Member Article

SMAS Worksafe announced as first UKATA Corporate Associate

Thirty thousand SMAS Worksafe members now have access to industry-leading asbestos training thanks to a brand-new Corporate Associate partnership with the UK Asbestos Training Association (UKATA).

SMAS Worksafe, a leading health and safety assessment company, is UKATA’s first Corporate Associate.

The corporate partnership follows the launch of the strictly invitation-only scheme last year and is open to like-minded associations, charities and not-for-profit organisations, professional and industry registers.

The partnership recognises the aligned aims of both organisations and comes at a critical period for the UK construction industry. Following the Covid-19 pandemic, workers in the sector are having to play catch-up with asbestos training that they were unable to complete during lockdown.

Commenting on the new partnership Craig Evans, UKATA Chief Operating Officer explained: “It made absolute sense to invite SMAS Worksafe to become a Corporate Associate. Like us, they have a commitment and support to continued improvements and developments within the asbestos industry, in particular training.”

As well as upskilling SMAS Worksafe members, the partnership will also see members of each organisation benefit from an ongoing information share between UKATA and SMAS Worksafe of best practice in their respective fields.

The partnership will also enable members of SMAS Worksafe to respond to growing demand from construction companies for contractors to demonstrate their compliance with Environmental and Quality Management.

Trish Meyer, Business Development Manager at SMAS Worksafe, said of the partnership: “The aim of this partnership is to raise standards in asbestos across the industry. I look forward to working with the team at UKATA to ensure that our members are kept up to date with all the relevant asbestos information and know how to identify relevant and accredited training.”

Craig added: “Our collaboration recognises the quality standards of both organisations and aims to assist members and the wider industry alike to demonstrate their commitment to workplace safety.”

With around 5,000 deaths per year as a result of exposure to asbestos, it is imperative that the relevant workers have the appropriate level of asbestos training to help prevent putting themselves or others at risk in the course of their work.

Asbestos-related health issues, such as lung cancer and mesothelioma, are not identified immediately after exposure to asbestos as it takes a minimum of 15 years and up to 60 years, before deadly asbestos-related diseases present themselves.

A majority of UKATA-approved training providers are now fully operational and either delivering training courses by video conference, e-learning or within the classroom whilst observing social distancing guidelines.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Joe Morton .