Three new ”Specifications” have been developed for the asbestos removal industry. These are called Publicly Available Specifications (PASs) and have been produced by the British Standards Institution (BSI). PASs are fully recognised Specifications and are often used in the development of a full British Standard. PASs enable common standards for industry to be set in a relatively short time compared with detailed BSI standards, which can take years to develop. The new asbestos specifications contained in “PAS 60 Equipment used in the controlled removal of asbestos containing materials” were developed in less than a year.
In the asbestos removal industry, apart from a standard for type ‘H’ vacuum cleaners there have been no standards or specifications for either wet stripping equipment or negative pressure units. The absence of such equipment standards has been seen as a weakness in achieving high quality and consistency of control. As a consequence, HSE together with the trade associations, manufacturers and suppliers, sponsored the development of PAS 60.
PAS 60 “Equipment used in the controlled removal of asbestos containing materials” has three parts each constituting an individual specification or code of practice:
Part 1 (PAS 60/1): “Controlled wetting of asbestos containing materials -Specification”. This specification includes sections on design, instructions for installation and use, labelling and conformity marking with an annex on flow measurements from needles. It does not however include information on wetting fluids and wettability.
Part 2 (PAS 60/2): “Negative pressure units - Specification”. This is similar to Part 1 in that it includes sections on design, instructions, etc but has two annexes on airflow testing and reporting. It should help address the issue of defining airflow capacity.
Part 3 (PAS 60/3): “Operation, cleaning and maintenance of type ‘H’ vacuum cleaners - Code of practice”. This document is different. It is a code of practice on training, operation, cleaning, maintenance and record-keeping for type ‘H’ vacuum cleaners. It contains a requirement to have a filtration test certificate for the entire vacuum cleaner and not just for the HEPA filter. It also has similar requirements for filtration testing to those in PAS 60/2.
With effect from the date of this note! Work on developing all three parts of PAS 60 was completed in December 2004.
PAS 60 will be specified in HSE's latest asbestos stripping guidance (“The Licensed Contractors’ Guide”), which will be published in 2005. Therefore licensed contractors will be expected to ensure that any new equipment they buy conforms to the relevant PAS specification. Equipment that conforms to PAS 60/1 and 60/2 will be clearly labelled and should be easy to identify. As far as manufacturers are concerned, it will be in their interests to ensure that they are able to supply their clients with equipment, which conforms to the relevant PAS specification. Contractors will be able to comply with PAS 60/3 by putting in place and implementing a regime, which fulfils the requirements of the code of practice for type “H” vacuum cleaners.
No. PAS 60 takes effect immediately. Licensed asbestos contractors should start now to develop their regime to comply with PAS 60/3. Compliance should not be difficult as much is good industry practice already. However, with regards to PAS 60/1 and 60/2, contractors are not expected to replace existing equipment immediately providing it is suitable and sufficient for the work to be carried out. Whenever new equipment is purchased, though, it should conform to PAS 60.
Organisations who contributed to the development of the specification are included in the annex to this note.
Copies of PAS 60 are available from the British Standards Institution, 389 Chiswick High Road, London W4 4AL, telephone number 020 8996 7070. PAS 60/1 costs £24; PAS 60/2 and PAS 60/3 cost £30 each, although BSI members can purchase the documents for half price. HSE is in consultation with BSI regarding provision of an electronic version.
The organisations listed below contributed to the development of PAS 60
1. The following organisations provided members for the PAS 60 Steering Panel:
Health and Safety Executive
Health and Safety Laboratory
Safety Industries (Oakwood Ltd)
Asbestostrip UK Innovations UK Ltd
C&D Group Ltd
Numatic International
SMH Products Ltd
Thermac Hire Ltd
All Point Hire Ltd
Safety Industries Ltd
Phil Stuart Consultants
2. The following organisations provided members for the PAS 60 Review Panel:
Health and Safety Executive
Health and Safety Laboratory
Asbestos Removal Contractors Association
Asbestos Control and Abatement Division of TICA
Safety Industries Ltd
Cape Industrial Services Ltd
Aspect Contracts (Asbestos) Ltd
Hertel Ltd
AMS Holdings Ltd
Deborah Services Ltd
Envirovac Ltd
DSM Group Ltd
Envirogard
Kitsons Ltd
Rhodar Ltd
Fred Pooley Consultants