Managing and working with asbestos

Health and Safety Executive

Managing and working with asbestos Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012

Approved Code of Practice and guidance This publication contains the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, the Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) and guidance text. Two ACOPs, L127 (The management of asbestos in non-domestic premises) and L143 (Work with materials containing asbestos) have been consolidated into this single revised ACOP. The presentation and language has been updated wherever possible. It provides guidance text for employers about work which disturbs, or is likely to disturb, asbestos, asbestos sampling and laboratory analysis. It also provides guidance on the specific duty to manage asbestos on the owners and/or those responsible for maintenance in non-domestic premises.

The Regulations set out your legal duties and the ACOP and guidance give practical advice on how to comply with those requirements. The Regulations give minimum standards for protecting employees from risks associated with exposure L143 (Second edition) to asbestos. Published 2013 The Regulations came into force on 6 April 2012, updating and replacing the previous 2006 law. They contain new requirements for certain types of non- licensable work with asbestos on notification of work; designating areas where you are working on asbestos; medical surveillance and record keeping.

HSE Books

© Crown copyright 2013

First published 2006 Second editon 2013

ISBN 978 0 7176 6618 8

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Approved Code of Practice

This Code has been approved by the Health and Safety Executive, with the consent of the Secretary of State. It gives practical advice on how to comply with the law. If you follow the advice you will be doing enough to comply with the law in respect of those specific matters on which the Code gives advice. You may use alternative methods to those set out in the Code in order to comply with the law.

However, the Code has a special legal status. If you are prosecuted for breach of health and safety law, and it is proved that you did not follow the relevant provisions of the Code, you will need to show that you have complied with the law in some other way or a Court will find you at fault.

Guidance

This guidance is issued by the Health and Safety Executive. Following the guidance is not compulsory, unless specifically stated, and you are free to take other action. But if you do follow the guidance you will normally be doing enough to comply with the law. Health and safety inspectors seek to secure compliance with the law and may refer to this guidance.

Contents

Introduction 9 About this book 9 Environmental issues 9 Consulting employees and/or safety representatives 9 About ACOPs 10 Presentation 10 Regulation 1 Citation and commencement 11 Regulation 2 Interpretation 11 Definition of ‘asbestos’ 13 Asbestos cement 14 Textured decorative coatings 14 Asbestos insulating board (AIB) 15 Asbestos insulation 15 Asbestos coating 15 Sporadic and low intensity exposure 15 Work with asbestos 16 Deciding if work is licensable 16 Competence 17 Regulation 3 Application of these Regulations 18 Exemption from regulations 9, 18(1)(a) and 22: An overview 19 Deciding if non-licensable work is exempt from regulations 9, 18(1)(a) and 22 20 Short, non-continuous maintenance work with non-friable materials 23 Encapsulation or sealing of ACMs in good condition 24 Air monitoring and control and collecting samples 24 Employers’ duties to others 24 Duties under other regulations 25 Regulation 4 Duty to manage asbestos in non-domestic premises 26 Managing the risk 27 Where the duty to manage applies 28 Identifying dutyholders 31

Changes in tenancy or occupation 32 Duty to co-operate 33 Delegating tasks 33 What the dutyholders must do to comply with the law 34 Managing asbestos left in place 37 Reviewing and updating the management plan 38 Communicating and sharing the management plan 38 Regulation 5 Identification of the presence of asbestos 39 Regulation 6 Assessment of work which exposes employees to asbestos 40 General requirements for risk assessments 41 Involving employees 41 Competency to carry out a risk assessment 42 Suitable and sufficient risk assessment 42 Identifying the type of ACM 43 Additional risk assessment requirements for licensable work 43 Work in elevated temperatures and hot conditions 44 Reviewing assessments 45 Regulation 7 Plans of work 46 Contents 47 Demolition work 47 Licensable work 48 Purpose of the plan of work 48 Who creates the plan 48 How the plan of work is used 48 Format and content 48 Communicating the plan of work 49 Regulation 8 Licensing of work with asbestos 49 Applying for a licence 50 Appeals 50 Penalties 50 Regulation 9 Notification of work with asbestos 51 Notification of licensable work 51 Notification of NNLW 52 Regulation 10 Information, instruction and training 53 Information, instruction and training for all work with asbestos 54 Competence 54 Asbestos awareness 54 Non-licensable work including NNLW 55

