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Training for Asbestos Compliance
Health & Safety at Work - September 2005

More than 230 people lost their lives in accidents at work in 2003/4, with the largest group of fatalities taking place in construction. Less well known is that fifteen times that number die each year as a result of past exposure to a common building material used right up until the 1990’s. The lethal characteristics of asbestos were concealed for decades by the long gestation of the diseases it inflicts, and the annual toll of 3,500 deaths in the UK will continue to rise until the legacy of the 1970’s, when asbestos use was at its height, has passed.

Many of the work activities involving potential exposure to asbestos, such as shipbuilding and locomotive building have long ceased, but a quarter of the people currently dying have backgrounds in building maintenance and construction. Maintenance workers are still at risk from asbestos contained in buildings constructed before 1985, and the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations of 2002 aim to save 5,000 lives by cutting the incidence of unknowing exposures.

The regulations created a new duty to manage the asbestos risk in non-domestic premises. Those responsible for the maintenance and repair of non-domestic premises are required to take all reasonable steps to locate and record the presence of asbestos containing materials, to assess the risks presented by these materials and to implement a management plan that adequately addresses the risk.

Enforcement did not commence until 21 May 2004, allowing an 18-month lead-in period for dutyholders to fully appreciate and act upon their new responsibilities. The scramble was on for training in asbestos surveying and management, and everyone from health and safety managers to builders wanted to be ready to meet this new requirement.

The legislation stimulated enormous demand for training in asbestos awareness and management, but greatest demand was probably for the British Occupational Hygiene Society proficiency module, P402. The module provided students with the practical knowledge and skill to carry out the asbestos surveys demanded by the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations, and bestowed a skill that would be required by 90 per cent of all non-domestic buildings.

The natas:group had been providing training and accreditation to asbestos workers and HSE licensed contractors for a decade before 2002. The organisation was now rapidly evolving into one of the leading providers of comprehensive asbestos training which ranged from in the full suite of management skills, to simple asbestos awareness for workers.

‘Training companies were springing up all over the place to run asbestos surveying courses, and the quality of the training provided did vary wildly,’ said Max Lopacki, Managing Director of the NATAS Group. ‘We had been training the asbestos industry for ten years by then, supplying BOHS and our own courses, and we were perfectly placed to accommodate this.’

Asbestos Awareness is designed to increase general awareness of the material within the working environment. The course is suitable for anyone likely to come into contact with asbestos, from flooring contractors to firemen. At the other extreme is the BOHS module P405, which covers the whole gamut of asbestos management in buildings and provides practical knowledge and skills to facilitate the complete management of asbestos, from auditing to removal.

Solihull Community Housing, the company responsible to Solihull Metropolitan Council for 12000 community homes in the borough, has put all of its 180 housing maintenance and engineering staff through a NATAS asbestos awareness course. The organisation has just begun a five-year programme of asbestos audits on all community housing prior to refurbishment under the governments’ Decent Homes campaign.

‘All the guys that are likely to work with asbestos on a regular basis have taken a two day asbestos awareness course. I have had operatives, line managers, area caretakers and their managers, building surveyors, and depot managers go through the course and everyone else within the organisation has been through some sort of awareness training,’ said Solihull Community Housing Health and Safety Officer Richard Bowden.

Also conducted by Natas, the audit project will enable a detailed description of the whereabouts of asbestos and its condition to be issued with every job ticket. And all operatives will have the training to handle each situation appropriately.

Training is not the only way to give workers the resources to deal with asbestos. The situation has led to the launch of an association designed for both the new dutyholders, as defined by the regulation, and the tradesmen and workers for whom it was created to protect. The Asbestos Safety Association establishes a source of independent advice for dutyholders unsure of their legal standing and obligations, and for workers needing instant advice during the course of their work.

Health and Safety officers or facilities managers working to meet their dutyholder responsibilities will have access to the whole range of asbestos skills and expertise required to enable them to comply with the regulations. The association also offers free compliance audits against the requirements of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations.

Services include the following:

• Help and assistance preparing and managing the asbestos register and the ACM’s in their properties
• Practical advice and assistance ‘setting up’ asbestos related projects in their properties
• Advice and assistance in the selection of appropriate sub–contractors for asbestos related works or projects
• Contract management assistance relative to any asbestos projects being carried out on the duty holder’s behalf
• Advice and assistance in developing company asbestos policies and procedures
• Annual auditing to measure the effectiveness of any management measures that have been introduced
• Emergency advice regarding asbestos related issues

The main body of dutyholder membership will be those with responsibility for commercial premises in any business or organisation. Individual membership is available at low cost to workers likely to come into contact with asbestos, such as electricians, plumbers, gas fitters and builders, and is also available to those in advisory roles such as union representatives.

Membership to this group of frequently self-employed workers is important to the association’s goal of promoting asbestos awareness to those most likely to face the hazard. and membership at this level costs £100. These workers will have access to immediate telephone advice about materials they may come across at work, and can also obtain general and legal advice on health and safety and employment issues, best practice information and technical bulletins.

NATAS is one of the founding companies of the association, and Max Lopacki believes that the association meets a need in clarifying dutyholder responsibility while offering checks and audits to confirm full compliance.

‘There is a lot of confusion about the extent of surveying and asbestos management planning demanded by the regulation, but also who carries responsibility as dutyholder,’ said Mr Lopacki. ‘Membership of the association offers access to resources and protection that is not otherwise readily available, and I would urge any organisations unsure of its position with regards compliance to join.’

Further information about Natas is available from www.natasgroup.co.uk, or by calling 0870 751 1880.