CLIENT REMINDER NOTICE OF CHANGES TO REGULATIONS

Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012

Important Changes to the Asbestos Regulations and how they affect working with asbestos cement products were made in April 2012.

In practice the changes are fairly limited. They mean that some types of non-licensed work with asbestos now have additional requirements;

What has changed? 

t  From 6 April 2012, some non-licensed work needs to be notified to the relevant enforcing authority by completing an on line form.

t  From 6 April 2012, brief written records should be kept of non-licensed work, which has to be notified e.g. copy of the notification with a list of workers on the job, plus the level of likely exposure of those workers to asbestos. This does not require air monitoring on every job, if an estimate of degree of exposure can be made based on experience of similar past tasks or published guidance.

t  By April 2015, all workers/self employed doing notifiable non-licensed work with asbestos must be under health surveillance by a Doctor.

What does this mean in practice when working with asbestos cement products?

t  Where the work is maintenance or removal of asbestos cement in good condition then it will not need to be carried out by a licensed contractor and there are no changes to the requirements.

t  Where the work is maintenance or removal of asbestos cement in poor condition then the work will be classed as Notifiable non licensed work (NNLW) and will need to be notified. 

 Typical situations requiring notification are:

t  Removal of asbestos cement (AC) which is substantially degraded e.g. badly fire-damaged or de-laminated material, or where substantial breakage is unavoidable to achieve removal.

t  It is the responsibility of the person in charge of the job to assess the Asbestos Containing Material  to be worked on and decide if the work is Notifiable non licensed work  or non-licensed work.

t  This will be a matter of judgement in each case, dependent on consideration of the above factors.

t  More information on what is NNLW and what is not can be found at http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/guidance/a0.pdf

t  Notification is carried out by using the online notification form at https://extranet.hse.gov.uk/lfserver/external/asbnnlw1

t  Notice is required before the work starts but there is no minimum notice period. You do not need to wait for permission before starting work.

t  By 30 April 2015, all workers carrying out NNLW will need to have had a medical examination. Examinations will then need to be repeated at least every 3 years, as long as the worker continues to do NNLW.

t  After April 2015, workers carrying out NNLW for the first time will have to have an examination before they can start such work:

t  The Medicals need to be carried out by a licensed medical practitioner, e.g. a GP

t  Employers need to keep a register (health record) of NNLW with asbestos for each employee exposed to asbestos: This must include:

t  the nature and duration of work with asbestos and estimated exposure for each individual worker; and

t  dates of the worker’s medical examinations;

t  Registers of work (health records) must be kept for 40 years (and offered to HSE or the individual concerned should the business cease trading);