Training for non-licensable work 56 Record keeping for employees carrying out non-licensable work, including NNLW 57 Licensable work 57 Duration of training 60 Training for examination and test methods and techniques 60 Provision of information and training for safety representatives 60 Refresher training 61 Information and instruction for non-employees 61 Certificates of training 62 Regulation 11 Prevention or reduction of exposure to asbestos 62 Viewing panels and CCTV for enclosures 64 Non-licensable removal work 64 Licensable removal work 65 Maintaining plant and equipment contaminated with asbestos 66 Respiratory protective equipment 66 Fit testing facepieces 67 Regulation 12 Use of control measures etc 67 General duties on employees 67 Regulation 13 Maintenance of control measures etc 68 Enclosures 69 Hygiene facilities 69 Vacuum cleaners 69 Air extraction equipment 70 Wet injection equipment 70 Respiratory protective equipment 71 Regulation 14 Provision and cleaning of protective clothing 73 Suitability of protective clothing 73 Removal of contaminated protective clothing 74 Cleaning, maintenance and storage 75 Regulation 15 Arrangements to deal with accidents, incidents and emergencies 76 Uncontrolled release of asbestos 77 Accidents, incidents or emergencies involving licensable work 78 Contacting the emergency services 79 Regulation 16 Duty to prevent or reduce the spread of asbestos 79 Preventing/reducing the spread of asbestos 79 Enclosures 79

Decontamination procedures for licensable work 82 Removal of waste from full enclosures 83 Waste removal outside the enclosure 83 Licensable work in open sites 83 Static sampling/air monitoring 84 Regulation 17 Cleanliness of premises and plant 84 Further measures 85 Clean-up when work finishes 85 Site clearance process for licensable work 85 Four-stage process for licensable work 87 Stage One: Preliminary check of site condition and job completeness 88 Stage Two: Thorough visual inspection 88 Stage Three: Clearance air monitoring 88 Stage Four: Final assessment post-enclosure/work area dismantling 89 Regulation 18 Designated areas 91 Regulation 19 Air monitoring 93 Employee exposure records 94 Sampling 94 Regulation 20 Standards for air testing and site clearance certification 95 Regulation 21 Standards for analysis 96 Regulation 22 Health records and medical surveillance 97 Medical examinations for licensable work 99 Medical examinations for NNLW 99 Further information on medical examinations 100 Health records 100 Certificates of examination 100 Other health surveillance requirements 101 Regulation 23 Washing and changing facilities 101 Hygiene facilities for licensable work 102 Regulation 24 Storage, distribution and labelling of raw asbestos and asbestos waste 103 Management of asbestos waste 103 Transporting asbestos waste 104 Labelling asbestos waste 104 Sorting waste 104 Regulation 25 Interpretation of prohibitions 105 Regulation 26 Prohibitions of exposure to asbestos 105 Regulation 27 Labelling of products containing asbestos 105

Regulation 28 Additional provisions in the case of exceptions and exemptions 106 Regulation 29 Exemption certifications 106 Regulation 30 Exemptions relating to the Ministry of Defence 107 Regulation 31 Extension outside Great Britain 107 Regulation 32 Existing licences and exemption certificates 107 Regulation 33 Revocations and savings 108 Regulation 34 Defence 108 Regulation 35 Review 108 Schedule 1 Particulars to be included in a notification 109 Schedule 2 Appendix 7 to Annex XVII of the REACH Regulation – special provisions on the labelling of articles containing asbestos. Regulations 14(4), 24(2) and (3) and 27 110 Schedule 3 Amendments 112 Appendix 1 Notice of Approval 114 References 115 Further sources of advice 116 Further information 116

Introduction

About this book

1 This publication contains the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, the Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) text and associated guidance. The Regulations place legal duties on employers responsible for licensable and non-licensable work with asbestos. They also place a specific duty to manage asbestos on the owners and/or those responsible for maintenance in non-domestic premises. The ACOP text and guidance provide practical advice on how to comply with those requirements. The format of this publication is designed to clearly distinguish between the Regulations, the ACOP text and the guidance.

