Health & Safety Guidance

Transcription

1 St Bartholomew & All Saints Parochial Church Council Health & Safety Guidance Section C.07 Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations Guidance No: SBC.09 Issue No: 03 Issue Date: Mar 2017 Review Date: n/a

2 Change No. 1 01/ / /2017 Document Change Record Date Change Reason for Change Page 1, Issue No. delete 01, insert 02 Update document Page 1, Issue Date delete Nov 2007, following analysis of insert Jan 2012 sample of mower Page 4, insert 4. Addendum (January shed roofing 2012) material prior to Page 6, insert Appendix II Asbestos demolition. Sample Analysis Certificate All pages document reviewed, updated and rewritten to reflect requirements of Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2012 Page 1, Issue No. delete 02, insert 03 Page 1, Issue Date delete Jan 2012, insert Mar 2017 Page 2, add Document Change Record Page 6, insert 5. Addendum (August 2015) Page 9, insert Appendix III Asbestos Sample Analysis Certificate Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2006 superseded by Contol of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2012 Insert result of analysis of sample from base of vertical flue Page 2 of 9

3 Section C.07 The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2012 Introduction This guidance outlines the special regulations relating to asbestos. Asbestos is a hazardous material and should be treated with the utmost care. Normally specialist contractors need to be employed to deal with this material. Regulations have been introduced which impose obligations on property owners, including places of worship. Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2012 The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2012 came into force on 06 April 2012 and replaced the previous Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 in order to take account of the European Commission s view that the UK had not fully implemented the EU Directive on exposure to asbestos (Directive 2009/148/EC). In practice the changes are fairly limited and mean that some types of work with asbestos now have additional requirements i.e. notification of work, medical surveillance and record keeping. Whilst notification of work will be the contractor s responsibility, duty holders must: Provide details of any known or suspected asbestos containing materials incorporated in the premises, in the vicinity of, or potentially affected by the proposed work, and Ensure that their contractors are aware of and undertake to comply with, the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, including having provided suitable and sufficient training for operatives, and Ensure that their contractors are adequately insured to undertake such works. All other requirements remain unchanged from the previous Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations The Duty to Manage Asbestos in Non-Domestic Premises In common with the 2006 regulations, Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2012 imposes a duty to manage asbestos on anyone with an obligation to maintain non-residential premises, including places of worship, to take measures to investigate whether asbestos is present. It requires the person who has the duty (i.e. the duty holder ) to manage the risk from asbestos by: Carrying out a suitable and sufficient assessment to establish if there is asbestos in the premises, its quantity and what condition it is in Presuming materials contain asbestos unless there is clear evidence that they do not Page 3 of 9

4 Making, and keeping up-to-date, a record of the location and condition of the asbestos of the Asbestos Containing Materials(ACMs) or materials which are presumed to contain asbestos Assessing the risk of anyone being exposed to fibres from the materials identified Preparing a plan that sets out in detail how the risks from these materials will be managed Taking the necessary steps to put the plan into action Periodically reviewing and monitoring the plan and the arrangements to act on it so that the plan remains relevant and up-to-date Providing information on the location and condition of the materials to anyone who is liable to work on or disturb them Who has the duty? The person responsible for implementing the Regulations is the duty holder. The duty holder is the person or organisation that has clear responsibility or legal obligation for the maintenance or repair of non-domestic premises through an explicit agreement such as a tenancy agreement or contract. In some cases, such as a church, there may be no tenancy agreement or contract and in these cases the duty is placed on whoever has control of the premises. For the purposes of this guidance, members of the Parochial Church Council (PCC), as Charity Trustees, have control of the premises and therefore have responsibility for complying with the Regulations. What the Regulations Require The duty holder is required to carry out a risk assessment which must be recorded in writing. The assessment must consider whether asbestos is present, its location and condition. The obligation is to carry out an inspection of reasonably accessible parts, consider the building plans or relevant information and take account of the age of the premises. Where considered appropriate, a suitably qualified person may be appointed to carry out the survey. However, although a competent person may be appointed to carry out all or part of the work to meet the requirements, the duty holder must be involved in the final assessment of the potential risk. In particular the duty holder will know how the premises are used and what disturbance is likely to occur. In the event that asbestos is identified or is liable to be present, the duty holder must ensure that certain actions are taken. The risks must be considered and a written plan prepared identifying which parts of the premises are affected and setting out measures to manage the risk. Three key duties which apply to duty holders are: To monitor the condition of the asbestos To ensure it is properly maintained or safely removed if necessary Page 4 of 9

