Ask Gavin: Is asbestos in my building? Help!

This anonymous employer was worried about asbestos risks in a building their staff were refurbishing. So they asked Gavin Scarr Hall, Peninsula’s Director of Health & Safety, for expert advice.

Here’s what they had to say…

Hi Gavin, I manage a team of construction workers. We’ve been given the task of refurbishing someone’s old house. The building is quite old, and my staff are used to working on newer properties. I just want to make sure I’ve got all the health & safety bits ticked off. One thing I’m worried about is asbestos. What can I do to manage the risks and how can I find out if it’s in the building? Any advice would be much appreciated!Anon

Gavin’s reply was…

Hi Anon,

If the building was built before the year 2000, then it’s likely there could be asbestos present. So, the first thing to do is to determine if there is. The second thing is to know if it’s been disturbed or is likely to be disturbed when your staff are working.

As the employer, you do have a legal duty to find out if there is asbestos in this building before any work begins.

“One thing I’m worried about is asbestos. What can I do to manage the risks and how can I find out if it’s in the building?”

To find out if asbestos is in the building, you would need to check the property’s asbestos register. This is a plan that contains information about the location and condition of asbestos if it exists in a building.

You find the results to include in this register after completing an asbestos survey.

Under health & safety regulations, in most cases, the person responsible for arranging an asbestos survey is the person who owns the building. It may also be the landlord or whoever manages the building. This person is also responsible for keeping the register up to date.

If asbestos is or presumed to be in this building, the building owner should have carried out an asbestos survey already and the results should be on the register. But if you have concerns about this, you should ask to see the last one.

It’s essential that if your workers end up coming across any materials that may contain asbestos, they stop any work they’re doing immediately.

“I just want to make sure I’ve got all the health & safety bits ticked off”

If asbestos is present in the building, it becomes a problem if it’s disturbed.

Now, in the case of construction work, it’s likely that it will be. Drilling, sawing or even dusting can disturb asbestos and if the fibres release in the air, exposure could lead to someone developing chronic lung conditions and even cancer.

This won’t happen immediately, but it can happen over time. So it’s vital to make sure you’ve taken the right steps to mitigate the risk of harm to anyone who’ll be in the environment.

As you mention your staff are refurbishing this building, they could be at risk unless the building has already been inspected for asbestos. So as I said before, definitely find out if an asbestos survey has been carried out.

If there is asbestos, then you would need to look at who would be at risk and the level of risk. You can find this out by carrying out an asbestos risk assessment.

Then, it would be a case of looking at ways you could carry out the work safely. You would need to think about whether this is possible and if not, arrange for a HSE asbestos specialist to remove the asbestos before you start any work.

Depending on where the asbestos is in the building and it’s not damaged or disturbed, then it can be safer to leave it. But if that is the case, you can’t carry out any work without setting up safety measures beforehand.

“Any advice would be much appreciated!”

The responsible person i.e. the “dutyholder” should assess their building for asbestos and be able to provide information on where this is so you and anyone who is working can take the appropriate control measures.

Control measures include things like providing the right personal protective equipment (PPE) and asbestos awareness training. Your workers must be trained on how to identify common asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) and told what known ACMS are on the premises.

They also need to be crystal clear on the protective measures they need to follow for their own safety. It’s always best to consult a Health & Safety professional for anything like this.

So if you’d like to discuss this more with one of our Health & Safety advisers, we’d be more than happy to help.

To speak to an adviser, just tap below to book in for a free advice call.

Hope this has been helpful!

All the best,

Gavin