It can be tempting to think of asbestos – the former “wonder material”, but now much better known as a notorious carcinogen – as a merely “historical” issue in the context of building management and maintenance in the UK.
After all, more than a quarter-century has now passed since the use of all types of asbestos was outlawed, in late 1999.
That particular landmark legal change, however, did not bring an accompanying obligation for asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) to be removed from buildings in the UK where the substance was already present.
This is why it is so important for individuals and organisations that are responsible for the management and maintenance of non-domestic premises dating to before the year 2000, to be familiar with – and to comply with – the asbestos regulations that exist in Great Britain today.
Even in the 2020s, effective asbestos management still matters
It is no longer legal for new ACMs to be used in the construction of buildings such as blocks of flats, schools, healthcare facilities, or commercial estates. However, the substance is still believed to be widespread in structures constructed or renovated prior to the 1999 ban.
It has been estimated that more than 75% of Britain’s state schools, for instance, may still contain asbestos today.
This, in turn, raises the question of what is being done to protect the users of such premises from the risks of being exposed to asbestos. In the event of asbestos particles being breathed in, the exposed individual can be at heightened risk of developing a potentially fatal health condition, such as mesothelioma or asbestos-related lung cancer, in later life.
This article, then, is aimed at facilities managers and compliance officers for non-domestic properties in the UK. More specifically, it is meant to be read by people who would be classed as “dutyholders” under Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 (CAR 2012), which is the overarching legislation for asbestos management in Great Britain.
Below, then, we will introduce the “duty to manage” asbestos and its key components. Alongside this, we will set out how our Vision Pro Software can help dutyholders streamline and digitalise their asbestos compliance efforts.
1. Identify the dutyholder
The first steps in fulfilling the “duty to manage” obligations for asbestos at your property, will be defining who the dutyholder is, and when the role applies.
You can find more information about the identification of dutyholders on page 31 of the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE)’s Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) and guidance document under the L143 series code.
In the words of that publication, “the duty to manage is placed on the person or organisation that has the main responsibility for maintenance or repair of non-domestic premises and common parts of domestic premises”.
In practice, the dutyholder for a particular building is often the property owner or landlord. However, there can be scenarios in which dutyholder responsibilities are shared by multiple parties – for example, as in the case of academies or schools.
Regardless, by having clearly defined and documented responsibility for asbestos management at your site, you can help ensure there are no gaps in compliance.
Vision Pro Software can support you and your organisation in this by:
- Providing secure, role-based access for dutyholders and staff
- Assigning and tracking actions, responsibilities, and sign-offs within the system.
2. Assess whether asbestos is present
Presuming you have determined that you are the dutyholder, the next stage will be to determine the true asbestos situation at your property.
This is in line with the obligation, set out under Regulation 4 of CAR 2012, for dutyholders to take reasonable steps to identify and document ACMs in a building for which they are responsible. It will be necessary to find out not only where ACMs are, but also their type(s) and location.
To discover this information, you will need to arrange for an asbestos survey to be conducted at your site.
The type of asbestos survey that is designed to help with the management of ACMs during the normal occupation and use of a given premises, is known as a “management survey”.
It is also important to bear in mind that in accordance with the law, some asbestos-related records, such as employee health records, will need to be retained for 40 years.
Vision Pro Software can support this stage of asbestos management by:
- Hosting survey data and CAD plans in a central and secure platform
- Integrating with surveyors to ensure data is captured accurately
- Making sure all historical information is easily stored and retrieved.
3. Keep an up-to-date asbestos register
The information that you gather through an asbestos management survey at your school, office, or other building, will enable you to put together an “asbestos register”. This is a document that records all ACMs that have been found (or presumed) to be present at the site.
Given the implications that the contents of your asbestos register will have for how you manage ACMs at your property, it will be crucial to ensure you keep it “current”. So, you will need to update it after inspections, maintenance, or remedial works.
Furthermore, given how easy it could be for ACMs on your site to be accidentally disturbed by people who don’t even know asbestos is there, it will be important to ensure your asbestos register is easily accessible for relevant staff and contractors.
Vision Pro Software can support these processes by:
- Creating and maintaining a live asbestos register, accessible 24/7
- Automatically logging all changes and keeping a clear audit trail
- Allowing updates in real time, following surveys or interventions.
