Workplace Guides

Anthrax is an infection caused by bacteria which form protective spores to survive in extreme conditions, enabling it to survive for long periods of time. When we come into contact with these spores an infection may result, but not always. Anthrax can be quite difficult to contract.

Asbestos-related diseases are currently responsible for over 5,000 deaths per year in Britain. There are usually long delays between first exposure to asbestos and the onset of disease, which can vary between 15 and 60 years.

Given the dangers that asbestos can pose to human health, it’s logical to assume that the best way to minimise the risks associated with asbestos is to remove all asbestos containing materials (ACMs) from our buildings.

Although asbestos has been evident in ceramics in the Neolithic age and used by Egyptians as burial shrouds c.2000BC asbestos was first highlighted by Pliny the Elder that slaves die young of lung disease who work in asbestos mines.

Asbestos is the biggest workplace killer in the UK with over 5000 deaths per annum. There are two main diseases associated with asbestos, mesothelioma which is a type of cancer that develops in the thin tissue lining of internal organs and Asbestosis, a chronic lung disease which causes lung tissue scarring and shortness of breath.

The risk of developing occupational asthma can be higher in certain industries/workplaces where particular asthmagens are known to exist, these include, food production, printing, milling, woodworking and painting industries. In most office environments the risk of occupational asthma is low.

The risk that biological and chemical agents will be used deliberately to cause harm has historically been very low outside that of warfare. However, at times of international conflict and terrorist activity, it is easy to become very worried about biological and chemical agents being used in the UK.

Avian influenza (bird flu/avian flu) is a contagious disease of animals caused by strains of the influenza virus that normally only infect birds and, less commonly, pigs and some other mammals. On rare occasions, they have also crossed the species barrier to cause infection in humans.