Posted By M MacDonald Hi, What action should be taken for employees who have came into contact with white asbestos? (Small amount on one occasion). Thanks, M

Posted By Chris Boocock If you e-mail me, I'll return our procedure. Regards - Chris

Posted By Steve Cartwright You don't say what condition the asbestos is in. Is it in cemented form or pipe lagging. What condition is it in. Have you had it analysed. Some asbestos insulating boards have been known to contain blue, brown and white asbestos. If your employees have been exposed to any loose asbestos fibres, inform your insurance company, you will also have to report it to the HSE (RIDDOR), exposing your employees to dangerous substances. I would also get hold of a copy of Managing Asbestos in premises. HSG227. This will give you all the information you need.

Posted By Tom Clark A 1920's building - has the previous owner or anyone carried out a Type 3 asbestos survey? If not why haven't you? Before any work takes place in a building that old you should have this survey carried out to then produce an Asbestos Register for the building. You will need this register to refer to when carrying out future works. I would suggest you do it sooner rather than later. Remember that some building materials were being used up to 1995 with asbestos content. Regards

Posted By Andy M, Is it Asbestos, has someone presumed, or has someone competent assessed the likelihood of it being Asbestos? White Asbestos or Chryostile doesn’t necessarily have to be white or white powder, it usually depends on what it was bound with. Before anyone over reacts, get a competent person to have a look, and if necessary then get a survey. If you have asbestos on your premises, you have several duties under the Control of Asbestos At Work Regs, suggest you take professional advice on complying with the regulations, and also you take the advice given on this forum. If someone confirms you may have asbestos through a visual survey, and are renovating, get a type 3 survey, which will access and survey all areas. If not renovating, a type 2 might be more appropriate which surveys areas that are reasonably accessible, takes samples, but also assesses the state of the asbestos, likelihood of access etc and gives you an estimate of risk. Like I said, get some professional advice. 1. Investigate, prevent it happening again 2. Get a survey 3. Write procedures for working with/accidental exposure, write a management plan to detail how you will manage asbestos in your building if it is there 4. Get necessary staff trained who may be exposed to asbestos, and who manages the work/building 5. Get the right PPE and issue as emergency pack in case of accidental exposure, as whilst you might contract work with asbestos out, your staff might still disturb it accidentally as you have stated. Hope this helps. Contact me directly if I can help further.

Posted By Liam Mc Conalogue Did you not receive an asbestos survey report from the seller. The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 (CAWR) introduce an explicit duty to manage asbestos in non-domestic premises, which came into force on 21 May 2004. This places a duty to manage for those in control of a non-domestic premises. check out the following website for details http://www.hse.gov.uk/campaigns/asbestos/duty.htm Hope this helps.

Posted By Paul Leadbetter A type 3 asbestos survey would normally only take place before demolition or major refurbishment of a building. A type 2 survey would involve taking samples to identify any asbestos-containing materials. Paul

Posted By Anthony Elsmore Pete, There simply is no definative list of what building materialscontained asbestos were in use until 1995. The only way to be sure is to have a type 3 survey done from a UKAS registered Laboratory Examples of Asbestos containing material are: - Pipe lagging, insulation boards, Fascis and Soffits, Ceiling tiles, Floor tiles, floor tile adhesives, artex coverings, Fire protection coverings, window seals, plastics, roofing products, M&E connections, internal partitians, electrical fuse boards. The list is quite literally endless.

Posted By Pete Driver For the avoidance of doubt I would like to see a list of ACMs which were fitted or installed on building sites in the 1990s - not 1989 or earlier.

Posted By David J. Hi. I would concur with most of what has been said and advised. You should: confirm that the material does actually contain asbestos, if you do not have a survey you must get one ASAP. You need to put in an asbestos management system - An asbestoslog book/register, every contractor should consult this prior to starting work, sign and acknowledge that they will not break into/disturb the asbestos. If an employee has been potentially exposed they should consult a GP. If you have an occupational health provider you should consult them. The HSE must be informed. Re materials containing asbestos as indicated these are many and varied. AIB is probably the biggest worry in buildings as it has a high asbestos content. You should be aware that the HSE have included artex in the list of materials to be managed under the asbestos regs. Bottom line you must survey, identify and manage asbestos in your building. If you don't have the expertise on site you will need to bring in a specialist. And, in this era of "no win no fee".. definately let your insurers know Cheers

Posted By Pete Driver Is it not the case that anything that could cause risk in the maintenance and demolition of a building should be contained in the H&S File and that this would include asbestos. We're talking pre 1995 not post!

Posted By Steven Mellor If you would like additional information about sampling or survey work please email me: stevenmellor@sbmsafetysolutions.co.uk