How to Manage Asbestos in the Workplace
As an employer, you have a responsibility to ensure the safety and well-being of your staff, as well as any visitors to your workplace. A crucial component of this is ensuring that any asbestos-containing materials (ACM) in the building are properly managed and maintained to limit the risk of exposure.
As professional asbestos surveyors, we have decades of experience assisting businesses across the UK with their asbestos management. In this article, we will go through the five key steps required to protect people on your work premises from this hazardous material.
Asbestos Survey
If you purchase or rent a building in the UK, the current owner is obliged to inform you if asbestos-containing materials were used in its construction. Once you take up residence on the property, it is your responsibility to determine the type of asbestos present in the building and the condition it is in. The quickest and most effective way to do so is to conduct an asbestos survey. This gives you a detailed report on all ACMs on the premises as well as guidance on any repair work or containment measures needed to protect your staff.
Training and awareness
Once you are aware of the presence of asbestos in the building, it is useful to provide your staff with some asbestos awareness training. This will teach your staff what asbestos is, the potential risks involved, and how you are managing it to ensure their safety. It will also alert them to things to look out for regarding asbestos safety and how to report them up the chain of command.
Create an Asbestos Management Plan
An Asbestos Management Plan (AMP) is a written statement of intent that demonstrates the steps you will take to manage any asbestos in your building. It will be largely based on the recommendations from your asbestos survey and will detail where asbestos can be found on the premises, how to limit exposure to the material, how to reduce the risk of deterioration through environmental factors, and so on. The AMP will also list the responsibilities of your staff and may require additional in-house risk assessments to be carried out.
Remedial Action
If the asbestos in your building is in a poor state of repair, you will need to take the appropriate remedial action. While this often involves the careful removal of the ACMs, sometimes the problem can be resolved via encapsulation or simply isolating the affected area. Your asbestos survey will list certain recommendations on the appropriate remedial action to take.
Ongoing Review
Asbestos management is not a once-and-done thing. Like most building materials, asbestos degrades over time, and what might be perfectly safe today could pose a risk further down the line. If you are planning to remove the asbestos or refurbish the building, you will need to have a specialised ‘demolition’ survey conducted to determine the safest way to handle the ACMs. Likewise, if you notice signs of deterioration near an affected area, you should instruct your trusted asbestos surveyor immediately.
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Get in touch
If you are working in a building that contains ACMs, contact Dromore Safety Services Ltd today to arrange an asbestos survey. Call the team on 07717 210 323 to discuss your situation, and we will put together a suitable plan of action.
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