2 The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 (the Regulations) set minimum standards for the protection of employees from risks related to exposure to asbestos. Employers should also take account of people not directly employed by them but who could be affected by the work being done on asbestos (including employees of other employers, people occupying buildings, members of the public etc).

3 The Regulations came into force on 6 April 2012, updating and replacing the previous 2006 version of the Regulations. The changes mean that certain types of non-licensable work with asbestos now have additional requirements on notification of work; designating areas where work on asbestos is being carried out; medical surveillance and record keeping. This publication applies to work which disturbs, or is likely to disturb asbestos, asbestos sampling and laboratory analysis.

Environmental issues

4 The Regulations deal only with health risks to people from asbestos. They do not address environmental issues. Further guidance on environmental considerations, including the clearing of asbestos-contaminated land is available from the following (see ‘Further sources of advice’):

■■ the Environment Agency (EA) in England; ■■ the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) in Scotland; ■■ Natural Resources Wales (NRW)/Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru.

Consulting employees and/or safety representatives

5 Proper consultation with those who do the work, including all those who may be affected by the presence of asbestos in their workplace, is crucial in helping to raise awareness of the importance of health and safety. It can make a significant contribution to creating and maintaining a safe and healthy working environment and an effective health and safety culture. In turn, this can benefit business in making it more efficient by reducing the number of accidents and incidents of work- related ill health.

6 Employers must consult safety representatives appointed by recognised trade unions under the Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977. Employees who are not covered by such representatives must be consulted either directly or indirectly through elected representatives of employee safety under the Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996.1

About ACOPs

7 Approved Codes of Practice are approved by the HSE Board with the consent of the Secretary of State (see Appendix 1: Notice of Approval for details).

8 The ACOP describes preferred or recommended methods that can be used (or standards to be met) to comply with the Regulations and the duties imposed by the Health and Safety at Work etc Act (the HSW Act).2 The accompanying guidance also provides advice on achieving compliance, or it may give information of a general nature, including explanation of the requirements of the law, more specific technical information or references to further sources of information.

9 The legal status of ACOP and guidance text is given on the copyright page.

Presentation

10 The ACOP text is set out in bold and the accompanying guidance in normal type, the text of the Regulations is in italics. Regulation 4, ‘duty to manage asbestos in non-domestic premises’ has a page border to help the reader identify the requirements under the regulation. This guidance was previously a stand-alone publication, L127, and has now been incorporated into this ACOP.

11 Each regulation is preceded by a short summary of the main duties imposed by that regulation and aims to help the reader navigate the document. This text has no ‘status’ (such as ACOP/guidance) and is for information only.

Regulation 1 Citation and commencement Regulation 1 These Regulations may be cited as the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 and come into force on 6th April 2012.

Regulation 2 Interpretation Summary

This regulation provides definition and interpretation of the terms used in the Regulations.

Regulation 2 (1) In these Regulations—

“adequate” means adequate having regard only to the nature and degree of exposure to asbestos, and “adequately” must be construed accordingly;

“appointed doctor” means a registered medical practitioner appointed for the time being in writing by the Executive for the purpose of these Regulations;

“approved” means approved for the time being in writing by the Executive;

“asbestos” means the following fibrous silicates—

(a) asbestos actinolite, CAS No 77536-66-4; (b) asbestos grunerite (amosite), CAS No 12172-73-5; (c) asbestos anthophyllite, CAS No 77536-67-5; (d) chrysotile, CAS No 12001-29-5 or CAS No 132207-32-0; (e) crocidolite, CAS No 12001-28-4; and (f) asbestos tremolite, CAS No 77536-68-6,

and reference to “CAS” followed by a numerical sequence are references to CAS Registry Numbers assigned to chemicals by the Chemical Abstracts Service, a division of the American Chemical Society;

