Handle with care

The Health and Safety Executive estimates that over 1.5 million commercial buildings still contain asbestos materials, and that 60 per cent of all asbestos imported into the UK has been used to produce building materials. Asbestos is likely to be present in a building if it was constructed between 1940 and 1980, and can sometimes be found in buildings constructed in the 1990s.
    
The main uses of asbestos are, or have been: as a reinforcing agent in asbestos cement sheeting used on walls and roofs; in asbestos cement building products, such as tiles, cold water tanks, pipes and gutters; in insulating board used as wall partitions, fire doors, ceiling tiles, etc.; in yarns and textiles, in lagging and in sprayed coatings for insulation and decorative purposes.

Risk assessment
Employers of building maintenance and repair workers are required to carry out a risk assessment before undertaking any work which exposes, or is liable to expose, employees to asbestos. They must take the appropriate steps required by the Asbestos Regulations to prevent or reduce these risks. However, in many cases the employers and their workers have little or no information about the premises where they are going to undertake work, and are not aware if asbestos containing materials are present. Consequently, it is difficult for them to consider the risks, or if precautions may be needed. A duty to manage the risk from asbestos in non-domestic premises was therefore added to the Control of Asbestos at work Regulations in 2002 to address this. These requirements have since been brought forward unchanged in the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 as Regulation 4.
    
Those who own, occupy, manage or have responsibilities for premises that may contain asbestos, will either have a legal duty to manage the risk from asbestos material, or a legal duty to cooperate with whoever manages that risk. They will be required to manage the risk from asbestos by:

• Finding out if there is asbestos in the premises, its extent and what condition it is in
• Presuming the materials contain asbestos, unless you have strong evidence that they do not
• Making and keeping up to date a record of the location and condition of the ACM’s or presumed ACM’s in their premises
• Assessing the risk from the material
• Preparing a plan that sets out in detail how they are going to manage the risk from this material
• Taking the steps needed to put their plan into action
• Reviewing and monitoring their plan and the arrangements made to put it in place
• Providing information on the location and condition of the material to anyone who is liable to work or disturb it.

Licensed contractor
At some point somebody has got to work with asbestos containing materials, but who is allowed to do this? In the UK work on asbestos has by law to be carried out by a contractor who holds a licence under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006, although there are exceptions. Normally, non-licensed work includes work on asbestos-containing textured coatings, asbestos cement and certain work of short duration on asbestos insulating board.
    
Short duration means any one person doing this type of work for less than one hour, or more people doing the work for as total of less than two hours, in any seven consecutive days. The total time spent by all workers must not exceed two hours. This includes time setting up, cleaning and clearing up. It must be borne in mind that even non-licensed asbestos work is still subject to the strict requirements of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006.
    
The duties imposed by Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 supplement the provisions of some of the duties imposed by other sets of regulations, in particular the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 which require the client to provide designers and contractors who may be bidding for the work or who they intend to engage), with the projects specific health and safety information needed to identify hazards and risks associated with the design and construction work.
    
The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 place legal duties on employers and employees with regards to asbestos in the workplace, Regulation 10 states: “Every employer shall ensure that adequate information, instruction and training is given to those of his employees who are or are liable to be exposed to asbestos or who supervise such employees...”
    
Therefore those who employ construction workers to carry out demolition or refurbishment work have a legal duty to ensure that they have adequate information, instruction and training regarding asbestos, as those tradesmen are always liable to be exposed to asbestos as a result of the type of work they carry out.
    
In fact, the Approved Code of Practice which accompanies the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 states: “Asbestos awareness training is required to be given to employees whose work could forseeably expose them to asbestos. In particular it should be given to all demolition workers and those workers in the refurbishment, maintenance and allied trades where it is foreseeable that their work will disturb the fabric of the building because asbestos containing materials (ACMs) may become exposed during their work. Exemption from this requirement would apply only where the employer can demonstrate that work will only be carried out on buildings free of ACMs. This information should be available in the client’s asbestos management plan.”
    
An Approved Code of Practice has special legal status; it is the accepted way of complying with the law. If you do not comply with the Approved Code of Practice you must demonstrate that you have complied with the law in some other way, to an equal or better standard.

Awareness training
From the above it can be seen that asbestos awareness training is a legal requirement for most employees and supervisors working in the construction industry. In addition to initial training, the Approved Code of Practice which accompanies the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 also states that refresher training should be given at least every year. Therefore, there is an ongoing annual legal requirement for refresher training to be carried out for the identified employees.
    
ARCA is the leading supplier of asbestos awareness training aimed at building and maintenance workers. ARCA trainers have considerable experience within the asbestos removal industry and understand the issues that are faced every day. The range of courses which ARCA have available is comprehensive. Each has been designed to ensure that your staff acquire a real depth of knowledge and capability.

About ARCA
The Asbestos Removal Contractors Association (ARCA) is the leading trade association in the Field of Asbestos Management Services.
   
ARCA was formed 1 July 1980 and since that time has seen many changes in working procedures and legislation. However, one thing has remained constant, ARCA members are recognised for their professionalism, the quality of work they carry out, and they continue to be seen as the specialists in this difficult and hazardous industry.
   
Membership has grown considerably from the original four founder members. The association has gained credibility with government, local authorities, and all those concerned with safety in the occupational handling and removal of asbestos and any other airborne hazardous materials. Clients now know when they choose ARCA members for tender lists they are selecting from the very best in the industry.

For more information
Tel: 01283 531126
E-mail: info@arca.org.uk
Web: www.arca.org.uk