Develop Training (DTL), a leading training provider to the construction sector, is working with Ridgewood Environmental to stress the need to prepare workers against the threat posed by asbestos in the ground.

Ridgewood Environmental and third-party provider, DTL, have recently been approved by UKATA to deliver a brand new Asbestos in Soils training course. To launch the training they are inviting employers to attend one of two free seminars on Thursday 8 November at DTL’s Derby centre in Ascot Drive.

Over the past year Apollo Fire Detectors has undertaken a thorough market research investigation into fire safety within the healthcare industry in the UK, led by head of Marketing, Irina Cruse, and her colleague, graduate project leader, Harry Buck.

Matt Morse and Nick Barsby of the Legionella Control Association (LCA) take a detailed look at some of the key steps to take, and the pitfalls to avoid, in the event of positive Legionella test results.

During the COVID-19 pandemic there have been greater changes to the planning process for healthcare real estate than at any point in the NHS’s history, believes Huw Mellor, a Partner at the Oxford offices of Carter Jonas

A ‘lack of shared ownership and knowledge’ of medical gas pipeline systems among hospital-based multidisciplinary teams ‘limits Trusts’ ability to effectively respond to MGPS patient safety concerns’.

A new 31-Day Medical Shower Filter from Danish water filtration manufacturer, T-safe, has a compact, ergonomic, and lightweight design.

IHEEM-registered AE (D), Dr Brian Kirk, explains the importance of using validated sterilisation processes to produce sterile single or multi-use medical devices such as re-usable metal surgical instruments, and the internationally agreed standards covering the sterilisation process and steriliser equipment. He considers both high and low temperature processes, and the key considerations when investing in sterilisation technology, and when faced with the challenge of a new medical device which requires sterilisation.

The “call for papers” campaign for the conference at this October’s Healthcare Estates 2008 Conference & Exhibition, the leading event for the construction, development and maintenance of UK healthcare facilities, has now closed, and IHEEM reports that this year’s response has been “excellent”.

An investigation is continuing into the cause of a major fire at London’s Royal Marsden Hospital in the early afternoon of 2 January which saw 79 patients and around 200 staff evacuated.

Tradespeople, and, it seems, builders and gasfitters particularly, are risking developing the incurable cancer mesothelioma and other serious lung diseases through ignorance about how to handle asbestos, the British Lung Foundation has warned.

The British Lung Foundation and HSE’s current emphasis on “better education” for those dealing with asbestos is timely and “certainly relevant” as regards older healthcare buildings, a top asbestos consultant has said.

New from James Walker is the Supagraf Boilermaster braided ribbon gasket, which is designed to seal boiler doors at high temperatures and offer resistance to oxidation and chemical attack plus significantly reduced maintenance costs.

A risk management approach to the selection of non-metallic materials used in high pressure medical oxygen systems is discussed by Ben Johnson, product manager at BeaconMedæs.

In healthcare, smart tags and packaging are saving lives, preventing illnesses, reducing errors, cutting crime, and sharply lowering costs. Update by Dr Peter Harrop FIEE, chairman, IDTechEX.

By exploring the benefits of the latest technology, the estate manager can deliver significant plant room savings and improvements in the medium and long term, says Wayne Rose, product manager of Armstrong, a leading UK manufacturer and supplier of HVAC equipment and off-site manufactured integrated plant rooms.

In a speech to the NHS in the North West, Health Minister Andy Burnham reiterated his continued determination to make improvements to patients’ environments a priority.

Special report from the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM).

This Health Estate Journal ‘Then and now’ feature spotlights some clear thought given to operating theatre design nearly 60 years ago. The article is introduced with a brief description of some of the factors now affecting the planning of theatres, and is followed by a slightly edited version of a paper by James Forsyth which was published in the December 1947 edition of The Hospital Engineer – the newsletter of the Institution of Hospital Engineers (now IHEEM).

Gordon Pidcock FIHEEM, Retired Member, asks where the design innovators are today, in a letter to the Health Estate Journal.

Andrew Tweedie, project manager and cleanroom consultant, reviews the impact of the latest HBN 13 on the cleanroom within the sterile services department.