Breathe Easy… That’s our message for 2019!

It’s an uncomfortable fact that every week more than ten construction industry workers die as a result of dust inhalation. Moreover, while that figure, compiled by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) is based specifically on deaths from silica, the number attributed to other types of dust is even higher.

Despite the risks, a lack of awareness among both contractors and on-site workers remains remarkably high. In a recent construction industry survey, it was revealed that while only 12% of firms admitted to treating dust as a ‘serious issue’ at work, only 16% of employees were aware of the risks. What’s even more sobering is the fact that there is plenty of legislation – in the form of COSHH and the Health & Safety at Work Act (1974) that mandates action here.

Spreading the Word

As the UK’s largest independent supplier of cladding systems, we at Vivalda believe we have a duty to raise awareness of this growing problem. To help amplify the message, we have produced an explanatory video with help from our staff based across the UK and Ireland, to highlight the issues that contractors are facing every day.

 

 

We firmly believe the solution for contractors lies in moving potentially hazardous site operations upstream. So are encouraging contractors to assess the benefits of off-site fabrication as a way of minimising the amount of dust generated on-site. This benefit, along with the obvious improvements in productivity, accuracy and overall supply chain efficiency, will give extra impetus to the adoption of off-site construction techniques over the next few years.

Let’s face it, the challenge of setting up reliable, safe and consistently accurate cladding board cutting on site has never been easy. With the recent crackdown by the HSE on dust inhalation, there’s no better time to reassess your policy in this area.

Offsite Fabrication

All of our fabrication machinery delivers cutting accuracy down to the millimetre. But more importantly, each one is fitted with advanced dust extraction filters, which are checked and replaced regularly. This means that we take on the responsibility of not only delivering cut to size panels to you – we also take away the headache of health and safety regulations which are quite rightly being enforced by the HSE.

For further information on our fabrication services, please refer to our services section or contact [email protected]