In a first for us here at Franks Portlock, we were delighted to receive an original Norman Cornish painting in our Sunderland lab for testing. Carefully delivered by staff from Auckland Castle, the painting has a vinyl/hessian backing that was found to be asbestos free.

The painting will be showcased at a Mining Art Gallery which is being opened by Auckland Castle. Created in partnership with Dr Robert McManners OBE and Gillian Wales, the new Mining Art Gallery will provide a permanent home for the renowned Gemini Collection of Mining Art, which includes more than 420 works by prominent local artists such as Tom McGuinness and Norman Cornish.

A North East asbestos management specialist has made a senior appointment to strengthen its team and drive the organisation’s development.

Franks Portlock has hired Lawrence Clack as commercial manager, a role which will see him develop and encourage growth opportunities for the firm across the UK.

Headquartered in North East England and with offices in Rosyth, Fife, and Sellafield in Seacale, Cumbria, Franks Portlock provides a range of asbestos consultancy, inspection, testing and management services.

As commercial manager, Lawrence will be responsible for developing strategies and plans to drive the firm’s growth. He will also work with colleagues from across the business to identify and target new business leads, manage the company’s tendering process and enhance service delivery.

Lawrence, from Cramlington, Northumberland, has over 13 years’ experience in the asbestos industry. During this time, he has undertaken senior management positions at Santia Consulting and Chirman Surveying. He has also worked for major international companies such as Bausch & Lomb and the Bank of Scotland.

He has specific sector expertise in retail, manufacturing and engineering, finance, pharmaceuticals and housing.
Speaking of his appointment, Lawrence said: “Franks Portlock is a professional and diligent company who always strive to provide a high-quality service to its clients. They have an excellent reputation throughout the asbestos industry regionally and nationally.

“What interests me the most about asbestos management is the opportunity to make a real and measurable difference to the safety of peoples working and living environments. Helping to identify liabilities, quantify any risks and then establish a plan to minimise or even eliminate risk is what I find most rewarding about this line of work.
“I am looking forward to working with Phil, Stephen and the rest of the Franks Portlock team and ultimately helping the business to grow.”

Phil Franks, technical director at Franks Portlock, commented: “It’s been an exciting year for the company – in response to the growing demand for our services we’ve recently relocated to a larger Sunderland premises, meaning that we can expand our team to deliver an even greater quality of service.

“Lawrence brings with him a wealth of experience in the asbestos industry, and I’m looking forward to the contribution he will make to the team in the years to come. He will play an influential role in shaping the company’s growth plan, and liaising with both current and prospective clients to ensure we continue to deliver a trusted and high-quality service.”

We’re delighted to announce that we’ve moved to larger premises and as of Friday 9 June 2017, we have been located at Hylton Park, Sunderland.

Please note our new address:
Franks Portlock Consulting Limited
Unit 2b Hylton Park
Sunderland
SR5 3HD

Our telephone number remains the same: 0191 419 3116

We anticipate that there won’t be any disruption to our services during the move and if you need to contact us, you can do so using our current telephone number.

The new premises are easy to find; situated right next to the New Wear Crossing flythrough scheduled to open in Spring 2018, directly behind Liberty Brown Restaurant off Timber Beach Road.

The move comes as we proudly celebrate 10 years in business, over which time we have gained a reputation for delivering a comprehensive range of high quality asbestos management services.

Since our inception in 2006, we have grown our portfolio of consultancy, inspection, testing and management services; opened offices in the North East, Scotland and London, and increased our team to 29 staff.

Our new office is ideally located and will provide us with the extra space required to support further expansion and our ambitious plans for future growth, while allowing us to offer an even better service for all our clients.

Congratulations are in order for Aspatria RUFC in attaining 3rd place in the North Lancashire & Cumbria League.

Franks Portlock has been proud to sponsor the 1st XV team over the last season and are looking forward to a successful next season at Bower Park.

James New, regional manager commented “It has been a well fought season for the Black Reds and their hard work has given them a good end of season result.

“On behalf of my colleagues at Franks Portlock I would like to say congratulations to the team – especially Barney Clegg and Graham Andrews and thank them both for their all their efforts in their dedication to Aspatria and making Franks Portlock proud to be associated with their hard work. We look forward to supporting the team through the next season and the club’s future successes”

Well done to the Sellafield Asbestos Analysis team on reaching 30,000 working hours without any Lost Time Accidents.

Since winning the 4-year contract to provide Sellafield Limited with asbestos analysis support the team have developed and continue to maintain a positive safety-first attitude in their work at one of the most complex and hazardous nuclear sites in the world.

Sellafield site is responsible for the safe delivery of decommissioning, reprocessing and nuclear waste management on behalf of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

Franks Portlock site manager, James New, commented “I am extremely proud of our team’s hard work in achieving this target. The nature of both the inherent risks associated with working with asbestos and the hazards associated working on a nuclear site such as Sellafield provide a combination of unique challenges which our team has worked hard to manage safely and successfully”

Franks Portlock-sponsored team GB Taekwondo athlete, Simone Abley, has been ranked GB number one in the -59 and -63 junior female categories and scooped the title of GB Junior Female Development athlete of 2016.

Since her golden victory at the President’s Cup in July last year, Simone has gone from strength to strength – not only did she secure a medal at the Luxembourg Open but the German, Riga and Serbia Opens too. Simone was also chosen to represent GB as part of the Junior World Championships squad.

