Asbestos Management

OFFSHORE MAJOR ACCIDENT REGULATOR

Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment & Decommissioning

The Offshore Asbestos Management Inspection Guide Open Government Status Fully Open Publication Date June 2024 Review Date June 2027

Review History Date Changes

Target Audience OMAR Inspectors / ED Offshore Inspectors / ED Specialist Inspectors

Contents • Summary (p.2) • Introduction (p.2) • Relevant Legislation (p.3 to 7) • Action (p.7 to 10) • Background (p.10 to 11) • Other relevant Inspection Guides (p.11) • Specialist Advice (p.11) • Organisation (p.11 to 12) Targeting Timing Resources

Recording & Reporting Health and Safety • Appendices (p.13 to 31) Appendix 1 – Plan, Do, Check, Act for Asbestos Management Appendix 2 – Application of EMM and Duty Holder Performance assessment Appendix 3 – CAR 2012 Fundamental Requirements Appendix 4 – Asbestos Work Decision Flowchart Appendix 5 – Illustration of Asbestos Work Categories Appendix 6 – Initial Enforcement Expectations (IEEs) Appendix 7 – Aide Memoire – Assessing the Asbestos Management Plan

Summary This guidance outlines an approach to inspection of dutyholder’s arrangements for managing health risks offshore associated with asbestos. It also sets out criteria for satisfactory and unsatisfactory performance factors against which the dutyholder performance will be rated for each of these areas. References are made to technical standards and guidance that inspectors will use to form opinion for legal compliance. The effectiveness of such systems is a key component of health risk management and securing effective control of health risks to prevent or minimise the incidence of occupational diseases such as mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer and pleural thickening.

Introduction The aim of this Inspection Guide (IG) is to provide information and guidance to offshore inspectors to support the delivery of consistent and effective health risk management. It does this by highlighting current key areas to be covered during inspections, providing a framework for inspectors to judge compliance, assign performance ratings, and decide what enforcement action to take should they find legislative breaches. In doing so, it complements HSE’s Enforcement Policy Statement (EPS) and Enforcement Management Model (EMM).

The operational guidance outlines HSE’s priorities for inspection of occupational health risks from asbestos offshore. It is important to note that this guidance does not include detailed information on other offshore health risks such as Hazardous Substances, Noise, Hand Arm Vibration, Ergonomics/Manual Handling, Ionising and Non-Ionising Radiations, Thermal Environment, Personal Protective Equipment, Food/Water hygiene, First-Aid and Welfare, which continue to form part of the remit of the ED Industrial Hygiene Team.

Relevant Legislation

Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, Section 2(1) – It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees.

Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, Section 3(1) – It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety.

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, Regulation 3 – Requires every employer shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to the health and safety of his employees to which they are exposed whilst they are at work; and the risks to the health and safety of persons not in his employment arising out of or in connection with the conduct by him of his undertaking.

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, Regulation 5 – Requires employers make and give effect to such arrangements as are appropriate, having regard to the nature of his activities and the size of his undertaking, for the effective planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review of the preventive and protective measures.

The Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR) 2012, Regulation 4 – Employers have a duty to manage risks from asbestos by;

• taking reasonable steps locate asbestos materials within the premises and assess the condition of these materials to manage the risk to prevent harm to anyone who works offshore or to occupants;

• a suitable and sufficient assessment is carried out as to whether asbestos is or liable to be present in the premises;

• presuming materials contain asbestos unless there is evidence to the contrary;

• make written records of location and condition of any identified and presumed asbestos and assess the risk from them (material/priority scoring) and that the record is kept up to date;

• prepare and implement a plan to manage the risk and ensure the plan is regularly reviewed and updated;

• ensure all risks from asbestos are properly managed;

• assess and reduce all risk of exposure to asbestos;

• remove or maintain asbestos in a good condition;

• monitor the condition of asbestos remaining;

• provide information on the location and condition of asbestos to anyone who is liable to disturb it, including contractors and others;

• audit the effectiveness of arrangements/revise where necessary periodically review;

• and monitor the management plan.

The Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR) 2012, Regulation 5 – Requires employers to identify the presence of asbestos and its type and condition before any building, maintenance, demolition or other work, liable to disturb asbestos, begins. It also sets out the requirement to arrange a survey if existing information on the presence of asbestos in the premises is incomplete or appears unreliable.

The Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR) 2012, Regulation 6 – Requires employers to carry out a risk assessment to identify the risks of exposure to asbestos. It sets out the requirement to record any significant findings and put in place steps to prevent, or reduce, exposure to employees.

The Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR) 2012, Regulation 7 – Requires employers to prepare a written plan before work on asbestos is carried out, including details of the work, and the appropriate actions to control risk and prevent harm.

The Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR) 2012, Regulation 8 – Requires employers to obtain a licence from HSE before they can carry out any licensable work with asbestos.

The Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR) 2012, Regulation 9 –

This regulation requires employers to notify the appropriate enforcing authority of proposed work which is either licensable (always notifiable) or NNLW (applies to some non-licensable work). It also outlines the requirements to notify any material change which might affect the particulars of the original notification, this is particularly important for licensable work.

The Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR) 2012, Regulation 10 – Requires employers to make sure that anyone liable to disturb asbestos during their work, or who supervises such employees, receives the correct level of information, instruction and training to enable them to carry out their work safely and competently and without risk to themselves or others. There are three main types of information, instruction and training, these relate to asbestos awareness, non-licensable work with asbestos including NNLW and licensable work with asbestos. Asbestos awareness training should be given to employees whose work could foreseeably disturb the fabric of a building and expose them to asbestos or who supervise or influence the work.

The Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR) 2012, Regulation 11 – Requires employers to prevent employees being exposed to asbestos or, if this is not possible, to put in place the measures and controls necessary to reduce exposure to as low as is reasonably practicable.

The Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR) 2012, Regulation 12 – Requires employers to put procedures in place to make sure employees use and apply control measures. It also requires the employees to make full and proper use of those measures.

The Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR) 2012, Regulation 13 – Requires employers to carry out regular inspection and maintenance of control measures to make sure they are kept in good efficient working order. It also requires a competent person to test and examine exhaust ventilation and RPE at suitable intervals and for records of examinations and tests to be kept for at least five years.

The Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR) 2012, Regulation 14 – Requires employers to provide employees with adequate personal protective clothing appropriate for the work they will be doing. It also sets out the requirement for proper cleaning, maintenance and storage of the clothing.

The Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR) 2012, Regulation 15 –

Requires employers to prepare procedures on what to do if there is an accidental, unplanned, uncontrolled release of asbestos fibre. Also, for licensable work, procedures must be planned, implemented and tested and warning systems should be in place.

The Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR) 2012, Regulation 16 – Requires employers to prevent or reduce the spread of asbestos anywhere work is being carried out under their control.

The Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR) 2012, Regulation 17 – Requires employers to make sure that work areas, plant and equipment used for asbestos work are kept clean. It also requires the employer to make sure the area is thoroughly cleaned after work is finished.

The Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR) 2012, Regulation 18 – Requires employers to make sure that areas where asbestos work is being carried out are separated, clearly marked, and restricted to those required to work in the area.

The Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR) 2012, Regulations 19-21 – Outline the requirements for air monitoring, standards for air testing and site clearance certification, standards for analysis.

The Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR) 2012, Regulation 22 – Requires employers to arrange appropriate medical examinations for any employees who carry out licensable work or notifiable non-licensed work (NNLW). It also sets out what health records employers must keep and for how long.

The Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR) 2012, Regulation 23 – Requires employers to provide suitable and sufficient washing, changing and storage facilities for employees, and sets out the specific requirements for hygiene facilities for licensable work.

The Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR) 2012, Regulation 24 – Requires employers to make sure that raw asbestos and asbestos waste is properly packaged, labelled, stored and transported.

The Offshore Installations (Offshore Safety Directive) (Safety Case etc) Regulations 2015, Regulation 16 – Requires a duty holder who prepares a safety case pursuant to these Regulations demonstrate that the duty holder’s management system is adequate to ensure that the relevant statutory provisions will, in respect of matters within the duty holder’s control, be complied with.

Action Inspectors should review relevant documentation outlined within the IG prior to the installation visit and test compliance during the installation visit against the “Success Criteria” given in Appendix 1.

Inspection of this topic should include both inspection of the priority areas as well as an inspection of the overall policy, procedures and organisation for managing occupational health risks to establish a consistent and complete coverage of the topic. In inspecting individual topic areas, it may be necessary to have input from the relevant specialist inspectors where there are technical issues beyond the competence of the IMT inspector.

By the conclusion of the inspection, it should be possible to: • have undertaken a targeted proactive inspection of the asbestos management system • investigate concerns associated with asbestos • decide whether the measures in place were adequate to control the risk of exposure; and take any necessary enforcement action where these are deemed inadequate

When carrying out inspections covered by this IG inspectors should: • Assess duty holder responses against the success criteria in Appendix 2 • Use the performance descriptors in Appendix 1 and 2 to: o Determine the appropriate performance rating o The Initial Enforcement Expectation (IEE), also use Appendix 6 o Consider how and when the issues raised during an inspection are to be closed out

Licensed work – Most higher-risk work with asbestos must only be done by a licensed contractor. Licensable work with asbestos is work: • where worker exposure to asbestos is not sporadic and of low intensity; or

• where the risk assessment cannot clearly demonstrate that the control limit will not be exceeded ie 0.1 asbestos fibres per cubic centimetre of air (0.1 f/cm3) (averaged over a four-hour period); or • on asbestos coating; or • on asbestos insulation or asbestos insulating board where the risk assessment demonstrates that the work is not short duration work, eg when work with these materials will take no more than two hours in any seven-day period, and no one person works for more than one hour in that two-hour period.