4. Assess the risks
Another key duty that you will have as a dutyholder, is to evaluate the likelihood of the ACMs at your site releasing potentially dangerous asbestos fibres.
Priority Risk Assessments, or “PRAs”, will enable you to determine which ACMs are likely to present the greatest risk – and therefore, which ones most urgently need to be dealt with.
Through your use of PRAs, you can ensure an informed approach to the management of ACMs at your property, including when you are deciding on future control measures – or whether to remove certain ACMs altogether.
Again, Vision Pro Software can contribute here, by:
- Facilitating the completion and documentation of PRAs
- Linking condition ratings directly to ACM records
- Helping to prioritise remedial actions with built-in risk indicators.
5. Prepare an asbestos management plan (AMP)
If an asbestos register is the first obvious product that a completed asbestos survey enables you to create as a dutyholder, the second one is very much the asbestos management plan, or “AMP”.
The AMP is a document that sets out how ACMs in a building will be managed in order to protect occupants from being exposed to asbestos.
There are certain elements that an AMP needs to contain, in order to be compliant. These include details on who is responsible for managing asbestos at the given site, as well as the asbestos register, the schedule for monitoring the ACMs’ condition, control arrangements, and the emergency procedures to be followed in the event of the ACMs being disturbed.
Any given asbestos management plan will need to be specific to a particular site. CAR 2012 also stipulates that the AMP must be easy to find and accessible for anyone who needs to see it – and regular reviews are mandatory, too.
Vision Pro Software can support this part of your asbestos management by:
- Supporting the creation and secure storage of your AMP
- Enabling version control and scheduled review reminders
- Making plans accessible to authorised users at any time.
6. Implement control measures
With the ACMs at your site identified, the risks assessed, and a compliant asbestos management plan having been put together, it will be time to proceed with the implementation of physical control measures.
Examples of such measures can encompass the labelling of ACMs, the imposition of access restrictions, and the wearing of personal protective equipment (PPE). If you intend to carry out work around asbestos at your building, it will be essential to plan and manage this safely.
For higher-risk work on asbestos, you will need to engage the services of skilled and reputable contractors holding a licence from the HSE.
Vision Pro Software helps with these aspects by:
- Recording site-level control measures and tagging ACMs with notes
- Managing workflows for permits-to-work or contractor access
- Providing documentation of remediation or protective actions.
7. Inform and train relevant people
Dutyholders under CAR 2012 are also required to inform anyone who is likely to encounter asbestos at their site. Examples of such individuals who could be at risk from ACMs include staff members, caretakers, and contractors.
Asbestos awareness training is also required in many cases, as set out by Regulation 10 of CAR 2012. Specifically, every employer must ensure that anyone who is liable to disturb asbestos during their normal work, or who supervises such workers, is given the appropriate level of information, instruction, and training, so that they are able to work safely and competently without putting themselves – or other people – at risk.
This is an aspect that Vision Pro Software helps with by:
- Hosting and tracking training records for employees and contractors
- Uploading certificates and connecting them to individual profiles
- Granting controlled access to the asbestos register for authorised users.
8. Monitor and review
Finally, as a dutyholder, you are also obliged to regularly aspect the ACMs at your premises for signs of deterioration.
In the event of anything changing – not just the condition of the ACMs, but also such factors as occupancy or how the building is used – it will be necessary for you to update the property’s AMP and asbestos register.
Carrying out a review at least once a year is widely considered a baseline of best practice.
Vision Pro Software assists with the monitoring and reviewing processes by:
- Providing reminders and tools for scheduled inspections
- Supporting documentation of reviews and changes to AMPs and registers
- Always keeping the dutyholder well-prepared for an HSE audit.
Conclusion: simplify compliance, reduce risk, and stay ahead with Vision Pro Software
Hopefully, the above guidance will have left you in no doubt about the importance of managing asbestos in a proactive and compliant way. Adhering to your obligations as a dutyholder isn’t optional – it is essential, with serious adverse consequences if you fail to do so.
To enjoy peace of mind, accountability, and a single source of truth with your choice of asbestos management software, choose Vision Pro Software. Contact us now to book a demo or to receive a quote.
