Hello,

Looking for some advice if possible please.  We are a firm of structural engineers and in that capacity undertake small scale, structural surveys for residential clients.  One of our survey types is to inspect whether a property has had cavity wall insulation installed.  Normally this is fairly obvious from the externals however, in some cases we have required to drill a small pilot hole (~5mm) in the internal or external wall to insert a borescope to provide confirmation.

In the past, our engineers have taken along their own drill to make the drill hole.  The drill is a personal item and not subject to testing and is checked by the engineer prior to use.  Similalry, no training is provided by the company. We do not do enough of this work to warrant purchasing company equipment for this purpose (circa 1-2 a year).

From my own view, I see this as a relatively low risk activity, part of the survey however it has been raised that if an engineer injures themselves from using the drill, is there an issue with respect the engineer using his own drill and not receiving formal training in its use?  We undertake risk assessments prior to carrying out the work and provided the engineer is comfortable and familiar with using the drill, the risk is low. I would not expect an engineer that has never drilled a hole before to undertake the works.

There is obviously the public liability risk of hitting services etc however, that is a separate issue.

Any thoughts appreciated.

Thanks

I'm not generally supportive of people using their own powertools at work (or 'serious' non-power-tools, but people use their own digital cameas, distos, tape measures, etc.)

Personally, I'd say the company needs to provide the drill (even if you're only going to use it a couple of times a year) and have a procedure that says someone will check it for condition occasionally, and the user will check it over visually before each use .  You'll probably decide it needs PAT testing occasionally (or its charger, if it's a cordless, which is reasonably likely).

You possibly don't need training if you assess competence (and record that) before authorising someone to use it.  You've apparently done that implicitly, so write it down somewhere.

I assume your people know how to identify asbestos?

Thank you all for your responses, most helpful.   I will take the responses on board.

Originally Posted by: AcornsConsult

Amateur non-tech, non-diyer  drilling holes versus qualified engineer!  
for so many reasons this looks like comparing a recipe for disaster versus low to very low risk.

You have more faith in a "qualified engineer" than I do!