Inspection of ‘Licensed’ jobs can only be undertaken by trained inspectors” who have received specific HSE training – licensed asbestos inspection course provided by HSE’s Asbestos Unit. Inspectors who have not completed this training can inspect if accompanied by someone who has completed this training.

Under no circumstances should IMTs approach or enter a live enclosure. Should such a job be encountered during a planned inspection and there are matters of evident concern then the ED Industrial Hygiene Team should be contacted for advice.

Non-Licensed Work (NLW) with asbestos – To be exempt from needing a licence the work must be: • Sporadic and of low intensity - to be considered sporadic and of low intensity the concentration of asbestos in the air should not exceed 0.6 f/cm3 measured over 10 minutes AND • Carried out in such a way that the exposure of workers to asbestos will not exceed the legal control limit of 0.1 asbestos fibres per cubic centimetre of air (0.1 f/cm3) (averaged over a four-hour period) AND • Meet at least one of the four following conditions: 1. It is a short non-continuous maintenance task, with only non-friable materials (friability describes how likely an ACM is to release asbestos fibres when worked on, so non-friable materials will only release a small number of fibres during work); or

2. It is a removal task, where the ACMs are in reasonable condition and are not being deliberately broken up, and the asbestos fibres are firmly contained within a matrix, eg the asbestos is coated, covered or contained within another material, such as cement, paint or plastic; or

3. It is a task where the ACMs are in good condition and are being sealed or encapsulated to ensure they are not easily damaged in the future; or

4. It is an air monitoring and control task to check fibre concentrations in the air, or it's the collection and analysis of asbestos samples to confirm the presence of asbestos in a material.

All non-licensed work needs to be carried out with the appropriate controls in place. However, for some types of work, employers must meet additional requirements. This is known as notifiable non-licensed work or NNLW, and requires employers to:

• notify work with asbestos to the relevant enforcing authority • designate (identify) areas where the work is being done • ensure medical examinations are carried out • maintain registers of work (health records)

If the work is not licensable, you then need to decide if it is NNLW. To do this you must consider:

The type of work you are planning to do

• Maintenance eg drilling holes to attach fittings or pass cables through, painting, cleaning etc. Maintenance includes some removal where it is incidental to the main task, eg removing an asbestos ceiling tile to allow inspection.

• Removal eg as part of a refurbishment or redesign project.

• Encapsulation eg work to enclose or seal asbestos materials in good condition.

• Air monitoring and control, and the collection and analysis of samples.

The asbestos type

• Is it friable? Friable means easily crumbled or reduced to powder. So the more friable a material is, the more likely it will release asbestos fibres when worked on and the

greater the risk of exposure. Work which disturbs more friable materials, eg asbestos pipe insulation, will tend to be NNLW and work which disturbs the least friable materials, eg asbestos cement, can normally be treated as non-licensed work.

• How firmly is the asbestos bonded in a matrix? (For removal work only). Bonded in a matrix means the asbestos is coated, covered or contained within another material, such as cement, paint or plastic. ACMs of this type in good condition can usually be treated as non-licensed work. However, where they are significantly damaged, and so more likely to release fibres, they will need to be treated as NNLW.

The materials’ condition

• Has the material been damaged or is it in poor condition? Removal of ACMs in poor condition eg due to flood or fire damage, will normally need to be treated as NNLW.

• Will the materials' matrix be destroyed when worked on? eg deteriorating textured decorative coatings eg 'Artex' with gel or steam to remove it, will normally need to be treated as NNLW.

Further guidance can be found within Appendices 4 and 5.

Background

The aim of Industrial Hygiene is to prevent or control exposure to health risks by recognising health hazards, evaluating the risk and establishing appropriate control measures. The occupational health hazards may include;

• Physical agents (e.g., noise, vibration, radiation) • Hazardous substances (e.g., chemicals, asbestos) • Biological agents (e.g., Legionella, food hygiene) • Ergonomics/Manual Handling

The essential requirements for managing occupational health are the same as those for any management system. Any sub-system for managing occupational health risks should therefore have the key features of an adequate management system i.e., policy, organisation, planning and setting standards, performance measures and auditing and review. Confirmation should be obtained that a

recognised code, standard or body of guidance has been considered in determining the required performance of the occupational health management system.

The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, together with ACOP L143 ‘Managing and working with asbestos’ set out the framework for controlling exposure to asbestos and managing asbestos risks in buildings. The law requires the prevention of exposure to asbestos, but where it is not reasonably practicable to prevent exposure, exposure must be reduced to the lowest level reasonably practicable. The employer must choose the