Enhance your health & safety by reducing asbestos risk

Health and safety, along with all the various legislation surrounding it, can be a minefield can’t it?

There are so many stories in the press about firms that try to cut corners, who ultimately get massive fines or big lawsuits against them when things go wrong.

Chances are if health and safety isn’t taken seriously, things will go disastrously wrong too.

In these modern times, asbestos can be seen as a bit of a thing of the past. It’s often overlooked by business owners, when it comes to their health and safety planning, as the substance was banned from being used in building materials way back in 1999. According to Asbestos Adviser if you’re a business owner who owns premises built pre-2000, you have a duty of care to your staff and the public to ensure your facilities are free from dangerous asbestos.

How can an asbestos survey be of benefit?

An asbestos survey can help you ensure full HSE compliance with ‘The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012’. If your building was built before asbestos was banned for use in building materials in 1999, you need to know whether asbestos is present and, if so, to what extent. Conducting an asbestos survey will help you identify and manage any risks to the property and the people within it.

What different types of asbestos surveys are there?

There are a few different ones, depending on whether you’re carrying out any building work or not.

If your building is pre-2000, you’ll need an asbestos management survey. This will help identify whether asbestos containing materials are present and aid the creation of a plan to manage any asbestos found. If asbestos is found, you’ll also need to plan for regular re-inspections, to ensure HSE compliance is maintained.

Next up, is the asbestos refurbishment survey which you’d need to undertake if your planning any changes to the fabric, fixtures, fittings or decoration of your property. An asbestos demolition survey would also be needed, in the event you plan to demolish all or part of your premises.

Finally, despite the ban on using asbestos materials in buildings, that came in to force in 1999, some brownfield sites, post-2000, can still contain asbestos. Conducting a soil survey can help you identify contaminated sites. Through stringent sampling and testing, a soil survey can help you identify if asbestos is present. When you know about the presence of asbestos, you can factor in the risks and put in to place a HSE compliant plan to ensure any work on these sites if done safely.

So how do you complete an asbestos survey?

The safest and most efficient way of conducting an asbestos survey is by using a specialist environmental consultancy. Using a specialist firm, like EDP UK, you’ll gain the peace of mind that you’re having the correct survey done, depending on your specific circumstances. If asbestos is found, you’ll also have the confidence that your experienced consultant will guide you through the challenging process of putting together a plan to help your environment stay safe.

References