Environmental Dept Hosts Asbestos Course
A number of Bermudian workers recently concluded an Asbestos Abatement Course on March 22. The five day course covered matters such as planning and performing asbestos abatement projects, personal protective equipment, sampling, waste removal, bagging and disposal and overall how to protect workers and the public from asbestos exposure.
Attendees included Leon Williams, Jamie Smith, Owen Place, Henry Talbot, Richard Talbot, Gary Ratteray, Winston White and Vaughan Simmons.
The Department of Health’s 25th Annual Asbestos Abatement Course was held from March 15th – 22nd. Asbestos workers, Supervisors and Officers from the Environmental Health Section of the Department received five days of testing and instruction from Bermudian Asbestos expert and instructor, Bob Olander.
The course culminated in an examination for certifications and re-certification of asbestos abatement professionals and safety officials. The Bermuda course is modeled on the US OSHA [Occupational Safety and Health Administration] course with the exception that in Bermuda recertification is every two years whereas in the US it is performed annually.
The photo below shows: instructor, Bob Olander (The Environmental Institute), Roger Mello, (Senior Environmental Health Officer), David Kendell (Chief Environmental Health Officer) Derrick Simmons (Safety and Health Officer), Taché King (Trainee Environmental Health Officer), Crystal Rogers (Trainee Environmental Health Officer) Participants: Leon Williams, Jamie Smith, Owen Place, Henry Talbot, Richard Talbot, Gary Ratteray, Winston White and Vaughan Simmons.
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Asbestos is a mineral that was widely used in fire-proofing in buildings until the 1970’s when it was implicated as potentially causing lung cancer if breathed in as loose fibers. Over the last several decades, asbestos has been systematically removed [or abated] from buildings and eliminated from building materials in order to reduce the risks to public health.
Because asbestos abatement projects carry special risks to the workers performing the removal, stringent oversight and guidelines are applied to these projects by the Department of Health.
The Department of Health is now soliciting interests from the public for individuals wishing to gain expertise and training in mould remediation.
The Environmental Health Section proposes to hold a workers and supervisors course for mould remediation in the fall of 2010 for our own officers and we would like to invite interested parties to join us in the training.” Please contact 278-4976 or email dskendell@gov.bm for more information.
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Category: All, Environment
I am trying to contact Vaughan Simmons and I think he might be the man in the middle of this picture.
He was a student of mine at Warwick Secondary School in the early 70s. I will be visiting Bermuda next week with my husband and 4 grown children and would love to see him. He played an important role in my teaching career and I would like to personally thank him.
If the Vaughan in the picture is the Vaughan I am trying to find, please forward this message to him and give him my email.
Thank you,
Dianne Cox Bateman