Asbestos – for the Health and Safety Beginner.
Asbestos is one of those words H & S professionals don’t like to hear. To most people it means Lung Cancer, Compensation or Expensive removal work.
In the maze of H & S regulations, this one often gets forgotten….or worse…some people really believe their building has NO Asbestos, so why bother…even though their building was built pre 1999 (when Asbestos use in building materials was finally banned ). What needs to be realised is that asbestos was incorporated into over 3000 products, including floor tiles, artex, pipe insulation, cement, cavity wall insulation, …..heck they even put it into toilet seats….
The fact is …you have a duty in LAW under the ‘Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 (CAWR 2002) Regulaton 4 The Duty to Manage’, to produce an Asbestos Management Plan and Asbestos Register detailing the locations of any Asbestos Containing Materials (ACM’s) and to continue to manage any positive areas.
Why?
The object of the register is to provide information relating to the building and the whereabouts of ACM’s. This allows tradesmen to plan and carry out any remedial or improvement works safely. Would you want to be sitting in your office while the maintenance man drills into a wall to put up a shelf ….only for you to hear him say… “hey, I’m sure this wall is Asbestos Board”? or for your boss to say “someone is suing us for exposure to asbestos, where’s the register, I’ll prove it wasn’t” and your answer is “what register?”
So what do you do?
Firstly don’t panic…..if you have had an asbestos register done previously, check it to establish when it was last updated, you may need another survey. Registers should be updated on a yearly basis or earlier if damage is reported, along with the measures taken as a result of this report.
Things change over time, sometimes these changes are not recorded and no one has any idea who did what or when!.
A Competent person will need to do a visual re-inspection to establish that areas found to contain Asbestos are damage free and still in good condition, and will need to document the findings, Its no use going around the building checking if you have no proof you have done it! Or get an Asbestos Surveyor to do the re-inspection, many companies choose this route because Asbestos Surveyors are qualified and insured to do this specific type of work.
If you have not had a register done previously, you need to assess the probability of your building containing Asbestos.
All buildings must have a register, if your building was built after 2000 a letter from the architect detailing that materials were sourced which do not contain Asbestos will suffice, file it and relax.
If your building was built before 2000 you need to survey. For many this is done through a surveying company.
Most importantly you need to sit down and plan how you will survey, what type of survey you need, who needs access to the survey results and how will they will be accessed ( hard copy, electronic database) and also how you will manage the survey results in the future.
Most dutyholders use asbestos surveying companies to produce their asbestos report.
Surveying costs vary with the size of site and the type of survey required and can be expensive, however it doesn’t always pay to go with the cheapest company, whoever you decide to employ, remember the following.
Asbestos survey companies have qualified surveyors. Asbestos qualifications are specific, a surveyor must hold a minimum qualification of BOHS P402, a senior surveyor S301 and a consultant will hold a Certificate of Competence in Asbestos (CCP) this is the highest qualification you can get in the Asbestos industry. Ask to see copies of your surveyor’s qualifications.
Check that the surveying company you use has adequate insurance cover, some surveying companies are not insured for type 3 surveys.
The main thing is communication with the surveyor, tell the surveyor what you want the survey to achieve, and any areas you specifically want surveyed. If the building is to be demolished or undergo major refurbishment your needs will be different to a building that isn’t, a good surveyor will tell you what is and isn’t possible during a survey and what areas you need to take into consideration.
Ask to see a copy report, a survey report is no good if it is written or presented in such a way that you or your tradesmen don’t understand it!
Ask for references…and check them, ask the customer if they were happy with the service…and the after sales service.
Does the company have a database system that allows your results to be accessed on line by authorised personnel? This is a particularly useful management tool for companies who manage more that one site eg housing authorities.
There are 3 different survey types, which one do you need
Type one: Location and assessment survey (presumptive)
Type 1 surveys are designed to locate, as far as reasonably practical, any ACMs and assess the risk and are used when sampling is not a suitable option. All areas of a building are accessed but as materials are only presumed to contain asbestos they rely heavily on the experience and knowledge of surveyor. Samples would have to be taken before maintenance work started to confirm the presence or absence of Asbestos.
Type two: Standard Sampling, identification and assessment survey (sampling survey)
The purpose and procedures of a type 2 survey are as for a type 1 survey but includes the sampling of suspect ACMs to confirm the surveyors’ judgment. The samples are analysed by an accredited laboratory and the resulting report informs exactly which materials in the building are or are not asbestos containing. This is the most commonly utilised survey for asbestos management plans.
Type three: Full access sampling and identification survey (pre-demolition/major refurbishment survey)
Type 3 surveys are used to locate all ACMs, as far as reasonably practicable within a building and its structure and may involve destructive inspection techniques. These surveys are designed to estimate quantity of asbestos rather than condition to allow tendering of asbestos removal prior to demolition or refurbishment.
On some larger sites a mixture of the above survey types can be used if different parts of the site have varying requirements.
How will you manage the survey in the future?
Once the survey is completed you need ongoing management of the data. Put procedures in place for responsibility and timescales to make sure the information is updated and re-inspections are carried out.
Finally……. train all employees on Asbestos Awareness and put in place a contingency plan in case asbestos is found or accidentally damaged.
A good effective asbestos management plan will satisfy the HSE and your insurers.
Remember, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) take the enforcement of asbestos legislation very seriously – ignorance it not a defence! http://www.hse-databases.co.uk/prosecutions/
The HSE website www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos and www.etonservices.co.uk - Eton Environmental Services Ltd. Eton, Windsor, Berkshire | Asbestos Consultancy Service are a great place to start to get free information on asbestos.
