duty to manage
A new duty to manage asbestos was added to the Control of Asbestos Regulations and enforcement began in May 2004. It applies to you as Duty Holder if you have maintenance and repair responsibilities for non-domestic premises either through contract or tenancy agreement, or because you own the premises.
The duty to manage requires those in control of premises to:
- take reasonable steps to determine the location and condition of materials likely to contain asbestos;
- presume materials contain asbestos unless there is strong evidence that they do not;
- make and keep an up to date record of the location and condition of the Asbestos Containing Materials or presumed Asbestos Containing Materials in the premises;
- assess the risk of the likelihood of anyone being exposed to fibres from these materials;
- prepare a plan setting out how the risks from the materials are to be managed;
- take the necessary steps to put the plan into action;
- review and monitor the plan periodically; and
- Provide information on the location and condition of the materials to anyone who is liable to work on or disturb them.
The key elements of compliance are the Management Plan which is required by the regulation, the asbestos register which records the location and condition of asbestos as identified during an asbestos survey or a thorough inspection of the premises, and the survey itself – not legally required in many cases.
The full details of the Control of Asbestos at Regulations are available here.
If you are concerned about your asbestos register, or require further surveys or sampling, visit our Surveyor Services section here.
The purpose of the legislation is to protect people at work from exposure to asbestos, both those employed by your organisation directly and contractors who come in to supply maintenance or other services.
Asbestos Awareness Training for staff is available from Nichol Associates Limited.
