Asbestos safety is an important part of occupational health and safety since asbestos fibre exposure can cause major health problems such as asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma. Asbestos safety is related to many tasks and responsibilities in various situations, such as workplaces, construction sites, and building management.
As the name suggests, the idea of asbestos management is to manage asbestos and ensure that everyone on the premises is kept as safe as possible from the issues and ill health that asbestos can cause.
It is the responsibility of the person who owns or manages the building/company that is within it. They not only need to be aware of their responsibilities but also what repairs and maintenance they may also be required to carry out as a part of them.
When it comes to asbestos safety, it is the end client who has a legal duty to keep everyone safe. They need to ensure that they assess and check the asbestos within the property and ascertain whether or not the condition could pose a risk.
They also need to monitor the condition of the asbestos-containing materials and check whether this changes over time.
These end clients as they can be known, will be responsible for following the HSE regulations that relate to asbestos safety and keeping to the rules that are legally outlined to them.
Who is responsible for dealing with asbestos?The person who is identified to be the duty holder when it comes to dealing with asbestos will depend on the nature of the building and what it contains. It may be the building owner, the landlord or more often than not, the person or organisation who has been identified as responsible for the maintenance or repair of the building and the materials that it contains.
The recommendation for the majority of these people is that whilst they take charge of managing the asbestos risks within the property, they ensure that any handling of asbestos, such as removal, is completed by a certified and licensed expert. This will help to keep everyone in the building safe.
Several duties will fall to the duty holder of asbestos; whoever they are.
The first is that they should take steps to ascertain whether or not any materials in the property are likely to contain asbestos and therefore need to be treated in the right way. If they are identified as being a risk, this duty holder should identify where the asbestos-containing materials are and what condition they are in.
The duty holder should assess what risk is posed to individuals who are at risk of being exposed to asbestos and then develop a management plan which will take necessary steps to protect those people the best that they can.
As well as making those initial checks, the duty holder should also continue to monitor and review the asbestos (as well as the plan that has been made) and keep the records up to date.
It is this up-to-date record keeping that will then allow the duty holder to pass asbestos-related information to anyone who may be at risk on the premises, whether that is every day or if they are just visiting.
A risk assessment is a key part of asbestos safety and something that should be given the right level of attention.
This risk assessment should be carried out by someone who is recognised as being a duty holder, responsible for asbestos safety on the premises. They should be aware of what they are looking for and what a possible asbestos risk may look like. They will also be able to identify how these risks can be lowered and how best to approach managing asbestos in the building.
When it comes to the majority of asbestos safety in premises, it is largely recognised that the employer and/or the business owner is the one who is the duty holder. They will need to carry out a variety of tasks that relate to asbestos health and safety and follow the guidance that is outlined by the HSE. Their responsibilities and the role that they play contain many factors.
In asbestos safety, it is vitally important that the employer or business owner carries out a thorough risk assessment on the property. They should be looking for possible asbestos-containing materials and then ascertaining the level of risk that they pose to those in the building.
If any potential asbestos risk is present, then the business owner/employer will need to create a detailed asbestos management plan. The idea of this is to identify what needs to happen to keep the risk of the asbestos containing materials (confirmed or suspected) as low as possible.
It should outline the measures that have been put in place, including when the materials will be reassessed and checked over for any changes. It should also outline an emergency asbestos plan, which can be used should the risk have increased.
Another key responsibility for the duty holder is to make sure that they have all the training that they need. This needs to be updated regularly and should be comprehensive and complete.
They may also need to deliver training to others in the business, keeping them up to date on what asbestos measures are in place. The most important thing for everyone to understand is the risks that can be associated with asbestos and what they will need to do to keep themselves safe.
Asbestos materials can deteriorate over time and it is at this point that they become dangerous to those in the building. This means that an important responsibility is to monitor the condition of the material. This should be completed regularly and records kept of it.
That way, should there be any changes (and therefore any change in the risk level) then the correct steps can be taken as soon as possible.
