As a site manager, or another equivalent role, you have a legal obligation to manage Asbestos on your Commercial Site. This obligation is to ‘take the appropriate measures’ to ensure that the people who work on or visit your site are safe, and will not have to deal with any of the associated health problems which Asbestos can cause.
This is easier said than done, because Asbestos management will vary dramatically from site to site, and things can change. However, at Facilities Management Solutions, our objective is to make this as simple as possible for our clients.
So, here is a quick guide to managing Asbestos, and keeping your site compliant and safe for you and your staff.
What is Asbestos and where will you find it?
Prior to 1999, Asbestos was a frequently used building material, which could be present in numerous places, and taking many forms, on your commercial site.
Unfortunately, it was eventually discovered that the fibres from Asbestos can actually be extremely harmful to people who are exposed to them, especially with repeated exposure over time.
The most common places you will find Asbestos on your site are:
- Corrugated Roof Sheeting or Roof Tiles
- External Pipework, Downpipes and Guttering
- Ceiling or Wall Panels and Partitions
- Textured Decoration (ie textured ceilings or walls)
- Plumbing & Heating Systems (ie lagging or gaskets)
- Sprayed Insulation over Construction (ie metalwork beams)
If you have a building that was built in the 20th century, there’s a very high likelihood that some of this potentially dangerous material will be present, which is where your obligation to manage it comes in.
Asbestos Surveys and Risk Assessments
The first step to managing Asbestos is simple: you need to identify where it is present and in what forms and condition. By having a qualified individual perform an Asbestos Survey, you will be able to get a functional understanding of where the material is located and you’ll be able to plan how you can manage it.
Obviously, if you don’t have any Asbestos present whatsoever, you do not have to perform this process again. However, if there is any trace of the material present – even if it is well maintained – you will have to repeat this survey, annually. Once you’ve assessed the potential risks of your site, you will have what you need to put in place a plan for how to move forward.
The document that is produced during your first survey is referred to as your ‘Asbestos Register’ and is a live document that will form the basis of all your Asbestos tracking going forward.
Please note, there is an alternative survey called a ‘Refurbishment or Demolition Survey’, which you will need to perform if you plan to undertake any work on your property, in addition to the standard ‘Management Asbestos Survey’.
Your Asbestos Management Plan
While you can repeat your annual survey with a yearly visit, you must still take active steps to manage your Asbestos in the meantime. These steps will be part of your Asbestos Management Plan, which is specific to your individual organisation.
As outlined by the Health and Safety Executive, your plan needs to cover the following key points:
- Who will be responsible for managing Asbestos, including deputies
- Your Asbestos Register [the live document created off the back of your Management Asbestos Survey] including the site plan which features the location of all Asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) as well as areas which have not been inspected
- The schedule for regularly monitoring the condition of all ACMs
- How you are going to share your Asbestos register with any workers or contractors performing maintenance works
- Control arrangements to actively ensure that ACMs are not disturbed
- Your emergency procedures if any ACMs are disturbed
This document needs to be dynamic and regularly updated, which will provide the basis for any Asbestos-related decisions. Any time that something affects or disturbs the ACMs, the document must acknowledge this, just as it will be updated when you perform your regular condition checks and annual surveys.
You can have the document in either a written or electronic format, however, we strongly recommend it being digital, but with a printed copy of the latest version regularly updated to ensure that a hard copy is available on site. This makes it easily legible, and can be updated or reproduced easily.
Using Your Plan
Once you’ve got an Asbestos Management Plan (and you’re in the habit of maintaining it and keeping it updated), you will get to the point where you’ll need to establish your plan of action.
If your latest survey or risk assessment turned up any potential issues or actionable maintenance which needs to take place, then these will be easy additions to your action plan. However, if you have no pressing issues, and all your ACMs are safely maintained, sealed or have been removed, you can still be proactive.
As your general building management and maintenance takes place, and you prepare for the future – for example, as you initiate your journey towards Net-Zero – you will need to anticipate the ways in which your ACMs will impact these projects.
It’s really obvious that if you have an Asbestos roof and you want a full roof replacement, this work will be affected by the presence of Asbestos fibres. It’s not always that clear, though.
For example, if you have an Asbestos roof (even one in good condition) and you want to make your site more sustainable with a Solar PV installation, you’ll need to strongly consider the impact that the Asbestos roof will have on this project. If you in any way “disturb” Asbestos, it can lead to the dispersal of the dangerous fibres, which can cause serious harm if inhaled. This would include drilling or cutting into the material, as well as moving the material.
Asbestos Removal and Demolition
Reading this, you might think that it’s better to just take away this whole headache and just remove all of your Asbestos. You’re not wrong. The easiest way to ‘manage’ your site’s Asbestos will always be to remove it. This investment will take away all of the headaches that will otherwise continue permanently.
Asbestos Removal is a very specialist task, requiring extreme care and preparation, to ensure that it is done correctly. Not only do the people working on it have to be careful for their own health, it is absolutely paramount to the safety of everyone on your site that no residual fibres are left behind. To achieve this, an air-tight Asbestos removal enclosure will be erected, to ensure that none escape the workspace. Those who enter this space will always be wearing full body PPE, a mask and goggles.
Once the ACMs have all been removed from your site, they will be either destroyed or recycled, safely.
Luckily for you, at Facilities Management Solutions, we are Asbestos specialists. We can safely remove your Asbestos, while taking into consideration minimal disruptions to your work force as well as removing any health risks which could impact your team or any visitors to the site.
If you need any support with the Asbestos management on your commercial site, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. Our objective is to take all of the stress and hassle out of your facilities management, and protect you (literally and legally!) from all Asbestos-related issues.
To get in touch, simply drop an e-mail to info@fmsolutions.co.uk or call us on 01908 034040.