A Cambridge University college has been fined after breaching safety regulations while painting work was carried out.

King's College representatives appeared before Cambridge Magistrates after the college breached regulations relating to the control of asbestos. Painters at the college were found to have been exposed to asbestos in November 2006. The college was ordered to pay a fine of £16,000. (Source: BBC News website in March 2008.)

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) recently ran an advertising campaign to improve understanding of the dangers and risks involved with asbestos. Titled 'You are more at risk than you think', the campaign included radio adverts, posters and banners on many Internet sites, such as MSN.   

The Control of Asbestos Regulation 2006 came into force in April 2007, yet many businesses are still unclear as to their responsibilities in this area.   

According to the HSE figures, 20 Tradesmen die each week from this hidden killer. Workers who carry out maintenance and repair jobs, such as cutting or drilling into walls, ceilings or partitions, are most at risk from asbestos.

The death rate for Mesothelioma, just one type of asbestosrelated illness, increased from 153 in 1968 to 2,037 in 2005. To prevent people dying from asbestos-related diseases in the future, asbestos must be properly managed.   

An estimated half a million commercial buildings still contain asbestos.

You have a duty to manage asbestos if:

• you own the building;
• you are responsible through a contract or tenancy agreement;
• there is no formal contract or agreement but you have control of the building;
• in a multi-occupied building, you are the owner and have taken responsibility for maintenance and repairs for the whole building.

If you are not directly responsible for the management of asbestos but have information about the building, you must co-operate with the duty holder, e.g. landlords must pass on relevant information to new tenants, and leaseholders must allow access for inspection by managing agents.

Over the years, asbestos has been used in many parts of buildings, and was still in use as late as 1999. There were several types of asbestos product used for a variety of uses. A few are listed below:

• Sprayed asbestos (limpet) – fire protection in ducts and to structural steel work, fire breaks in ceiling voids etc.
• Lagging – thermal insulation of pipes and boilers.
• Insulating boards – fire protection, thermal insulation, wall partitions, ducts.
• Asbestos cement products, flat or corrugated sheets – roofing and wall cladding, gutters, rainwater pipes, water tanks.
• Certain textured coatings – decorative plasters, paints.
• Asbestos ropes and cloth – gaskets, insulation, seals.

If your premises were built before the year 2000 then you must presume that asbestos may be present in some of the materials used in its construction.

You may already have information about the location of such materials. This may include previous asbestos surveys, building or insurance reports. Use this information as a starting point.

In the absence of any existing information, you will need to complete a survey to identify areas of the building which may contain asbestos. Unless sampling is undertaken to demonstrate that asbestos is not present, then you must presume that any suspect material does contain asbestos. Any work on these materials should only be undertaken by a licensed asbestos removal contractor. (Note - some work with low risk asbestos products, such as cement and vinyl floor tiles, can be undertaken by none-licensed contractors as long as they are properly trained and work to HSE safe working guidelines.)

It is advisable to engage the services of a competent Asbestos Surveyor to undertake a Type 2 survey, which will involve sampling suspect materials to confirm if asbestos is present. This may save time and money when undertaking future maintenance works.

Once the areas containing, or presumed to contain, asbestos have been identified then they should be documented in an asbestos register and a management plan put in place.   

Draw up a priority action list: give high priority to damaged material and materials likely to be disturbed. These will need to be repaired, enclosed or removed using trained personnel - a licensed contractor may be required.   

If materials are in good condition and are unlikely to be disturbed, you may decide to leave them in place. If you decide to take this path then you must regularly review the condition of the material for deterioration and take action if the material is damaged or starts to degrade.   

Always record what you find and the action you take.   

You must always tell people where the asbestos containing materials are and whether the presence of asbestos is confirmed or presumed. It is a good idea to label potential or known Asbestos Containing Materials.

Always inform contractors where the asbestos is before they start work (e.g. when you ask for a quote for a job) and agree the precautions that need to be taken to prevent exposure. Anyone who may work on asbestos must be trained and use safe working methods, work on many types of asbestos requires a licence. If you are unsure what to do, seek professional advice.

Remember

The duty is all about protecting yourself and other people from exposure to asbestos fibres by managing any asbestos present in a building properly. It is not about removing all asbestos! If the asbestos is in good condition and not likely to be disturbed, it is usually safer to leave it in place and manage it. Removal may be unnecessary and costly!

For further information you may wish to visit the following websites.

• Asbestos Removal Contractors Association
  www.arca.org.uk
• Asbestos Building Inspectors Certification Scheme
  www.abics.co.uk
• Health and Safety Executive
  www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/campaign