“asbestos cement” means a material which is predominantly a mixture of cement and chrysotile and which when in a dry state absorbs less than 30% water by weight;

“asbestos coating” means a surface coating which contains asbestos for fire protection, heat insulation or sound insulation but does not include textured decorative coatings;

“asbestos insulating board” (AIB) means any flat sheet, tile or building board consisting of a mixture of asbestos and other material except—

(a) asbestos cement; or (b) any article of bitumen, plastic, resin or rubber which contains asbestos, and the thermal or acoustic properties of the article are incidental to its main purpose;

“asbestos insulation” means any material containing asbestos which is used for thermal, acoustic or other insulation purposes (including fire protection) except—

(a) asbestos cement, asbestos coating or asbestos insulating board; or (b) any article of bitumen, plastic, resin or rubber which contains asbestos and the thermal and acoustic properties of that article are incidental to its main purpose;

Regulation 2 “the control limit” means a concentration of asbestos in the atmosphere when measured in accordance with the 1997 WHO recommended method, or by a method giving equivalent results to that method approved by the Executive, of 0.1 fibres per cubic centimetre of air averaged over a continuous period of 4 hours;

“control measure” means a measure taken to prevent or reduce exposure to asbestos (including the provision of systems of work and supervision, the cleaning of workplaces, premises, plant and equipment, and the provision and use of engineering controls and personal protective equipment);

“emergency services” include—

(a) police, fire, rescue and ambulance services; (b) Her Majesty’s Coastguard;

“employment medical adviser” means an employment medical adviser appointed under section 56 of the 1974 Act;

“enforcing authority” means the Executive, local authority or Office of Rail Regulation, determined in accordance with the provisions of the Health and Safety (Enforcing Authority) Regulations 1998 and the provisions of the Health and Safety (Enforcing Authority for Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems) Regulations 2006;

“ISO 17020” means European Standard EN ISO/IEC 17020, “General criteria for the operation of various types of bodies performing inspection” as revised or reissued from time to time and accepted by the Comité Européen de Normalisation Électrotechnique (CEN/CENELEC);

“ISO 17025” means European Standard EN ISO/IEC 17025, “General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories” as revised or reissued from time to time and accepted by the Comité Européen de Normalisation Électrotechnique (CEN/CENELEC);

“licensable work with asbestos” is work—

(a) where the exposure to asbestos of employees is not sporadic and of low intensity; or (b) in relation to which the risk assessment cannot clearly demonstrate that the control limit will not be exceeded; or (c) on asbestos coating; or (d) on asbestos insulating board or asbestos insulation for which the risk assessment— (i) demonstrates that the work is not sporadic and of low intensity, or (ii) cannot clearly demonstrate that the control limit will not be exceeded, or (iii) demonstrates that the work is not short duration work;

“medical examination” includes any laboratory tests and X-rays that a relevant doctor may require;

“personal protective equipment” means all equipment (including clothing) which is intended to be worn or held by a person at work and which protects that person against one or more risks to that person’s health, and any addition or accessory designed to meet that objective;

“relevant doctor” means an appointed doctor or an employment medical adviser. In

Regulation 2 relation to work with asbestos which is not licensable work with asbestos and is not exempted by regulation 3(2) “relevant doctor” also includes an appropriate fully registered medical practitioner who holds a licence to practice;

“risk assessment” means the assessment of risk required by regulation 6(1)(a);

“textured decorative coatings” means decorative and textured finishes, such as paints and ceiling and wall plasters which are used to produce visual effects and which contain asbestos. These coatings are designed to be decorative and any thermal or acoustic properties are incidental to their purpose, and

“the 1997 WHO recommended method” means the publication “Determination of airborne fibre concentrations. A recommended method, by phase-contrast optical microscopy (membrane filter method)”, WHO (World Health Organisation), Geneva 1997.

(2) A reference to work with asbestos in these Regulations includes—

(a) work which consists of the removal, repair or disturbance of asbestos or materials containing asbestos; (b) work which is ancillary to such work; and (c) supervision of such work and such ancillary work.

(3) For the