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Essential Advice for Working with Asbestos in Construction

Asbestos can be found in any building built before the year 2000 (houses, factories, offices, schools, hospitals etc.) and causes around 5,000 deaths every year.  Therefore if you are working on minor jobs your workers may well be in danger. It is called the silent killer for a reason. Hidden in dust and breathed in it can take many years for it to finally take its toll.

The HSE has a lot of information regarding working with Asbestos. Today we would like to remind you about how to safely carry out non-licensed work involving asbestos. This is aimed at building, maintenance and allied trades who have to undertake minor or maintenance works or refurbishments etc. This is also known as 'non-licenced work with Asbestos'.

There is a very useful Asbestos Workflow Chart (fig.1) taken from the HSE guidance that shows you the decision process you should follow for non-licenced working with asbestos.

Decision flow chart for non-licensed work with asbestos
Fig 1.

The HSE has a free downloadable booklet on advice with non-licenced work with asbestos. It explains to employers, managers and sole-traders what to do when they need to work on or near asbestos-containing materials (ACMs).It will help you to decide what category of asbestos work it is and how to plan the work safely.

Additionally there are extremely useful Asbestos Essentials Task Sheets that work with the above document and give great detail on how you should be working safely with various situations and different type of asbestos. These include:-

  • Equipment and method sheets
  • Work with asbestos cement (AC) (non-licensed)
  • Working with textured coatings (TC) containing asbestos (non-licensed)
  • Strictly controlled minor work on Asbestos Insulating Board (AIB)
  • Safe work with undamaged asbestos materials
  • Removal and replacement of other asbestos containing materials
  • Fly-tipped waste

If you are a 'client' and have to manage your Asbestos portfolio as per the CAR12 Regulations (Control of Asbestos at Work) and you would like help regarding the Management of Asbestos please give a member of the team a call on 01525 850080 or email us on info@aisolutions.co.uk. We can offer guidance and can provide a FREE Consultation and Demonstration on how you can ensure your compliance with the regulations.