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Asbestos management
Clients Legal Duties
Owners and managers of a premises, whether an office, shop, factory or school, must understand their legal duties as a duty holder under Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, as the failure to effectively manage asbestos can and does lead to enforcement action from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
If the premises you manage or own was constructed prior to the year 2000, you need to know if asbestos is present and manage the associated risks, as you are responsible for ensuring that employees and non-employees are not exposed to health risks as a result of the presence of asbestos.
Asbestos is a hidden danger as asbestos containing materials could be found in numerous places within a building, such as pipe lagging, insulation board, vinyl floor tiles and cement products. Being aware of where asbestos can be found, and how to manage the risks, is vital to reducing the health risks faced by workers and the public.
Legal duties are 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). w Locating asbestos containing materials (ACMs), through an asbestos survey, therefore assessing the amount and condition of the ACMs. This information should be recorded, referred to as an asbestos register, and kept up to date. w The duty holder will also need to produce a management plan, detailing how the risks from asbestos will be managed. w If ACMs need to be removed clients need to appoint a competent asbestos removal contractor. w After removal an analyst will need to verify that a work area has been thoroughly cleaned prior to handover for re-occupation or demolition work.
Learn more about your duties on locating, managing and removing asbestos by downloading publications made available in the clients section at arca.org.uk
Maintenance of Equipment -
ARCA has been informed by Associate Members, who carry out maintenance of equipment used during asbestos removal works, such as NPU’s and H Class Vacuums, that there are some companies doing this type of work without a licence, even when this work falls under the regulatory definition of licensed work with asbestos, and therefore the company must hold a licence to work with asbestos (a licence issued by the HSE).
Regulation 3(3) of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 (CAR 2012) states:
Where a duty is placed by these Regulations on an employer in respect of employees of that employer, the employer is, so far as is reasonably practicable, under a like duty in respect of any other person, whether at work or not, who may be affected by the work activity carried out by that employer except that the duties of the employer— (a) under regulation 10 (information, instruction and training) do not extend to persons who are not employees of that employer unless those persons are on the premises where the work is being carried out; and (b) under regulation 22 (health records and medical surveillance) do not extend to persons who are not employees of that employer.
Regulation 3(3) of CAR 2012 extends the licence holder’s duties (except for Regulations 10 and 22) for their own employees to all other persons; this includes the persons who are carrying out the maintenance activities if they constitute licensed work. This amplifies the overarching duties in Sections 2 and 3 of HSWA which also apply.
Regulations 11 and 16 are the main goals of CAR 2012 (prevention of exposure to asbestos and prevention of spread of asbestos) and Regulation 3(3) extends these duties to those who are not employees. Licensed asbestos removal companies therefore have a legal duty, so far as is reasonably practicable, to ensure that any maintenance work, which constitutes licensed work with asbestos, carried out on their equipment by a third party, does not lead to exposure to, or spread of, asbestos.
A reasonably practicable way of achieving this is by using the services of a maintenance company who has been assessed by the HSE as competent to carry out this type of work. That is, a maintenance company that holds a licence to work with asbestos issued by the HSE.
