Information Zone
Documents and Support Guides
Dutyholders
General management guidance
Don’t forget, it’s a duty to manage asbestos, not just a duty to survey. This document (“A short guide to managing asbestos in premises”, INDG 223) gives a really good overview of how to comply.
https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg223.pdf
This is its big brother (“A comprehensive guide to managing asbestos in premises”, HSG 227) complete with instructions for developing a management plan and how to decide whether to remove ACM. It also has real life case studies so you can see how other organisations have successfully implemented an asbestos management system.
https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/hsg227.htm
And here’s HSG 264 The Survey Guide just in case you haven’t already got it.
https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/hsg264.htm
The Survey Guide talks about two different types of survey, Management and Refurbishment / Demolition. It is now accepted that a Refurbishment and a Demolition survey are two separate entities.
Awareness Training
Regulation 10 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations states that anyone liable to disturb the fabric of the building, should undergo awareness training. And this should also include people who supervise and manage this work. This training is usually a half-day session and covers the following areas;
- Properties of asbestos and effects on health
- Types, uses and likely occurrences of asbestos in buildings
- Overview of legislation
- The new HSE document HSG 264: “The Survey Guide”
- Responsibilities of the Dutyholder
- Developing and implementing the Asbestos Management Plan
Dutyholder Training
Just as important as awareness training is for the organisation to be aware of its dutyholder responsibilities.
HSG 264 describes the role of the Appointed Person, or Asbestos Manager. As a minimum, this person should have the above awareness training, plus additional training in dutyholder responsibilities, controlling building work and other asbestos of asbestos management.
Regulations
The Control of Asbestos Regulations are what is known as a Statutory Instrument.
The Regulations give minimum standards for protecting employees from risks associated with exposure to asbestos. They can be obtained from the government website.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/632/pdfs/uksi_20120632_en.pdf
The Approved Code of Practice, L143, contains more practical advice and obligations regarding compliance with all aspects of the regulation. If you follow the advice you will be doing enough to comply with the law in respect of those specific matters on which the ACOP gives advice. You may use alternative methods to those set out in the ACOP in order to comply with the law.
However, the ACOP has a special legal status. If you are prosecuted for a breach of health and safety law and it is proved that you did not follow the relevant provisions of the ACOP, you will need to show that you have complied with the law in some other way or a Court will find you at fault.
The 2nd edition of L143 was updated in December 2013 and is available here.
https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/l143.htm
Non-licensed Work
The HSE has produced a series of task sheets covering for different activities that may be encountered during maintenance work. These go by the name of “Asbestos Essentials” and more information can be found on the HSE website.
https://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/essentials/index.htm
There are now two separate grades of non-licensed work and with the correct training and equipment low risk asbestos removal work can be undertaken without having an HSE licence. Some of this non-licensed work may need to be notified and carried out by operatives who undergo medical surveillance. In general terms, this would be non-licensed work on ACM that are in a poor condition to start off with or if the material will break up during the removal process.
If you would like more advice on this, please get in touch.
Retail Sector
From time to time, the HSE issues specific advice to certain sectors. Guidance has been produced covering asbestos removal and retail refurbishments. This is available from here: RAWG-Retail-Sector-CAR-2012-Guidance.pdf (norac.org.uk)
Housing Sector
Although the Duty To Manage does not apply to domestic dwellings, the HSE has recently begun to issue guidance with respect to improvement and upgrade schemes such as Decent Homes.
The Survey Guide contains a section on this and the HSE has also issued a specific Advisory Note reminding Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) of their duties and responsibilities.
https://www.hse.gov.uk/services/localgovernment/asbestos.htm
Education Sector
And those of you that follow asbestos issues will know that there has been various activity regarding the management of asbestos in schools. This originally came to light during work on several system built (CLASP method) schools.
https://www.hse.gov.uk/services/education/asbestos.htm
There is also a website which contains various reports and reviews of papers and documentation regarding asbestos in schools.
http://www.asbestosinschools.org.uk
Asbestos In Soils
CL:AIRE (Contaminated Land – Applications in Real Environments) has produced an authoritative document presenting the definitive explanation of how the legal requirements of the Control of Asbestos Regulations have been interpreted to apply to work with asbestos-contaminated soil and construction and demolition materials.
Working in close cooperation with the HSE this guidance explains how the legal requirements of the Control of Asbestos Regulations have been interpreted to apply to asbestos in the ground.
This guidance is an invaluable resource for practitioners in the geo-environmental and asbestos sectors alike, in planning and executing works to identify and manage asbestos contamination in the ground, as well as construction sector planners and designers when considering the implications for development activities and risk that residual asbestos in the ground may pose to groundworkers.
https://www.claire.co.uk/information-centre/cl-aire-publications
Prosecutions
Below is a link to HSE press releases relating to prosecutions. This gives an idea of the type of breach that can lead to a prosecution.
https://webcommunities.hse.gov.uk/connect.ti/asbestos.licensing/view?objectId=105168
Asbestos Consultancies and Laboratories
Guidance Documents
Need a copy of the Survey Guide, here’s a link to it;
https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/hsg264.htm
And why not get the Analysts’ Guide while you’re at it!
https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/hsg248.htm
UKAS Accreditation
If you are thinking of getting accreditation for carrying out surveys, UKAS has a page on their website explaining the application process;
https://www.ukas.com/about/about-accreditation/
Every so often UKAS will issue Asbestos Technical Bulletins to ensure all accredited organisations are aware of any necessary clarifications, interpretations, updates or changes to UKAS policy. The content of these bulletins will be incorporated into relevant UKAS Publications (i.e. LAB30 and RG8) at their next revision.
https://www.ukas.com/technical-services/publications/
Qualifications
Don’t forget that as well as the BOHS Proficiency Modules, the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) has asbestos related qualifications which have been confirmed by UKAS as being BOHS equivalent (see extract below from the UKAS statement).
“After reviewing the course content, and feedback from a short pilot, it has been agreed that these
qualifications will receive equal recognition from UKAS to the P Modules provided by BOHS.”
There is also the RSPH equivalent to the BOHS Oral which has also been approved by UKAS.
Information on these courses can be found on the ATAC website.
Licensed Contractors
The HSE uses the Asbestos Leadership Council (ALC), previously known as the Asbestos Liaison Group (ALG), to provide a link with all stakeholders in the asbestos sector, including clients groups, trade unions, trade associations and licensed contractors.
The HSE communicates with its licence holders using the Web Communities platform on the asbestos pages of the HSE website.
Web Communities was set up to allow the HSE to post guidance notes and updated advice and it also features a discussion forum for members.
If you haven’t already, you can sign up to receive email alerts by following the “Join Community” link.
https://webcommunities.hse.gov.uk/inovem/inovem.ti/asbestos.licensing/
Find all the latest HSE reminders to licence holders here;
https://webcommunities.hse.gov.uk/connect.ti/asbestos.licensing/view?objectId=197808&exp=e1
The ARCA website has a link to ALC/ALG meeting minutes, memos and guidance;
https://www.arca.org.uk/page/alc-minutes-memos-and-appendices
And if you need to download the Licensed Contractor’s Guide, here it is.
https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/hsg247.htm