Established 1986 - P402 Qualified Surveyors - HSE Licensed
47A Strand St, Sandwich, Kent CT139EU - - 29 St Lawrence Ave Ramsgate CT110HZ
Offices: 01304 614647 / 614453 (24hr) 01843 592243 - For a Prompt Service First Call Direct - 07712068424
Email for quote or specific help: asbestossurveys-kent@yahoo.co.uk
"Don't take unnecessary risks!"
Safety Officers and Asbestos Duty Holders
This section is for people who are 'in the know' regarding asbestos and general safety, people with a professional working knowledge of the legal requirements of safety in their workplace. Our aim is to enhance that knowledge with more detailed asbestos specific information.
There will be sections in these pages that you are already aware of and can be skipped, the rest can be used to gleam information that may be useful in the completion of your duties, in terms of legal compliance and the application of the survey report results, in an asbestos management plan and asbestos procedures manual. So if some of the wording seems patronising and repetitive its not meant to be, its simply ensuring a broad range of understanding those with perhaps less knowledge than yourselves.
Asbestos Safety
As most asbestos surveys should recommend inspection rather than removal, it is important to make sure that the asbestos materials that remain in place, are in a safe condition and stay in a safe condition. Whether you have a large number of staff responsible for different areas of a factory or a single safety officer who oversees all safety aspects of the workplace, you will need to ensure the asbestos management plan works and reduces the risk of exposure through various control measures and procedures. In simplified form it means FIND - MANAGE - INFORM
Find out where it is and produce a report detailing all the required 'material assessment' parameters.
Manage the risks from the material by creating/maintaining it's safe condition and preventing damage.
Inform people working near the material and any tradesmen/contractors likely to disturb it.
The materials assessments (see re inspection page for detailed information about material assessments and what information should be in an asbestos survey) should give you an idea what to do (remediation) and in which order of priority you should do it, once this has been done you can proceed to manage.
Medium to High Risk Materials
Medium and high friability materials (AIB, insulation, ropes etc) will obviously need to be assessed first, if the material is in a remote location and unlikely to be disturbed then a simple surface sealant like ET150 (encapsulation) and labelling will suffice. If the report indicates that the material is not fully sealed this will need to be done first.
If the material is in a busy area or prone to mechanical damage by people or machinery or its in a forced draught location (heaters, ducting etc) then it must be protected as far as possible. This can be in the form of a barrier or guard to prevent the damage occurring, cladding or physical barriers will probably be the minimum required, the material should also be clearly labelled to ensure that staff are aware of its presence. Any damage should be reported immediately. A label bearing the emergency phone number of the asbestos 'duty holder' should be displayed on the material where practical, this applies mainly to medium to large companies. "Danger Asbestos Material - Report Any Damage to ......."
These materials should ideally be inspected on a regular basis, more frequent than annually because of the potential for immediate exposure, contamination and prolonged exposure if left undiscovered for any period.
Asbestos Removal
Most asbestos materials in this medium/high risk category will require removal by licensed contractors using approved methods of fibre suppression and containment, full enclosures, air locks, negative pressure HEPA filtered extractors, HZ vacuums, decontamination units, injection machinery, extensive training, expensive PPE/RPE equipment and third party monitoring (UKAS labs) are standard requirements.
Removal involves disturbing a material that can release many thousands of invisible fibres that are 1000 times thinner than a human hair, these fibres are known to cause various cancers. That's why it can be so expensive and that's why removal is rarely recommended, removal creates unnecessary risk and is expensive (when done properly!).
Low Risk Materials
Low friability materials are, by they're nature, low risk to begin with, the density or structure of the material means that the chances of it releasing asbestos fibres are very low. These will usually require an annual inspection and not much else. Disposal of these materials may pose a problem because, once removed they need to be disposed of as hazardous waste, regardless of friability.
General Company Safety
Both our companies have excellent safety records since 1986 (records available for inspection)
We supply method statements and risk assessments for all work that requires control measures and/or the use of PPE and RPE, samples available on request
We have been audited by clients, insurance companies, independent laboratories, ISO9000 auditors as well as our own internal unscheduled audits, copies available on request
Operatives have extensive training which includes, first aid, scaffold tower erection, powered access equipment, mask face fit testing, asbestos removal (operative and supervisor) training, p402 asbestos surveys, confined space training, in-house inductions and 'tool box talks', on site NEBOSH safety officer
All mobile electrical equipment is 110v where practical and is CAT tagged
COSHH data and assessment sheets are available for all materials used
We have intrinsically safe equipment for use in 'Zone 1' flammable areas
We encourage a safety culture wherever we work and can supply task specific Risk Assessments and Method Statements for all risk related work, we are familiar with 'permit' system working and comply with all the client's PPE requirements for the working area.
"Don't take unnecessary risks!"