When told of her win, she said: “I am honoured to receive the female junior athlete of the year award.

“It was a great honour to represent my country at the Junior World Championships and I would like to thank all the GB development squad members and club coach who have supported me throughout the year, as well Franks Portlock for their continued support and sponsorship.”

Stephen Portlock, director at Franks Portlock added: “We’re delighted to hear of Simone’s fantastic achievements and are pleased to have been able to help her along the way with a contribution to her sponsorship. All at Franks Portlock wish her and the GB team continued success with their competitions in 2017 and beyond.”

We’re celebrating achieving certification to OHSAS 18001 (Occupational Health and Safety Management), demonstrating our commitment to the health and safety of our staff and completing the trio of quality, environmental and H&S management systems.

Our organisation has always maintained high standards of occupational safety and we’re pleased that we can now demonstrate this to our clients.

Franks Portlock is a UKAS accredited testing and inspection body, operating to ISO/ IEC 17025 and 17020 standards for asbestos surveying, sampling, bulk sampling analyses, air sampling/ fibre counting and four stage clearance testing.

In addition, we hold an environmental management system certified to BS EN 14001 through the British Assessment Bureau.

Achieving OHSAS 18001 certification completes our portfolio of accreditations, further cementing our reputation for providing a high quality and trusted service.

We’re proud to announce that we’re supporting the British Occupational Hygiene Society’s Breathe Freely campaign.

Breathe Freely is a collaborative initiative led by BOHS in partnership with key organisations within the construction and manufacturing industry. It is aimed at reducing occupational lung disease in the UK through greater awareness and better working practices, supported by various tools and resources to better enable employers.

Construction workers are at high risk of contracting lung disease from the work that they do. Approximately 3,500 die each year from cancer caused by past exposures to asbestos, 500 more from silica dust and another 5,500 will be diagnosed with occupational cancer. And today alone, an unknown number will breathe in the hazardous substances that will one day seriously affect their health or kill them.

James New, regional manager at Franks Portlock, commented: “As an asbestos management consultancy, we are committed to the safety and protection of health of those who are likely to come in to contact with asbestos, particularly workers in the construction industry who face the risks daily.

“We strongly believe that more awareness is key to the control and prevention of asbestos related illnesses in the construction industry and are proud to back the Breathe Freely campaign, offering our steadfast support to the initiative.”

For more information about the campaign, visit www.breathefreely.org.uk

The serious threat to the health of pupils and teachers from exposure to asbestos has once again hit national headlines, with the results of an online survey conducted by the National Union of Teachers (NUT) showing worrying results.

Nearly 50 per cent of respondents have not been told whether their school contains asbestos despite the substance being present in 86 per cent of schools. Even more concerning is that of the 46 per cent who know that asbestos is present, half do not know where it is located, meaning they’re unable to avoid disturbing it.

Schools are different to other workplaces as children are more at risk from asbestos exposure – the active environments of classrooms mean that any asbestos is more likely to be damaged or disturbed. Additionally, a child exposed at age five is five times more likely to develop mesothelioma than someone exposed at age 30.

Although the use of asbestos was banned in 1999, many of the existing school buildings were constructed in the 60s and 70s. More than £10 million has been paid out in compensation in the past five years to teachers and pupils who have suffered exposure.

Phil Franks, director at Franks Portlock, commented: “These survey findings have highlighted that a long-term Government strategy is needed to tackle the problem of asbestos in schools. Staff need to know that they are working in a safe environment and parents reassured that their children are being protected.

“The statistics are very concerning and it’s clear that more steps need to be taken to make sure that school buildings are free of ACMs (asbestos containing materials).

“Good asbestos management is vital to ensure the safety of teachers, pupils and anyone else that is likely to be exposed in school buildings. And while the responsibility shouldn’t be devolved to employees who aren’t equipped to manage it, it is important that staff who may be in contact with the material have asbestos awareness training as a minimum.

“In all cases, an experienced asbestos consultancy should be involved to oversee any remediation or removal processes. This will make sure that all ACMs are recorded and dealt with appropriately, hugely reducing the risk of exposure while instilling confidence in staff and parents that the problem has been dealt with and any health risks have been mitigated.”

This month, a report by the BBC highlighted the growing problem of dumping hazardous waste, including asbestos.

Over the last nine months, Northumberland County Council has dealt with 24 cases, racking up a bill of over £10,000. Most of the dumped asbestos is the old corrugated sheet type which was widely used across the county in old colliery houses, farms and commercial premises.

As these properties have been modernised, and the asbestos removed, it has fallen into the hands of unscrupulous waste contractors who are believed to have been fly-tipping to save costs.

Cabinet member, Ian Swithenbank, expressed his concerns saying that if homeowners are unable to prove their hazardous waste has been removed by a registered operative they run “the real risk of being prosecuted if any dumped waste is traced back to them.”

There are strict rules concerning its removal and disposal by a licensed operator but unlicensed waste contractors have been dumping it to save costs, the authority added.

Phil Franks, director at Franks Portlock commented on the issue, saying: “There is a duty of care that all removal of asbestos containing materials is carried out in accordance with Government and industry regulations. To not adhere to this, puts the public at risk of being exposed to highly dangerous material that can result in serious chronic illnesses.

“At Franks Portlock, we have a wealth of experience in managing environmental risk in order to comply with UK safety regulations. We have the technical capabilities and expertise to undertake projects of any scale and would encourage anyone who needs the services of an asbestos professional to get in touch with us.”