Don't be caught out
December 1st 2005 The past three years have been a roller-coaster ride for many organisations trying to meet the demands and deadlines of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations (CAWR) 2002. Understanding responsibilities, surveying premises, training staff, developing registers procedures and policies, and finally putting it all together into a management plan have been the demanding milestones on the road to compliance.
According to the HSE, 40 per cent are still travelling and are therefore constantly at risk of prosecution. For the 60 per cent now shaking the mud from their boots, the alarming news is that this is a job that will never be finished.
The CAWR introduced the new duty to manage more than three years ago with dutyholder responsibility resting with those who manage the maintenance and/or repair of nondomestic premises. This often fell between the health and safety and facilities management roles and stimulated a fervent demand for training amongst people with little previous knowledge of the issue. With the initial furor over, the stages still causing most concern are management plan preparation, putting the plan into effect with staff training and procedures, and keeping the information up to date.
The management plan is an organic piece of work which evolves as the situation changes. It defines how you monitor asbestos and keep it in good condition, and records the work carried out and estimated levels of worker exposure. The plan explains about asbestos, what it is and the risks it poses. It outlines legislative obligations, and explains local procedures and policies. But because the document requires constant updating and use, many duty holders will only really be sure they are compliant when the inspector calls.
The Asbestos Safety Association was launched last year to help dutyholders in all aspects of CAWR compliance, and assists member companies in preparing and managing the asbestos register and management plan. It offers members a free compliance audit to confirm that regulatory requirements are being met - and often finds that they are not.
The organisation has seen examples of even major companies making rudimentary mistakes and failing to reach compliance. A leading industrial processing company now faces HSE prosecution for the contamination of unlicensed workers who were removing redundant pipe work embedded in a factory wall. The company had done a type 2 survey and not the mandatory type 3.
The HSE defines three survey types. Type 1 locates all materials which could contain asbestos and without testing, presumes that they do. Type 2 is a standard identification, sampling and assessment survey of accessible asbestos containing materials (ACMs). Type 3, a mandatory requirement before refurbishment or demolition of a building, sets out to find every ACM in the structure before work commences; only a full access type 3 survey would have discovered the asbestos packing around the pipes.
Another company which thought it was compliant was an oil multinational with land based facilities and North Sea oil drilling platforms. It learned that it was almost certainly non-compliant due to an inadequate management plan. NATAS was quickly retained to oversee surveys, handle broad and specific staff training and develop a new asbestos management plan for the company, putting in place a permit to work system to ensure short term compliance.
Many organisations remain unable to provide employees and contractors with the information they are legally required to have. Nuaire is one the world's largest manufacturers of ventilation equipment and has a thriving installation business. It does much work in the public and private sector, and often struggles to obtain information for its workers about asbestos in the buildings they are working in.
Stephen Flood, Health and Safety Officer with Nuaire said: 'We are surprised at how many organisations are unable to provide adequate information. Some seem unclear about the regulations, and others are still struggling to come into compliance. We are working with the Asbestos Safety Association on procedures which include asking the appropriate questions when we take orders from such organisations."
Bulletin Max Lopacki has been involved in the asbestos industry since 1983. His career has included asbestos contracting, surveying, project management, training and consultancy. He founded the National Asbestos Training & Accreditation Scheme (NATAS) in 1995 and is now Managing Director of the NATAS Group of companies.
One of the founders of the Asbestos Safety Association is the NATAS: group, a leading provider of training and accreditation to asbestos workers and HSE licensed contractors. NATAS runs hundreds of courses across the UK and Ireland each year from licence revalidation for asbestos professionals to asbestos awareness training for staff, and asbestos management for duty holders. The organisation can be contacted on: 0870 751 1880 | 
