to keep them alive require a quantitative fit test.
ON-SITE FACE FIT TESTING SERVICE:
ESS Safeforce is able to carry out Face Fit Testing on-site. Our qualified respiratory support experts will ensure that the test is carried out correctly and a report is generated detailing the fit test results.
Lee Skone ESS Safeforce HSEQ Manager
Spoke about Face Testing in the eyes of the HSE
http://www.hse.gov.uk/respiratory-protective-equipment/fit-testing-basics.htm
This point came up time and time again.
A note on facial hair:
Many masks rely on a good seal against the face so that, when you breathe air in, it is drawn into the filter material where the air is cleaned. If there are any gaps around the edges of the mask, ‘dirty’ air will pass through these gaps and into your lungs. It is therefore very important that you put your mask on correctly and check for a good fit every time.
Facial hair – stubble and beards – make it impossible to get a good seal of the mask to the face.
If you are clean-shaven when wearing tight-fitting masks (ie those which rely on a good seal to the face), this will help prevent leakage of contaminated air around the edges of the mask and into your lungs. You will therefore be breathing in clean air, which will help you stay healthy.
If there are good reasons for having a beard (eg for religious reasons), alternative forms of RPE, that do not rely on a tight fit to the face, are available.
https://www.ess-safeforce.com/
Alan Murray spoke about Updates to BISF
The British Safety Industry Federation (BSIF) is the lead association for the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Directive and is recognised as a Competent Authority by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE). The BSIF has active links with many government departments and over 130 representative Trade Bodies.
Set up in 1994, the Federation currently has some 160 members, ranging from manufacturers and distributors of safety products through to test houses, certification bodies and safety professionals. Membership is accommodated within a number of sector trade associations.
Murray Chief executive Officer British Safety Industry FED
https://www.linkedin.com/company-beta/2331396/
Paul Chamberlain Of WE FIT RIPE FACE
FIT Tester and Trainer. We have been friends for a long time and I then met him at the Contamination EXPO Last Year and he demonstrated the machines to me.
Paul is very adamant that beards are a NO NO!! It breaks the seal and stubble damages the seal.
We had a break for lunch where we had the best Bacon Rolls we have ever had well done!
I came next and I realised that it wasn’t the place to talk all the medical terms. They just want my story and I showed Slides of my journey through Chemo and then the wonder drug. I talked about the new trial that has given me world publicity alongside Dean Fennel.
I spoke about my involvement in demolition and all that dust that falls over the crowd. Second hand masks and the dangers. Also different pictures of where they find Asbestos. Also why I decided to have Mavis Nye Foundation and what I hope to achieve.
http://www.onestopmesothelioma.com/mavis-nye-foundation.html
Tristan Oliver of Lead Risk Management gave a great talk about Lead Dust. Once again its a danger to children in Schools. School repairs, maintenance and refurbishment are liable to generate ‘significant’ lead exposure risks for contractors, teaching staff and children where old and ‘buried’ lead-based paintwork is present.
In particular, children with special educational needs (SEND) must be considered to be a ‘super vulnerable’ at risk group. This is because their condition may already be partly due to pre-existing elevated blood lead levels.
Although there is no “safe” level of lead exposure there is no routine UK screening for child blood lead levels as part of SEND determination and statementing.
http://www.lipsa.org.uk/id41.html
Lynne Morgan Spoke about the Breath Easy Campaign.
Breathe Freely, a summary.
Background
Breathe Freely is a BOHS initiative, aimed at reducing occupational lung disease in the UK, which causes significant debilitating ill-health and an estimated 13,000 deaths per year. Breathe Freely is about raising awareness both of the problem and how to do something about it: we can protect workers’ health and prevent most of these diseases and deaths. It is not just “the right thing to do”, it is good for business as well. And broad acceptance of this is part of the solution.
