Whatever type of business you run, wherever you’re based, your non-domestic building could be containing huge quantities of asbestos. If you’re in charge of managing and maintaining this facility – either as its owner or dedicated controller through a tenancy agreement – you also have a duty to manage and control the spread of asbestos.
Fortunately, secure asbestos management can be achieved with regular inspection and at little cost. First, It’s imperative you know what asbestos does in order to protect the condition of your building and the well-being of your employees.
About
Consisting of six naturally occurring silicate minerals, asbestos is a material commonly used in the construction of buildings. Firms would seek the use of asbestos to aid thermal insulation, fire proofing and acoustic insulation around a number of areas, including flooring and roofing, mainly due to its resistance to fire and heat as well as its affordability.
However, after a while it became clear that asbestos could cause serious damage to human health when inhaled, with cancers of the lungs and chest lining among some of the more serious cases. It’s now illegal to use asbestos in construction, but buildings erected before the year 2000 could all contain huge amounts of the mix of minerals. That’s why it’s important to regularly inspect even the newest of constructions for levels of asbestos.
Areas to inspect
Asbestos can cover any area of a building, although it’s most commonly found in parts that receive little attention in regards to cleaning. These include halls, lift shafts, stairwells and roof spaces. Specifically, roofing felt, decorative paints, wall cladding, gutters, wall panels and structural steel work are all vulnerable due to where asbestos-based products were once used.
Management
The ‘duty to manage’ asbestos can be found in the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, which provides a number of tips for its management along with the requirements of dutyholders.
The first step is always to prove whether there is an asbestos-containing material (ACM) in the premises, which involves a thorough inspection of the offending area. Asbestos contains plaques that are relatively acellular, with a ‘basket-weave appearance’.
Generally, signs of asbestos include scratched or frayed edges of a surface, the removal of something from its original base and dust or debris in nearby areas, but you must appoint a trained professional to carry out any inspection of this.
Ensure this competent individual is keeping an up-to-date record of the location as well as any developments on the ACM’s condition. They must devise a plan to manage the risk of this highly dangerous material, oversee the steps involved and review the progress made in the aftermath.
While this is going ahead, any employees that are likely to come across the affected area should be alerted of the ACM’s presence and told to use a different route. If they happen to encounter what they believe is an ACM in another part of the building, they must collaborate with the inspector under their guidance.
Fortunately you can hire someone to oversee both the asbestos inspection and management. What you, as the building owner, are required to do is lend a hand in the final assessment of the risk. This proves you’ve been made fully aware of the issue and recognise the impact it could have on human wellbeing.
