SAIF Golden Charter

Managing asbestos

Do I need to have a survey carried out?

This is one of the most common questions I get from new clients. Let’s face it, there is a cost to a survey and if you don’t need to do it, then why should you.

Does my building contain asbestos?

You would be amazed at just how much asbestos was used within building construction. Any premises built before 1999 could contain it, so if you aren’t sure, presume it does.

Examples are artexed or textured ceiling tiles, floor tiles, fire resisting products, corrugated cement roofs and walls.

Who is responsible?

The person responsible is the duty holder. The duty holder is anyone responsible for maintaining and repairing all or part of the property or who has control over the building. This could be the occupier, landlord or the owner.

According to the law the duty holder must…

* Find out whether the building contains asbestos and what condition it is in
* Assess the risk of the asbestos releasing fibres
* Make a plan to manage the risk.

So, what’s the answer then?

Well as I see it, if your premises was built before the year 2000 and contains some of those tell-tale signs like artexed ceilings, then in my opinion the answer is yes, you need to get a survey done.

But I know the premises and am certain there is no asbestos!

If you are confident that it doesn’t contain any asbestos then forego the survey, but remain cautious. I would write out a statement explaining that the building appears to be free from asbestos but just in case, before any building work takes place, you will check to make sure and if there is the slightest suspicion that asbestos might actually be present, that you won’t do the work until we get a specialist in to confirm whether it is or not.

Did you know?

Asbestos is a natural product and is still mined today in Russia, China, Brazil, Kazakhstan and, up until 2011, in Canada 2 million tonnes of asbestos are mined each year

Human beings have used asbestos for more than 5,000 years.

Asbestos has been used to make:

* False snow on film sets
* Cigarette filters
* Toothpaste.

One person dies every five hours from Mesothelioma (just one disease you can develop from work with asbestos). It is estimated that around 91,000 deaths are predicted to occur in the UK by 2050 as a direct result of exposure to asbestos. I don’t think you can be too careful and my recommendation is, if in doubt, do it.

Shop around if you are getting a survey done as the difference in cost can be quite a bit. Make sure that whoever is going to do the survey is qualified – just ask for their UKAS accreditation certificate and check the UKAS database.

Help is at hand! As a member of SAIF:

You can talk to a safety professional at Safety for Business simply by calling 08456 344 164.

You are also entitled to a discount on our fees when we help you with your health and safety needs.

We can visit you to see how you are doing when it comes to compliance. This is free of charge apart from travel costs. So what do you have to lose?