Conference season: a look ahead to FAAM and EAF

It may only be the start of August, but I’m already looking ahead to two of the most important conferences in the calendar: FAAM, at the Mercure St Paul's Hotel in Sheffield, and EAF at the Hotel Marriott Grand Place, Brussels. Both are brilliant two-day events, representing the finalé of the conference season, and its peak, for very different reasons.

For those of you who haven’t been, the European Asbestos Forum (EAF) is run by Dr Yvonne Waterman, who always puts on a wonderful event. It’s focused on policy and new technology, and has an international outlook while remaining relevant locally. This year’s event takes place on 12-13 December – it’s always over two days. While the conference itself is on the second, the first day is crucial as this builds the collegiate atmosphere that makes the main event so successful. It usually involves a visit to an organisation doing something innovative or interesting in the field of asbestos management – sort of a school trip for adults, which is always tremendously interesting and great fun.

It’s become a hallmark of EAF conferences that everything is delivered in a classy style, and EAF 24 looks no different, with a fabulous schedule. At this relatively early stage not everything has been revealed, so the programme as it stands teases us with hints for some sessions. EAF and FAAM often have links, and that’s very much evident from EAF’s first day. After the yet to be announced ‘day out’, BOHS CEO Kevin Brampton is hosting a series of round table debates with UKATA’s Chris Bishop, and Sean Fitzgerald (FACTS). ?

Day two will start with the introduction of the two session hosts. Adam Harding (ADM Training) is returning, and new this year is DSK Environmental’s Kirsty Budenbender. The structure is a plenary session in the morning with a sweeping range of relevant talks from around the world. Last year we started with Zuhal Demir,? the charismatic Dutch minister that was responsible for the Flemish asbestos ban. The keynote was no less than Gordana Materljan, the EU Commissioner responsible for the new EU asbestos directive. Yvonne really does know everyone – so I’m sure this year will be just as groundbreaking.

In the afternoon the conference splits into two. The first session is normally driven by policy, law and health advances. The second is more focused on new technology. For the last few years I’ve hosted the latter, but I’m taking a break this year so I can enjoy the whole conference.

Among the highlights in session A this year, we have Dr Elham Beheshti on novel approaches for mesothelioma diagnosis and treatment. There’s also a look at the impact of asbestos in South Africa, a discussion of asbestos in UK schools, and a talk on achieving global justice for the victims of this horrendous material.

Session B – my old stomping ground – looks fascinating. It kicks off with Tobias Hans from the Ferraro Group presenting a case study in the decommissioning of a thoroughly contaminated power station, and its replacement with a brand new and beautiful living environment. There are other talks on developments in Japan, the impact of asbestos in the military, and asbestos removal in a war zone. Asbestos removal is complex enough without having to think about unexploded, and incoming ordinance.

Representatives from 26 countries registered to attend EAF last year. It is a truly international conference, possibly better named the World Asbestos Forum.

FAAM first

But before I see you in Brussels, I hope to see you at the 2024 Faculty of Asbestos Assessment and Management (FAAM) conference, on the 8-9 October. Devotees of the FAAM conference will know that the first couple of events would best be described as on the academic end of the spectrum. Where the EAF focuses on policy and new tech, FAAM would focus on the science that makes all of that possible.

However, the last two years have seen a broadening out of that approach, with FAAM and BOHS-sponsored research projects coming to the fore. These have been very practical looks at particular challenges within the industry, and I had the privilege of being involved in two of them: a look at gel cutting , and a workshop exploring the working dynamics between supervisors and analysts . I’m immensely proud that the latter is directly leading to new guidance for the industry, and that the former represents the first new removal technique in the UK for 20 years.

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FAAM sees itself as the scientific arm of the asbestos industry, with a remit to bring academic rigour to the investigation of new techniques and technologies. This is always ongoing. Even before the conference, FAAM is continuing a series of webinars. The next one, When do we really need to measure air concentration during asbestos removal, is from 11:00-12:00 on 17 September. This is hot off the press, so there are no booking details yet, but it will be a discussion on reimagining asbestos removal techniques. The webinar will examine whether there are better ways to control exposure than air tests and fibre counting, and how to ensure that methods known to work are actually followed on site.

But back to the conference itself. FAAM registrar Jonathan Grant opens day one, cueing up keynote speaker and titan of the UK analytical establishment, Julian Peto. For those who are not so familiar with his work, the Royal Society sums him up as “an epidemiologist whose dose-response models for asbestos-related cancers contributed directly to reducing industrial exposure levels and subsequently to the European asbestos ban, and are still the accepted basis for environmental risk assessment.”

It goes on to say that “he predicted the scale of the mesothelioma epidemic [and] his recent work predicts its end.” Clearly that would be enormously good news, but I wonder if it’s a little over-optimistic. While deaths from mesothelioma have fallen off slightly in the past two years, certainly there are questions about whether the COVID epidemic may have skewed the numbers. We may get answers to them, as Professor Daniel Murphy from Glasgow University comes next. He is followed immediately by Professor Angela Tod and Claire Gardiner. Between them they will be sharing their expertise in the horrendous disease and ultimately asking the question “why are people getting mesothelioma?”.

The first day is set to end with two talks from the other side of the world. Australian Simone Stevenson will take us through the state of Victoria’s Asbestos Eradication Agency. To top off the day, Brian Eva will give us an update on FAMANZ’s activities in Australia and New Zealand.

A hot topic at FAAM and in the wider asbestos management world is the new European directive on asbestos. This reduces the Occupational Exposure Limit (equivalent to our Control Limit (CL)) from 0.1 fibres per millilitre (f/ml) to 0.01f/ml, AND specifies that the preferred method of testing would be electron microscopy. James Staff, the HSE’s specialist on the subject, will bring us up to speed on what scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) can, and crucially can’t, do.

Steve Sadley of ARCA takes us on to the next critical question. He’ll be asking, if we in the UK follow suit and reduce the CL (a move I personally think is inevitable), what are the implications to the UK asbestos removal industry, and the operatives who have to work in these contaminated environments? Towards the end of the day, Steve hands over to me for an update on FAAM’s gel cutting research project, for which I’ll be sharing new data, photos and videos.

The above are just tasters for what will be another must-attend conference. You can book tickets, or find more details including exhibition and sponsorship opportunities at the FAAM Asbestos 2024 website. To book tickets to the EAF conference it here.

I’ll end with a reminder of those three dates for your diaries:

• 17 September, 11am – FAAM’s next webinar, When do we really need to measure air concentration during asbestos removal
• 8-9 October – The FAAM conference, in Sheffield
• 12-13 December – The unmissable EAF, in Brussels