Are you ready for the new asbestos survey guidance?
Last year the revised Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidance for asbestos surveys came into force replacing current guidance known as MDHS 100. This will be a comprehensive regime covering surveying, sampling, and assessment of Asbestos Containing Materials (ACMs).
It will affect you if you are a duty holder. A duty holder is the person or organization having responsibility for non-domestic or domestic properties on whom falls the statutory duty to manage such premises so that occupants or employees are not exposed to risk from the presence of ACMs.
Unlike MDHS 100, the new survey guidelines impose express obligations on the duty holder in relation to the planning and execution of the asbestos survey. The HSE emphasizes that asbestos, a category 1 chemical carcinogen, is the cause of the greatest number of work-related deaths every year.
So what are the major changes?
Types of asbestos survey
Under the new regime, there are only two types of asbestos survey:
- the management survey (broadly similar to the old Type 2 survey) - designed to locate, as far as reasonably practicable, the presence and extent of ACMs, so that the Duty holder can prepare a plan for the management of asbestos
- the refurbishment/demolition survey (broadly similar to the old Type 3 survey) - a much more intrusive survey, designed to locate all the ACMs so they can be removed before the refurbishment (whether small scale or a large project) or demolition takes place. Aggressive inspection techniques will be required, so controls must be in place to prevent the spread of asbestos debris
Choosing the surveyor
The new Survey Guide imposes an obligation on the duty holder to check the competency of the surveyor, which involves a two stage process:
- an assessment of the company’s or individual’s survey expertise to determine whether they can carry out the survey safely and without risk to health
- an assessment of the company’s or individual’s experience and track record to establish if they are capable of doing the work
The duty holder should be satisfied that the surveyor can allocate adequate resources - personnel and time - to the survey. This will have implications for the cost of the survey.
Competence may be demonstrated by having accreditation from the United Kingdom Accreditation Service or British Occupational Hygiene Society. However, the survey guide clearly envisages that the duty holder will do more to check the surveyor’s competence then merely obtaining confirmation of his accreditation. This should be reinforced by evidence of actual experience - the HSE recommends at least six months practical experience on asbestos surveys.
Planning the survey
This involves a proactive approach from both the surveyor and the duty holder. Its success will depend upon extensive exchange of information and a clear understanding of each party’s responsibilities.
The duty holder should provide:
- clear information on the number of buildings to be inspected
- plans and relevant reports or surveys on the building design, structure and construction
- information as to the use of the buildings and any known hazards
- details of access arrangements to all relevant areas.
The surveyor should provide:
- details of any caveats (see below)
- confirmation of any areas not accessed
- names of surveyors
- timetable of work
- plan of areas where sampling or asbestos disturbance will take place
Site meeting
A site meeting is recommended to assist the surveyor to plan the survey, for example to estimate the extent of sampling, to become aware of any on-site hazards or access problems. Such factors will enable an accurate fee quotation to be produced. There should be discussion about any areas that may be difficult to access, for example locked rooms, walls obscured by shelving or blocked areas. The duty holder should facilitate access.
The site meeting is also the opportunity to discuss any caveats that the surveyor intends to impose and to allow the duty holder to negotiate the terms or even to engage a different surveyor. The duty holder must remember that restrictions on the scope of the survey will potentially jeopardize the effectiveness of the survey, so if he seeks to restrict the surveyor’s access to particular areas, this may affect his ability to discharge the duty to manage asbestos.
The surveyor should be adequately prepared for accessing areas such as ceiling voids, lofts, lift shafts, basements or high ceilings. The duty holder should not accept that such restrictions on the surveyor’s ability to access such areas should impair the survey.
The survey guide says ‘survey restrictions and caveats can seriously undermine the management of asbestos in buildings. Most can be avoided by proper planning and discussion. They MUST be agreed between the duty holder and the surveyor and documented in the survey report’.
The widespread practice of including standard form caveats in asbestos survey reports is to be discouraged. As a matter of general contract law, they may be ineffective to protect a negligent surveyor.
Under the new HSE guidance, the duty holder cannot simply take advantage of the small print, for example excusing the surveyor from accessing areas above a certain height, to relieve him of his obligation to locate and manage asbestos.
Desk top study
As with MDHS 100, the new Survey Guide directs the surveyor to collate the information and plan the survey by means of a desktop study.
The Surveyor should then produce a plan summarizing the work to be undertaken. The final report format should be agreed in advance with the duty holder, bearing in mind that its purpose is to enable him to produce an updateable asbestos register and a plan showing the location of ACMs.
Carrying out the survey.
The new Survey Guide contains detailed instructions to the surveyor and largely reproduces in somewhat expanded form the contents of MDHS 100. The same applies in relation to the presentation of results. In addition, the new Survey Guide imposes an obligation on the duty holder to check the accuracy of the survey reports by checking:
- the report against the original tender
- that the survey is of the type requested
- that all rooms and areas have been accessed
- that sufficient samples have been taken (usually one or two per area or room)
- for any obvious discrepancies and inconsistencies
Conclusion
Although the new Survey Guide does not depart radically from the framework laid down in MDHS100, it does represent an advance in relation to asbestos surveying. Duty holders should familiarise themselves with the express obligations imposed on them in relation to:
- checking the surveyor’s competence
- being involved at the survey planning stage
- checking the survey reports
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