More than a quarter-century has now passed since asbestos was last legal to use in the UK. However, the substance is still of relevance when it comes to the management of a broad range of schools, hospitals, and public buildings.
Indeed, while the use of any and all types of asbestos was outlawed in the UK in late 1999, it has never been the case that the mere presence of asbestos in a building means it must be removed. So, if a property for which you are responsible dates to before the year 2000, there is a strong likelihood that it will be home to asbestos-containing materials (ACMs).
Sure enough, various legal and moral obligations are set out under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 (CAR 2012). A central part of this legislation is the “duty to manage” asbestos. Outlined under Regulation 4, this “duty” applies to most non-domestic properties and shared areas.
If you are reading this as an individual who is classed as a “dutyholder” for a particular building under CAR 2012, you may be interested in knowing how technology can support your compliance with this law, while reducing risk and protecting lives.
Below, then, we have explored some of the key things you should know about using asbestos management software to fulfil your “duty to manage” this notorious carcinogen.
What is the ‘duty to manage’ asbestos responsibility in the UK?
As aforementioned, it is Regulation 4 of CAR 2012 that covers the “duty to manage” asbestos in non-domestic premises. More in-depth information about this duty can be found in the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE)’s Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) and guidance publication under the L143 series code, entitled Managing and working with asbestos.
Nonetheless, to summarise here, the key responsibilities of dutyholders include (but are not limited to):
- Identifying and recording ACMs in the given property
- Producing, maintaining, and reviewing an asbestos management plan
- Sharing information with anyone who may be at risk from the identified ACMs – for example, contractors who may conceivably come into contact with and disturb these materials.
The “dutyholder” for a particular building is the person or entity that has a legal duty to manage asbestos there. So, the likes of property owners, landlords, facilities management (FM) companies, school trusts, and NHS trusts are all examples of entities that could have “dutyholder” status for certain structures in accordance with CAR 2012.
What does a compliant asbestos management plan include?
The writing of an asbestos management plan is a key requirement for dutyholders. It will also be expected that the dutyholder will put this plan into action, monitor it, and review it every 12 months, or more frequently than this if necessary.
An asbestos management plan is a document – whether written or digital – that sets out how ACMs in a building will be managed in order to safeguard the health and safety of occupants and workers.
For an asbestos management plan to be legally compliant, the following elements should be included:
- The appointed responsible person(s)
- An asbestos register detailing the location and condition of the identified ACMs
- Risk assessments and prioritised actions
- A monitoring schedule and re-inspections
- Emergency procedures to be followed in the event of disturbance to the ACMs
- Communication protocols for contractors and workers.
What challenges do dutyholders commonly face?
As the above list helps make clear, satisfying one’s “duties” as a dutyholder can be a complicated, difficult, and time-consuming task.
Below are just some of the challenges that dutyholders under CAR 2012 frequently face:
- Incomplete and out-of-date asbestos registers
- Disconnected and disorganised systems, encompassing paper documents, spreadsheets, and siloed reports
- A lack of visibility across complex multi-site estates, such as campuses and hospital trusts
- Gaps in information sharing with maintenance teams or third parties
- A high administrative burden in order to stay compliant.
How can asbestos management software help meet legal duties?
As a dutyholder, you don’t have to depend purely on manual methods when it comes to managing your asbestos responsibilities. Indeed, given the risk of issues like the above, it is highly advisable for you not to do so.
When you make the right choice of asbestos management software for your situation and needs, you can take advantage of features and benefits such as:
- Centralised asbestos data management
Investing in a cloud-based platform for the management of your asbestos responsibilities can give you a single, centralised source of truth across all your buildings.
Today’s industry-leading asbestos management software will also give you the ability to upload site plans, inspection reports, laboratory results, and photographs.
What’s more, the way in which Vision Pro Software’s navigation is structured makes it easy to gain full visibility of the situation in each building, floor, and room.
- Visual risk mapping
The best asbestos management plan software for your needs will further make your life easier by incorporating hotspots, overlays, and colour-coded risks on interactive plans.
