A colleague’s death from the asbestos related disease mesothelioma, has given a recent award win by Caerphilly County Borough Council, extra special meaning.
Caerphilly County Borough Council’s asbestos training team won the 2018 UK Asbestos Training Association (UKATA) Workforce Development Award at the recent UKATA Excellence Awards.
The award recognises the Council’s commitment to both raising awareness of the dangers of asbestos and delivering training to all its staff and external contractors who are at risk of the deadly material.
The award was presented by Olympic sporting legend Kriss Akabusi at a glittering ceremony held to mark UKATA’s tenth anniversary. Established in 2008, UKATA is a leading authority for asbestos training provision in the United Kingdom.
Ali Rees-Evans, Senior Health and Safety Officer and Helen Hill, Asbestos Officer, who accepted the UKATA Workforce Development Excellence Award on behalf of the council, said: “We were absolutely thrilled to receive the award. It has both professional and personal significance to all the team.
“The award is endorsement by the industry body that what we are doing is right. It is not just a tick box exercise to us. We are passionate about upskilling everyone who may come into contact with asbestos to ensure they and people around them are safe.”
The Council’s asbestos awareness and training programme was instigated nearly 10 years ago and since then it has provided training to upskill thousands of staff and contractors who assist with the maintenance of nearly 12,000 council houses and corporate buildings, as well as staff who work in household waste recycling centres, highways, cleaning services, community buildings and demolition projects.
Caerphilly County Borough Council’s dedicated asbestos training team is also sharing its Best Practice with other local authorities and health boards throughout Wales, by providing training to their staff.
Craig Evans, UKATA Chief Operating Officer, added: “We work in a very dangerous industry, so it is great to see one of our members going above and beyond to ensure that as many people as possible understand how to work with asbestos to ensure their safety and that of others.
“Caerphilly County Borough Council’s commitment to upskilling not only its own workforce and external contractors as well as sharing their knowledge and best practice with other organisations, really stood out to us and we were delighted to present then with the Workforce Development Award.”
The awards were open to all UKATA member companies. In addition to Workforce Development, the awards recognised the best in Corporate Social Responsibility, Innovation, Advertising, Customer Service, Workforce Development and Training Initiative.
Since being established in 2008, UKATA and has gone from strength to strength in the last 10 years, now numbering more than 180 member organisations from all corners of the UK, including AEC.
For further information, visit www.ukata.org.uk or call 01246 824 437.
