Asbestos
In 2007/2008 over 4000 people in Britain were killed by asbestos
related disease, mainly cancer of the lung and chest lining, caused
by past exposure to asbestos. There is no cure for these diseases
and cases are rising.
The use of asbestos in construction and refurbishment was not
fully banned until the year 2000 so there is a lot of asbestos
still around today.
Asbestos fibres are only a risk to health if they are inhaled so
asbestos containing materials (ACMs) are not a risk if they are in
good condition and not disturbed. Anyone who carries out drilling,
sawing or cutting into the fabric o a building could disturb
asbestos and be exposed to the fibres.
If you own, occupy, manage or have responsibility for premises
which may contain asbestos you will either have:
a legal duty to manage the risk from this material or
a duty to co-operate with whoever manages the risk
Guidance is contained in "Managing Asbestos in Premises"
INDG223(rev.3) and "Manage Buildings? You Must Manage Asbestos"
available from the Related Links section.
10 Key Facts about Managing Asbestos
- If you don't effectively manage asbestos in your premises, you
could be putting your employees' and other peoples' health at
risk.
- Exposure to asbestos occurs when you or others disturb it (eg
drill, cut or break up), releasing fibres into the air we
breathe.
- Asbestos in good condition can be left in place and
managed.
- Most work on asbestos requires a licence from the Health and
Safety Executive, but some minor short term work on asbestos can be
done without a licence if the correct precautions are
followed.
- Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations is
a duty to manage, not a duty to survey your premises.
- You don't have to do a survey, but you have a duty to manage
your asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) if there is a possibility
that your building contains them. If you do not have a survey you
will need to assume that all materials which may contain asbestos
are ACM's.
- A bad survey is worse than not carrying out a survey.
- those who work on the fabric of the building (eg. electricians,
plumbers, etc);
- those who work in the building (eg. plant and office workers,
cleaners, etc) who may come into contact or work near damaged or
deteriorated ACMs.
- Damaged or deteriorated ACMs should be repaired or removed, or
isolated until remedial action can be taken.
- Your Asbestos Management Plan is your way of ensuring that your
employees or others (e.g. contractors) do not disturb your ACMs; It
can take many forms and need not be complex, but it does need to be
effective.
Further advice is available on the HSE Asbestos Campaign web
pages, please see the Related Links section.
Advice and contacts for specialist contractors can be obtained
from the website of the Asbestos Removal Contractors Association
(ARCA), the trade association which promotes and maintains the safe
working standards required for the handling and removing of
asbestos and other airborne hazardous materials. The ARCA website
is also available from the Related Links section.
Work with asbestos
Most work with asbestos requires a licence, which is issued by
the Health and Safety Executive. A list of licensed contractors in
the area can be obtained from the yellow pages directory. Where a
licence is required, the contractor must notify the relevant
enforcing authority at least 14 days before beginning work, by
completing an ASB5 form which can be found in the Related Links
section.
Rochford District Council is the enforcing authority for
premises that are office-based, retail or wholesale, warehousing,
hotel and catering, sports or leisure, residential accommodation
(excluding nursing homes) or concerned with places of worship. In
the case of other types of premises, the ASB5 must be returned
to:
The Health and Safety Executive
Wren House
Hedgerows Business Park
Colchester Road
Springfield
Chelmsford
Essex
CM2 5PF