Occupational hygiene is the preventative side of occupational health: recognising the health hazards in the workplace, understanding the real risks these pose to workers’ health, and then controlling their exposures to them. It helps employers and employees to understand the health risks, and then improve working conditions and working practices through suitable, inexpensive, effective and practical exposure control measures.
The building blocks for good business.
Finance – the benefits to the bottom line.
Employee relations – support, consultation, communication and training: look after your employees, and your employees will look after your business.
Social Responsibility – making a positive impact on society.
Reputation – a virtuous circle: linked to the other three building blocks and essential to long term success, the reputation of a business is built on reliability, trust, customer focus and leadership.
The business case for occupational health and hygiene is strong and convincing. It can bring a significant return on investment, improve employee relations, demonstrate social responsibility, and enhance a company’s reputation. But, it must also be central to the organisation’s vision and goals. Here we corroborate the case: good occupational hygiene = good business.
Building occupational hygiene into the business case.
http://www.breathefreely.org.uk/
Maxine Dolloway Direct Sales Specialist UK and Ireland Portacount 8018
Spoke about a new product coming out No other respirator fit tester can quantitatively fit test all types of respirators-gas masks, SCBAs, respirators, even N95, P1 and P2 disposable (filtering-facepiece) respirators. The PortaCount® Pro+ Respirator Fit Tester 8038 eliminates the guesswork associated with tedious and error-prone qualitative fit test methods. If the mask requires fit testing, count on the PortaCount Pro+ Fit Tester to provide the fastest, easiest and best HSE (UK) and OSHA (US)-compliant fit test method.
http://www.tsi.com/portacount-respirator-fit-tester-8038/
Eugine Buchner Fenco Group gave a talk about his Vacuums.
VAC M240 21L M CLASS Vacuum Cleaner 1400W 240v.
Product Code: VAC M 240
“V-TUF VAC M 240… a HSE (Health and Safety Executive) approved and required product in construction – full M CLASS CERTIFICATION” – the safe choice!
Please note: M CLASS filtration is the minimum requirment for construction and wood dust.
V-TUF VACM240 has a powerful 1400W TWIN TURBINE bypass suction 240 volt motor, a 21 Litre IMPACT resistant collection tank. The powerful suction along with the full H CLASS CERTIFICATION of the V-TUF VAC M240 gives you maximum dirt removal whilst saving lives from fatal dust inflicted diseases. Scroll down this page to view the VIDEO and see how you can sweep up with a V-TUF VAC M without creating dust.
HELPFUL LINK – Are you aware of the dust problem? View this link or download this helpful guidance from: http://v-tuf.com/beat-the-dust-2016-v-tuf-brochure
|I loved these and could see that people with Allergies would benefit from one of these and Eugine showed us a smaller one for well under £200 these have a place in the Home Market.
http://www.fencogroup.com/
Chris Pimlott Territory Manager Scott Safety Spoke about Scott Safety Product Preveiw
https://www.scottsafety.com/en/us/Pages/ProductHome.aspx?value=PRODUCTS
Richard Bearsley Area Sales manager Alpha Solway
COMPREHENSIVE PROTECTION
Alpha Solway have been protecting workers since 1984. Our innovative range of disposable Respirators have been designed to overcome resistance to wearing RPE and are manufactured to provide an exceptional fit level as well as provide enhanced comfort.
Alpha Solway Respirators constantly outperform other brands when “Fit Tested”, this means greater protection against harmful dusts, mists, fibres, fumes and other particulate hazards.
The products form part of a comprehensive range of disposable RPE solutions that cater for the majority of applications and individuals regardless of their face size or shape.
We are extremely proud of the feedback we have received regarding the performance or our respirators.
We had to join in a demonstration and then we were allowed to bring a mask home which will be very handy when doing DIY.
http://www.alphasolway.com/respiratory
So Daniel bought the exciting day to a close and talked about doing it all again next year.
We said our goodbyes and drove to our Son and DIL to stay over night. We drove Home today and came through some heavy rain although it has cheered up tonight.
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