Asbestos in Wales

South Wales has suffered from the environmental impact of heavy industry since the industrial revolution having the natural resource in coal measures, limestone scarps and plentiful supplies of water to support major steel, copper and tinplate production. These heavy manufacturing industries together with the mining and to a lesser extent quarrying industries have now declined.  New and exciting major redevelopment of these brown field sites in the South Wales Valleys, Cardiff, Swansea and Newport supported by both European and the Welsh Assembly Government funding is rapidly changing the face of South Wales. As a matter of fact, services like asbestos surveys wales are being requested more and more often as well as asbestos services south wales.

Cardiff based solicitors, Russell Jones and Walker, have identified four areas in Wales where people who were exposed to asbestos decades ago, could be at risk in the future.

The Vale of Glamorgan MP, John Smith, has been raising awareness of what he says will be a major health issue in this part of Wales.

"We are very proud of our industrial history, the docks, the power stations, all these have earned a great                          

"The down side is, in ten, 20, 30 years after the industry has moved on we could have a huge legacy of asbestos-related diseases."

There is currently a major W.A.G. determination to upgrade both the Health and Education facilities generally throughout Wales but more particularly in the more heavily populated areas of the country such as Cardiff, Swansea, Newport and the South Wales Valleys. W.A.G. are also in the process of constructing new regional offices on brown field sites in Merthyr Tydfil, Aberystwyth and other Counties throughout the Principality.

The private sector in Wales is also very active in funding new developments such as new stadia for The Ospreys Rugby and Swansea City Football Club at Morfa in Swansea, Llanelli Rugby Football Club at Bynea, Llanelli and Leckwith Stadium for Cardiff City Football Club in Cardiff together with commercial retail outlets and associated new housing all being built on remediated sites.

A rail link between the Valleys and Cardiff has just been completed and it is expected that this will assist in encouraging future commercial development in the Valleys area.

There are obvious remediation problems associated with any proposed new build on sites previously occupied by heavy industry and to this end Core Surveys is able to offer professional advice on remediation and in particular in dealing with asbestos related problems. We have successfully undertaken surveys and supervised remediation for both major house builders and civil engineering contractors in throughout Wales.

Asbestos is now well known as the largest occupational health killer in the UK with 3000 people dying from asbestos related disease. The group now most vulnerable to these risks are the building maintenance and remediation trades. From our enquiries into the extent of asbestos awareness training in South Wales we have so far found that the extent of training is woefully inadequate considering the extent of current development programmes.

Unfortunately along with increased commercial activity and coupled with the current increase in temperatures comes the added risk of Legionella through hot water and heating systems. The consequences of operating/installing inadequate or faulty industrial/commercial water heating systems adjacent to drinking water supplies can be catastrophic and regular inspection is required to ensure continued compliance with regulations.

Recent high profile prosecutions have also highlighted the problem that building manager’s face as a result of legionella bacteria in water systems.  Failure to carry out risk assessment of water services and put in place precautionary measures are seen as the key factors in the proliferation of the disease.