Owners and managers of properties constructed prior to the year 2000 need to manage the risks from asbestos, as they are responsible for ensuring that employees and non-employees are not exposed to health and safety risks as a result of the presence of asbestos.
Therefore, there are legal responsibilities covered in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 (CAR 2012), and Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM 2015).
Firstly, locating asbestos containing materials (ACMs), through an asbestos surveyor, and assessing the amount and condition of the ACMs. This information needs recording, referred to as an asbestos register, and needs to be kept up to date. Also, the duty holder needs to produce a management plan setting out how the risks from asbestos will be managed.
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Communication of this information is vital. The duty holder should make sure that the asbestos register is shared with any worker/contractor carrying out maintenance or other work on/in the premises.
If ACMs need to be removed clients have specific responsibilities under CDM 2015, including appointing a competent asbestos removal contractor.
Once ACMs have been removed an analyst will be required to verify that a work area has been thoroughly cleaned prior to handover for re-occupation or demolition work.
Do you understand your duties on locating, managing, removing and re-occupation?
To help ARCA has published a leaflet which is available to download here.
What does this mean when appointing an asbestos removal contractor?
This means clients need to appoint suitably competent people, therefore they need to make reasonable enquiries to satisfy themselves that contractors are appropriately resourced and competent for the work.
Clients see membership of a trade association as a safeguard, a responsibility that the Asbestos Removal Contractors Association (ARCA) takes seriously.
The Association has strict conditions of membership, whereby members need to demonstrate high standards of workmanship and health & safety management.
Also, contractors need to participate in the Association's site audit scheme. Under this scheme member contractors need to complete 3 satisfactory unannounced site audits every year to maintain membership. Being unannounced, member contractors have no prior notice of the audit, providing an even stronger system of reassurance for end-clients.
This provides an even stronger system of reassurance for end-clients.
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