SOUTH

Dry-blasting ban

The Portsmouth Offshore Group of the Civil Service Sailing Association committee has made a decision to ban dry-blasting at the club. It may well be that other clubs across the country are doing the same or considering it.

Club spokesman John Cooper said: ‘The management committee has banned the use of abrasive blasting for the removal of old excess antifouling paint at our Gosport base because our winter storage area ashore is restricted for space, and despite using appropriate tenting to enclose the blasting process, there is still slight toxic dust contamination of adjacent boats and the gravel yard surface. We are also aware of the need to comply with industry recommendations concerning the safe use and disposal of these materials and the risk of more stringent legislation, as suggested in PBO’s April 2017 article.’

Find the legal reasoning and best practice behind the decision at www.pbo.co.uk/expert-advice.