Asbestos

What you need to do

The law says that anyone responsible for maintenance and repair of a commercial or industrial property has a duty to identify asbestos in the premises and manage the risk. Key issues are:

• Identifying asbestos risk
• Licensed work with asbestos
• Other work with asbestos
• Waste
• Instruction and training

What you need to know

Asbestos-related diseases kill more people than any other single work-related cause. All types of asbestos can be dangerous if disturbed. The danger arises when asbestos fibres become airborne. They form a very fine dust. Breathing asbestos dust can cause serious damage to the lungs and cause cancer.

Identifying asbestos risk

Before you commission or do any construction work that is likely to disturb asbestos, you will need to find out if there are any asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) in the premises or structure.

You need to know:

• the amount of asbestos;
• where it is and what condition it is in;
• whether work is likely to disturb the material; and
• whether and how the material needs to be safely protected or removed.

For demolition and refurbishment work, it is essential to find out, either from checking existing records (such as the client’s survey, asbestos plan or register) or commissioning a suitable survey before any construction work starts. It is good practice to include the need to survey asbestos and protect or remove it in the initial project cost and programme.

Licensed work with asbestos

Work with high-risk asbestos products, such as asbestos insulating board, sprayed fire or insulation coatings or lagging, must only be carried out by an asbestos licence holder who works within the conditions of their licence.

Other work with asbestos

For work with lower-risk asbestos products, such as decorative ceiling coatings and corrugated asbestos cement sheets, make sure that workers are properly protected and that you minimise the spread of debris – public fear and bad publicity are all too common, and decontamination costs can be huge.

Waste

Make sure that asbestos waste is disposed of properly and in accordance with Environment Agency and Scottish Environment Protection Agency requirements.

Instruction and training

It is a legal requirement that your workers are trained to know about the health risks associated with asbestos, how to spot it, and what to do if they uncover damaged asbestos.

Once construction work is finished, you may need to share information about the location and condition of any asbestos that is still within the premises. This is so that the client can comply with their duty to manage asbestos in non-domestic premises.