CARRYING OUT AN ASBESTOS SURVEY (SURVEYING)

The success and usefulness of an asbestos survey is dependent on a clear understanding of the client’s requirements, the specification and planning carried out and the training, experience and diligence of the surveyor.

It is important that the surveyor has a good understanding of which products and materials are likely to contain asbestos and where ACMs are likely to be located. Experienced surveyors may discriminate between potential asbestos and nonasbestos-containing materials in situ. This initial judgement can be tested by sampling and analysis.

The surveyor should have strong evidence to conclude that a material does not contain asbestos. The surveyor must also look out for evidence of asbestos debris released by previous work, or even during installation or removal work (eg over-spray from sprayed asbestos applications). When an area is not inspected, this must be recorded and presumed to contain asbestos.

The asbestos survey will need to be carried out in a methodical and systematic way to ensure that all visible or accessible areas are inspected. This will usually involve using either a topdown or bottom-up approach for surveying the building and each individual area or room for ACMs.

The outside of the building should also be inspected. Larger premises will require more detailed survey procedures, particularly if there are several surveyors at work. It may also be appropriate to carry out a separate survey on the building services, machinery and any large floor and ceiling voids.

CLASSIFICATION OF FIRES

Although the principles of fire development and spread apply to all fire, fires are classified as types A, B, C or D depending on the actual combustible materials involved. This classification is extremely important when deciding which extinguisher should be used in the event of a fire, not all extinguishers are suitable for all fires.

Class A These are fires involving solid materials, usually of an organic nature, in which combustion normally takes place with the formation of glowing embers, e.g. wood, paper and textile fabrics. Cooling by water is the most effective way of extinguishing this type of fire.

Class B These fires involving liquids or liquefiable solids, such as petrol, oil, greases and fats, where the blanketing or smothering effects of extinguishing agents which exclude oxygen are the most effective.

Class C These are fires involving gases such as hydrogen, propane, butane, etc. Fighting fires of this nature should be left to the experts as extinguishing burning gases without cutting off the supply could lead to an explosion if re-ignition occurs. The most effective method of extinguishing the fire is to cut off the supply, where possible, and subsequently deal with other burning materials (if any) with the appropriate extinguishing agent.

Class D These are fires involving metals such as magnesium, aluminium, sodium, potassium, calcium and zirconium, where special materials and techniques are necessary to secure extinction.

It should be noted that there is no classification in the standard for what are erroneously called ‘electrical fires’ as these are really fires in materials where electricity is present. Such fires will fall into one or more of the four classes defined. Therefore, after the electrical supply has been isolated, the choice of extinguisher will depend upon the materials involved in the fire. However, the most suitable types of extinguisher for use on live electrical equipment are Carbon Dioxide (CO2).

Fire Risk Assessment

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The Health & Safety Executive will remain the main enforcing authority for CDM2007. HSE inspectors have various powers:

Informal Action: the inspector will tell the duty holder what to do to comply with the law and explain why.

Improvement Notice: the inspector can issue an improvement notice telling the duty holder to take prescribed action to comply with the law. Further action can be taken against the duty holder if the notice is not complied with.

Prohibition Notice: if the inspector believes that an activity carried on, or to be carried on, will involve a risk of serious personal injury, the inspector may serve a prohibition notice, prohibiting the activity and not allowing it to be resumed until specified remedial action has been taken. This could result in the closure of the site.

Prosecution: in a serious case the inspector may also decide to initiate a prosecution. The courts are given considerable scope to punish offenders and deter others. The higher courts have the power to impose unlimited fines and, in some cases, even imprisonment.

Civil liability for breach is excluded except for a breach of:

The client’s duty to ensure that the construction phase does not start unless
(a) the principal contractor has prepared a sufficient construction phase plan; and
(b) he is satisfied that the requirements as to welfare facilities will be complied with during the construction phase;

• The principal contractor’s duty to take reasonable steps to ensure there is no unauthorised access to the site;
• All obligations in relation to health and safety on construction sites (Part 4, CDM 2007);
• The duty on all contractors not to start work on site unless reasonable steps have been taken to prevent access by unauthorised persons; and

In relation to employee/employer relationships.

The Health and Safety Offences Act 2008 came into force in January 2009. Amending Section 33 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, it raises the maximum penalties which can be imposed by lower courts on those who breach health and safety legislation from £5,000 to £20,000.

The Act also increases the range of offences for which an individual may be imprisoned in both the lower and higher courts, and makes certain offences, which are currently only triable in the lower courts, triable in both lower and higher courts.

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The purpose of a method statement is to ensure, where safety critical, work is carried out in a particular sequence. There are few examples where their definitive requirements are laid done by statute or other regulatory standard. Where they do exist they are predominantly for high-risk activities such as licensed asbestos removal, demolition and steel erection. In these cases, not only is a method statement a legal requirement, but also its structure and format are clearly defined.

The general principle of ensuring a safe system of work applies to all work activity and as such a method statement is an ideal way to prove that the risks associated with a particular activity has been carefully considered and appropriate controls implemented.

However for lower risk activities it may be sufficient to rely on a combination of operator competence and comprehensive risk assessment in achieving a safe system of work.

Method Statement Format

The actual method statement format is dependent on the work being undertaken and the organisation arrangements in place but generally the following headings should be present:

1. Organisation/company in control of the operation
2. Named individual responsible for the activity and its safety
3. Name of method statement originator and authorisation date
4. Arrangements for changing/deviating from method statement
5. General description of activity
6. Location of activity including access and restrictions
7. General working environment considerations, e.g. temperature and wind speed
8. Protection of others, e.g. members of the public
9. Emergency procedures, including location of emergency equipment
10. Identity of operatives (and any specific training or certification required)
11. Requirements for Personal Protective Equipment
12. Plant and equipment used, including safety precautions and restrictions
13. Materials information e.g. hazard information and storage/transport requirements
14. Work sequence, including associated risks and required control measures for each stage.
15. Safety checks/clearances at specific stages
16. Final clearance that activity is completed to specification
17. Any other additional information that may be relevant

The list above is not exhaustive and a method statement may or may not include each and every item. However as a minimum it must achieve the following objectives:-

• It should be up to date, identifiable and its source accountable
• It should contain the sequence of works
• It should identify the associated risks and control measures
• It should state actions/authorisation required to deviate from method statement

A method statement can be as simple or as detailed as the job/risk requires, so long as it meets the four main objectives.

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