Notifiable non-licensed work

All non-licensed work needs to be carried out with the appropriate controls in place. But for notifiable non-licensed work (NNLW), employers also have additional requirements to:

• notify work with asbestos to the relevant enforcing authority;
• ensure medical examinations are carried out; and
• maintain registers of work (health records).

Is my work NNLW?

Whether a type of asbestos work is either licensable, NNLW or non-licensed work has to be determined in each case and will depend on the type of work you are going to carry out, the type of material you are going to work on and its condition. The identification of the type of asbestos-containing material (ACM) to be worked on and an assessment of its condition are important parts of your risk assessment, which needs to be completed before you start work.

Firstly decide if the work is exempt from licensing or not.

If the work is exempt from the need for a licence, you then need to determine if it is notifiable non-licensed work or non-licensed work. The key factors to consider are:

The type of work you are planning to do:

• Maintenance, e.g. drilling holes to attach fittings or pass cables through, painting, cleaning etc. Maintenance includes some removal where it is incidental to the main task, e.g. removing an asbestos ceiling tile to allow inspection; or
• Removal, e.g. as part of a refurbishment or redesign project; or
• Encapsulation, e.g. work to enclose or seal asbestos materials in good condition; or
• Air monitoring and control, and the collection and analysis of samples.

The asbestos type:

• Is it friable? - the more friable a material is, the more likely it will release asbestos fibres when worked on and the greater the risk of exposure.  Work which disturbs more friable materials e.g. asbestos insulation will tend to be NNLW and work which disturbs the least friable materials e.g. asbestos cement can normally be treated as non-licensed work; and
• How firmly is the asbestos bonded in a matrix? (For removal work only) – Asbestos containing materials (ACMs) where the asbestos is coated, covered or contained within another material, such as cement, paint or plastic are considered to be firmly bonded in a matrix, ACMs of this type in good condition can usually be treated as non-licensed work but where they are significantly damaged, and so more likely to release fibres, they will need to be treated as NNLW.

The material's condition:

• Has the material been damaged or is it in poor condition? – removal of ACMs in poor condition e.g. due to flood or fire damage, will normally need to be treated as NNLW; and
• Will the materials' matrix be destroyed when worked on? – e.g. deteriorating textured decorative coatings e.g. 'Artex' with gel or steam to remove it, will normally need to treated as NNLW.

It is the responsibility of the person in charge of the job to assess the ACM to be worked on and decide if the work is NNLW or non-licensed work. This will be a matter of judgement in each case, dependent on consideration of the above factors.

A decision flow chart is available in Asbestos Essentials sheet AO to help you decide how work with asbestos should be categorised.

To help you, examples of NNLW include, (assuming in all cases exposure is sporadic and of low intensity and will not exceed the control limit):

• minor, short duration, maintenance work involving asbestos insulation, e.g. repairing minor damage to a small section of pipe insulation where the exterior coating has been broken or damaged;
• minor removal work involving AIB, when short duration and as part of a refurbishment project, e.g. removing AIB panels fixed with screws following water damage;
• entry into the roof space above an AIB tiled ceiling, when no decontamination or cleaning has taken place;
• removal work involving textured decorative coatings where the method of removal requires deterioration of the material, e.g. where the material is treated by steam, hydrating gel etc and scraped off the underlying surface, or where it is very badly flood-damaged;
• removal of asbestos paper and cardboard products if not firmly bonded in a matrix;
• removal of asbestos cement (AC) which is substantially degraded e.g. badly fire-damaged or de-laminated material, or where substantial breakage is unavoidable to achieve removal.

NNLW will not normally include the following, which will continue to be categorised as non-licensed work (which is not notifiable), (assuming in all cases exposure is sporadic and of low intensity and will not exceed the control limit):

• short, non-continuous maintenance work involving AIB which is in good condition, e.g. drilling holes in AIB to attach a fitting or pass through a cable or pipe, cleaning light fittings attached to AIB, removing a door with AIB fire-proofing, or lifting ceiling tiles for inspection where there is no full-body entry into the roof space;
• short, non-continuous maintenance work on asbestos cement (AC), e.g. work on weathered AC roof tiles;
• removal of AC, which is kept virtually intact;
• short, non-continuous maintenance work on textured decorative coatings, e.g. drilling holes, inserting screws or painting;
• small-scale maintenance work with textured decorative coatings when this can be achieved without deterioration of the material, e.g. by careful cutting around backing sheets to achieve removal intact;
• removal, for example, of gaskets or asbestos rope cords from heating appliances, which can be left in situ for disposal or can be lifted out virtually intact, without substantial breakage;
• short, non-continuous maintenance work on clutch discs, brakes, friction products etc unless significant damage is required e.g. by power tools;
• removal of floor tiles or bitumen felt, when done with the appropriate controls, e.g. inline with Asbestos Essentials sheets A21 and A23;
• work to enclose or seal asbestos materials that are in good condition (and that do not require a licence);
• air monitoring and control, and the collection and analysis of samples.

The illustration of asbestos work categories chart gives some examples of what work falls into the categories of licensed, NNLW and non-licensed.

If you determine that the work you are about to do is NNLW, this is how you comply with the additional requirements:

Notification

Employers need to notify the relevant enforcing authority of any NNLW with asbestos:

• To notify you need to go to the online notifications form (via either a computer or Smartphone);
• All three possible regulators can be notified via this database - HSE, Local Authorities and the Office of Rail Regulation;
• Notice is required before the work starts - there is no minimum notice period;
• You do not need to wait for permission from the enforcing authority – the database will provide a PDF copy of your notification;
• If you are doing a project with multiple NNLW jobs you can notify once for the whole project;
• If you are a licensed asbestos contractor carrying out NNLW work, you will still need to notify;
• The online form is the only method of notification - you can't notify by phone or post.

Medical Surveillance

By 30 April 2015, all workers carrying out NNLW will need to have had a medical examination. Examinations will then need to be repeated at least every 3 years, as long as the worker continues to do NNLW. After April 2015, workers carrying out NNLW for the first time will have to have an examination before they can start such work:

• Medical examinations must include an examination of the chest and a lung function test;
• They need to be carried out by a licensed medical practitioner, e.g. a GP;
• Those workers already under surveillance via a licensed contractor and in possession of a valid certificate do not need to have the NNLW medical;
• Medical examinations should be carried out in work time at the employers' expense;
• The fee should be agreed with the doctor before the examination is carried out- HSE can accept no responsibility for remuneration matters;
• The doctor must issue a certificate to confirm the examination has taken place and on what date. The employer needs to keep this certificate for 4 years;
• Guidance for doctors conducting these medical examinations.

Record Keeping

Employers need to keep a register (health record) of NNLW with asbestos for each employee exposed to asbestos:

• This must include:
  • the nature and duration of work with asbestos and estimated exposure for each individual worker; and
  • dates of the worker's medical examinations;
• Record keeping may be as simple as writing down the names of workers on the job on your copy of the notification or keeping copies of the notification form for each person carrying out NNLW work, as the notification copy will document the nature of the job and type of asbestos from which likely exposure can be estimated.
• More detailed medical records will be kept by the doctor;
• Registers of work (health records) must be kept for 40 years (and offered to HSE or the individual concerned should the business cease trading);
• The need to record exposure does not mean that every non licensed task must have air sampling. There will often be published exposure figures or knowledge within the industry about exposures found at similar lower risk work done in the past. If a task is unusual sampling may be required.