Background

Asbestos was used in thousands of products throughout the 20th century. Many of these products remain in service both in domestic and commercial properties. Asbestos exposure kills more people in the UK than any other work related illness; approximately 4000 people in 2006 and is expected to rise as a cause of death for the following 10 years.

Through its network of partners Riskmonitor offers a wide range of asbestos services and has experience of working in many situations and sensitive sites such as hospitals, schools, confined spaces, high security and food production.

To help reduce the incident of disease the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations (CAWR) were introduced in 1987. These regulations have since been amended (2002) to compel every non-domestic property to produce an Asbestos Management Plan (AMP). Duty holders have a legal requirement to locate the presence of asbestos, assess the condition and manage the material. The revised Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 reinforces the previous responsibilities on employers to manage asbestos correctly within their premises.

If refurbishment or demolition works are planned on site, further responsibilities must be fulfilled. Asbestos risks may be present during construction works such as demolition, refurbishment and maintenance activities. The regulations within the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (CDM) place duties to ensure that the risks from asbestos are effectively managed during construction.

Surveying Services

As part of the management requirements, all materials within a unit should be presumed to contain asbestos, unless there is good reason to prove otherwise. A survey can aid management by allowing our experts to identify all the asbestos containing materials within your unit, and exempt non-asbestos materials, thus allowing you to focus management where it is required. Surveys designed specifically for asbestos management are classified in a number of ways:

Type 1 surveys are visual only. No sampling is undertaken and any material likely to contain asbestos must be presumed to. Type 1 surveys may save money on sampling costs, however, are likely to require more expense for long term management of products which do not contain asbestos, and could have been ruled out by sampling.

Type 2 surveys are inspections with sampling. These fully assess the asbestos content of the materials and allow the Duty Holder to focus all management efforts on confirmed asbestos containing materials.

Type 3 surveys are fully intrusive and required by law before major refurbishment or demolition occurs. Full Access Sampling and Identification Survey is used to located and describe all asbestos containing materials (ACM’s) in the building. These surveys may be used as a basis for tendering and removal of ACM’s and can be of importance to demolition contractors, shop fitters, boiler removal specialists, architects, structural surveyors and estate agents.

Due to the many thousands of asbestos containing products, a high level of training and experience is required to satisfy the full remit of an asbestos survey. All our surveyors are fully qualified with the P402 certificate. We value experience as greatly as qualifications, and ensure every staff member has wide ranging knowledge and ability to survey to the MDHS 100 standard. Riskmonitor strictly uses only UKAS accredited laboratories to ensure the highest level of testing for our samples.

As part of our surveying responsibilities, condition and location of the materials is recorded, thus allowing simple management plans to be drawn up and followed by the client, usually without any need for further consultancy.

Monitoring & Management

For large, complex or time pressured sites, assistance with developing management plans, monitoring systems and permit to work systems may be required. Riskmonitor offers a tailor made service allowing the client to specify the level of assistance required; from full, detailed management plans, undertake priority ratings or re-inspections of materials as required.

As with all our services, the data generated and management features are fully integrateable with our RAMIS system.

If you would like to find out how Riskmonitor can support your company contact us now.