If asbestos is found and needs to be removed from a building, then it is likely to be down to an asbestos removal contractor to do this part of the process.
The reason for the removal to be down to a contractor is that anyone who is handling or removing asbestos will need to be both licensed and certified to carry out the work. With certification comes the knowledge that they are safe to complete these jobs (and will do so in a way that protects others around them).
As we have mentioned, those who are recognised as asbestos removal contractors will have the right certification and license to complete this type of work. Part of this process is that they have to understand and follow the required safe removal practices that relate to asbestos.
They will also need to dispose of the waste safely. They will know exactly where to take the asbestos containing materials and what needs to happen to ensure that everyone is safe during removal, transportation and disposal too.
Considering that the risk of asbestos relates to the air that is breathed in, it makes sense that one of the most important aspects of asbestos safety is to monitor the air. This is particularly true when the asbestos is being removed.
It is down to the contractors that are removing it to monitor the air quality and to ensure that should any changes be identified, steps are taken to keep those in the vicinity safe.
An OHS professional is there to advise the business owners (and those who are responsible for asbestos safety) on what they need to do when it comes to asbestos safety. Their role relates to some key aspects of asbestos safety.
The first thing is compliance. Because an OHS is going to know the legislation, regulations and rules that relate to asbestos safety; they can then use this to keep a check on whether those who have responsibility are compliant with the measures that they are taking with asbestos safety.
To approach asbestos in the right way, it is vital that training and education are delivered. An OHS can do this to make sure that those who need to have a particular level of asbestos safety knowledge, have the right level of education to keep everyone safe.
If asbestos is identified, or suspected within a building, then an OHS can be tasked to investigate this. They will be able to visit the property and carry out relevant checks that will then identify the likelihood that there are asbestos containing materials and if these materials are damaged in any way (this increases the possible risk that they pose).
The records that are kept about asbestos safety are an important part of the process. This is because they should what checks have been carried out, what measures have been put in place and when things may need to be repeated in the future. An OHS may audit companies to ascertain whether or not the records that they are keeping about asbestos are at the right level and are as complete as they should be.
Employees may be mistaken in thinking that they do not play a part in asbestos safety; however, this is not the case. Employees have their responsibilities that they need to keep in mind.
One of the main things that any employee should do when it comes to asbestos safety is to be aware of the risks that asbestos poses. When you understand just what asbestos exposure can do to a body, it becomes all the more important to be on the lookout for it.
Should an employee feel that there is a potential asbestos risk in their building, then they should be able to report this. They should know who to report to and how to go about doing this.
Some procedures are set out in businesses, they are there to keep people in the building safe. Employees should, at all times, follow this procedure, which means that they need to fully understand them.
A Regulatory Agency is there to set the Regulations that are designed to keep people safe. They take on a high level of asbestos health and safety and they have some key responsibilities that they must complete.
A key part of the role of a Regulatory Agency is to enforce the Regulations that they have created. This may come in a variety of forms, however, the aim is that those whom the Regulations relate to, follow them.
There may come a time when someone who is new to asbestos safety or has recently come into a role, may not entirely understand what is expected of them. As experts in the Regulations, the Regulatory Agency will be able to advise the best course of action that they need to follow and provide them with the best advice possible.
Regulatory Agencies may sometimes need to become involved in both monitoring and testing of the air and asbestos-related materials too. They may become involved at certain times, particularly when the risk is high.
A health and safety consultant is there to act as a representative for that particular employer or building owner. They may be requested to assist when there is no set health and safety employee, or they are new to their role.
A health and safety consultant will provide a consultation service. This means that they an provide the guidance and advice that the business owner is going to need to know about asbestos safety.
Another possible part of the role of a health and safety consultant is to assist in training. This may be training those who have a responsibility for asbestos safety, or it may be training the employees in a setting, who need to have an overview understanding of asbestos.
Get in contact and we will
get back to you
Sign up today & receive a discount on your first course
We will keep you up to date with the latest news, updates and discounts.