Such visual risk mapping will enable straightforward prioritisation and communication with non-technical users, for whoever uses the software.
- Real-time updates and monitoring
You should also expect your chosen asbestos management software to feature live dashboards and condition logs for ACMs.
Whatever platform you invest in should be automatically updated after surveys, re-inspections, or removals. This will further help ensure compliance that stays current, without the need for you (or any other users of the software) to constantly chase paperwork.
- Mobile access for field teams
The mobile dimension should also be strong with whatever asbestos management platform you opt for.
If mobile apps are provided with your chosen software that allow for your on-site teams to immediately access asbestos data, this will be a good sign. Furthermore, you should expect the software to give users the ability to upload photos, add condition notes, and edit records remotely.
Such mobile access will help reduce accidental disturbance of ACMs, while speeding up the reporting process.
- Automated documentation and reporting
It will also greatly help your compliance efforts if you pick an asbestos management platform that enables you to generate full survey reports and registers with a single click.
Even more positive, will be if your chosen software allows you to export these documents to multiple formats, so that stakeholders or regulators can easily access and view them.
Such functionality will enable you to save admin time, at the same time as maintaining a high standard of audit-ready documentation.
- Contractor access and communication
As we touched on earlier, you have a legal responsibility as a dutyholder to inform anyone who is likely to disturb the ACMs at your site.
In accordance with this, it will be greatly helpful if your adopted asbestos management platform incorporates secure portals through which contractors can view only the relevant ACM data.
This will support your efforts to prevent any unsafe work and compliance failures.
How does Vision Pro Software support asbestos compliance?
Vision Pro Software has been built with the UK asbestos regulations and dutyholder needs specifically in mind.
This is why it sports the following key features:
- Real-time asset and ACM tracking with visual risk displays
- Secure, cloud-based document storage
- A mobile app incorporating field-editing capabilities
- Contractor access controls
- Cost tracking and project planning for asbestos removals and/or remediation
It is worth noting that Vision Pro Software is not a platform designed purely around asbestos-reported concerns; it is much broader than this, supporting organisations and users with related compliance matters such as fire risk, legionella, and audit management responsibilities.
Real-world applications across sectors
Here are some of the ways in which dutyholders across a variety of sectors may use Vision Pro Software to meet their responsibilities:
- Education
A dutyholder with responsibility for a school site may use our software to help them more effectively manage legacy ACMs across multiple ageing buildings.
Vision Pro Software can also be quickly accessed, and easily used, by contractors during renovations.
- Healthcare
There is frequently a need in the healthcare sector to share access to an asbestos management platform across estates and clinical teams.
With Vision Pro Software, dutyholders in this sector will be able to easily and safely document urgent removals, while never being in doubt of their compliance with asbestos law.
If you wish to prevent liability and manage tenant safety as a dutyholder for a rental or investment property, Vision Pro Software can be an indispensable tool for helping you accomplish this.
Our asbestos management software makes it a straightforward process for property owners and managers to visualise compliance across portfolios.
- Public sector
When an individual or organisation is managing publicly funded assets, it is of the utmost importance that they are able to demonstrate impeccable transparency and legal adherence.
Again, this is a further priority that Vision Pro Software can assist a dutyholder in fulfilling.
Conclusion: a smarter way to manage a critical risk
When you are looking to keep in compliance with your obligations as a dutyholder under CAR 2012 – such as the identification of ACMs at buildings for which you are responsible, and the preparation of an asbestos management plan – you will be thankful for having access to the right management software to make these processes easier.
Outdated manual methods can leave organisations exposed to all manner of compliance risks. By contrast, industry-leading asbestos management software – such as Vision Pro Software – can be instrumental in transforming even high-risk compliance tasks into streamlined and well-governed processes.
By investing in the most suitable software, you won’t merely be satisfying your immediate legal duties – you will also be greatly contributing to the protection of lives and the improvement of operational confidence.
To discover more about how Vision Pro Software can bring these benefits to your own approach to asbestos management, and to arrange a demo, please contact us.
