Managing Asbestos in Premises

Are you responsible for:

• Building or workplace management?
• Repairs and maintenance?
• Refurbishment?
• Health and safety?

The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2003, places a duty on people who own, occupy, manage or have responsibilities for non-domestic premises which may contain asbestos.

You must either:

• Manage the risk from this material; or
• Co-operate with whoever manages that risk

In order to manage the risk of exposure to workers and others who may use the building, you must identify, assess and manage asbestos materials on your premises.

If asbestos is present in your premises then you need to know:

• the location
• what type of asbestos and
• the condition of the material.

You may need to arrange to have samples of materials analysed if you suspect the material contains asbestos. Suitably trained people should carry this out. To find Listing of such companies that may undertake analytical sampling of materials, the Health and Safety Executive website contains details of Accredited Analysts and Surveyors or the Asbestos Building Inspectors Certification Scheme or the Asbestos Removal Contractors Association (ARCA) (search by region), or look for Laboratory Facilities or Chemists - Analytical and Research in the Yellow Pages. NB You are advised to choose a company with UKAS or NAMAS accreditation.

Once you know where asbestos containing materials (ACMs) are in your premises you then need to assess the condition of the materials and deciding what level of risk of asbestos fibres being released into the air. The assessment address the following:

• Is the material being/likely to be disturbed?
• Is the surface damaged, frayed or scratched?
• Are surface sealants peeling or breaking off?
• Is there asbestos dust or debris in the immediate surrounding area?

Action to be taken depends on the condition and the type of asbestos contained in the material:

• If material is in good condition, not likely to be damaged and not likely to be worked on, then it is safest to leave the material in place. A Management system should be devised to ensure that the owner/occupier has control over access to these areas to ensure employees, contractors etc are informed of the risks of exposure. A register or log book should be kept to identify where ACMs are in the premises. Materials should be labelled with warning signs or colour coded to alert personnel to its presence.

• If material is in a poor condition, likely to be damaged or disturbed then action should be taken to repair, seal, enclose or remove. If the ACMs are repaired by either sealing or enclosing to prevent further damage this will need to be labelled etc and should be monitored as part of the management system to ensure that the condition of the ACM does not change.

• Removal of ACMs should take place where asbestos dust/fibres is likely to be released, repair and protection is not practical or where the material is likely to be disturbed during routine maintenance work.

The Asbestos (Licensing) Regulations 1983 requires that work involving the most hazardous types of asbestos e.g. asbestos insulation board (AIBs), coating and lagging must be carried out by a licensed contractor issued by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Website for list of Licensed Asbestos Removal Contractors: www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos

HSE Books website contains a variety of books and leaflets on Asbestos.