5 To ensure that information about its location and condition is provided to every person liable to disturb it and to the Emergency Services. Achieving Compliance In order to discharge this duty to manage asbestos and comply with the requirements of The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2012 the following steps were taken: 1. Assessment for the presence of asbestos A Type 1 Location and assessment survey (presumptive survey) of St Bartholomew & All Saints Church was carried out on 11 September The purpose of the survey was to locate, as far as reasonably practicable, presumed ACMs and assess the extent to which they were used and their condition. The significant findings were as detailed below: 1.1. Bell Tower ~ roofing felt had been applied to the inside of the louvers in the North and West faces of the bell chamber. The condition of the felt had deteriorated (presumably due to exposure to the elements) and was found to be friable and prone to damage High Altar ~ a quantity of loose fibrous material was found to be present in the bottom of the below-floor pipe/service ducts located at the North and South ends of the step leading to this area Mower Shed ~ the roof is constructed from a semi-rigid corrugated sheet material (not cement-asbestos) which appears to contain some form of reinforcement. The material was found to be in good condition. 2. Assessment of the risk Based on the location and condition of the presumed ACMs, the potential risks were assessed as follows: 2.1. Bell Tower ~ due to the relatively poor condition and position of this material, the potential risk to persons entering the bell chamber (for the purposes of maintaining the bells or gaining access to the roof) was considered to be high High Altar ~ whilst the material is only accessible by lifting the iron gratings, its loose nature gives rise to the possibility of fibres being entrained in convection currents by the presence of heating pipes and therefore the potential risk was considered to be high Mower Shed ~ the material was found to be in good condition with no evidence of damage and as there is little likelihood of it being disturbed the potential risk was considered to be low. Page 5 of 9

6 3. Measures for managing the risk 3.1 In view of the high risk represented by the presumed ACMs at 2.1 and 2.2 above (Bell Tower and High Altar), a Type 2: Standard sampling, identification and assessment survey (sampling survey) was undertaken on 24 October 2007 by Scientifics Limited, Bristol Street, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN1 5ET Tel: , a UKAS accredited laboratory. Examination of the samples gave the result asbestos not detected as detailed in the attached analysis certificate (Appendix I) and on this basis no further action is considered necessary. 3.2 The low risk represented by the presumed ACM at 2.3 above (Mower Shed) necessitates no further immediate action but arrangements should be made to periodically inspect the material for damage or deterioration. In the event it is intended to undertake work on the mower shed, either for the purposes of repair or demolition, then arrangements should be made for a sample of the roofing material to be taken and analysed for the presence of asbestos, prior to any work being carried out. 4. Addendum (January 2012) 4.1 Following receipt of notification of the intention to demolish the Mower Shed, a sample of the corrugated roofing material identified during the original Type 1 Location and assessment survey (presumptive survey) was subject to analysis by ESG Asbestos Limited, Bristol Street, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN1 5ET, Tel: , a UKAS accredited laboratory. Examination of the sample gave the result No Asbestos Detected in Sample as detailed in the analysis certificate (Appendix II) and on this basis no further action is considered necessary and the proposed demolition of the shed may go ahead. 5. Addendum (August 2015) 5.1 Preparation of the proposals for renewal of the church heating system necessitated an inspection (by remotely-operated camera) of the internal condition of the vertical flue serving the existing boiler. Removal of an access panel at the base of the flue revealed the presence of debris of an unknown nature. A sample of the debris was analysed by ESG Asbestos Limited, Unit D 2 Wilkinson Road, Bankside Business Park, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 1YT, Tel: , a UKAS accredited laboratory. This analysis gave the result No Asbestos Detected in Sample as detailed in the analysis certificate (Appendix III) and on this basis no further action was considered necessary. Page 6 of 9

7 Appendix I Asbestos Sample Analysis Certificate Page 7 of 9

8 Appendix II Asbestos Sample Analysis Certificate Page 8 of 9

9 Appendix III Asbestos Sample Analysis Certificate Page 9 of 9