Asbestos located in public buildings (FOI)

Request

A

Please list all cases of asbestos (or suspected asbestos) being found in public buildings / construction sites in Jersey over the last ten years (2007 to 2017).

B

Please indicate when and where the material was found, whether it was removed, and what action was taken to remove harmful materials.

C

Please also list buildings that are currently believed to contain asbestos (or suspected asbestos).

Response

A

There is no legal requirement for the presence of all asbestos-containing materials (ACMs), or suspected ACMs, in buildings / on construction sites to be notified to the Health and Safety Inspectorate (HSI). Therefore the HSI does not hold this information.

However, the “Management of Exposure in Workplace Buildings and Structures - Approved Code of Practice” (ACoP8 Revised), introduced under Article 10 of the “Health and Safety at Work (Jersey) Law 1989”, sets out the standards relating to the identification and management of ACMs in non-domestic buildings and structures. Persons in control of any premises used as a workplace must take steps to identify the presence of ACMs and determine the appropriate action to be taken to control the risk of any asbestos exposures. This may include removal, encapsulation or simply leaving the ACMs in place and monitoring their condition. As such information must be recorded in an ‘asbestos management plan’, and the information made available to the necessary persons, eg maintenance workers.

Jersey Property Holdings (JPH) has prepared “Site Specific Asbestos Information (Management Plans)” for each of the sites that it currently has responsibility for. This site specific information is available to all site representatives and concerned parties who have an interest in the information pertaining to the specific site that they are either working within or visiting.

B

As per the above response, the HSI does not hold this information.

However, work which is subject to the “Asbestos (Licensing) (Jersey) Regulations 2008” (eg removal of asbestos insulation, asbestos insulation board and asbestos coatings) must be undertaken by a specialist contractor, who holds a license issued by the Minister of Social Security. Such work must be notified to the HSI at least 14 days in advance of the work starting, along with a detailed Plan of Work which sets out how the work will be undertaken to ensure the risks are adequately controlled. The HSI maintains a log of all work notified under these Regulations during the past five years, in accordance with the HSI retention schedule. There have been approximately 600 notifications of licensed removal work being carried out in both domestic and non-domestic premises in the last five years across the Island.

It is not possible for JPH to list all cases of asbestos (or suspected asbestos) being found in public buildings/ on construction sites under JPH’s responsibility over the last ten years, when and where asbestos was found, and whether it was removed or not as it is estimated that it would exceed 12.5 hours to collate the information. For this reason the Scheduled Public Authority has determined that this information is exempt under Article 16 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.

C

There is no legal requirement for the presence of all ACMs, or suspected ACMs, in buildings / on construction sites to be notified to the HSI, therefore the HSI does not hold this information. However, persons in control of any premises used as a workplace should have all such information in respect of those premises recorded in an ‘asbestos management plan’.

It is not possible for JPH to list all public buildings / construction sites under JPH’s responsibility over the last ten years that are currently believed / known to contain asbestos, as it is estimated that it would exceed 12.5 hours to collate the information. For this reason the Scheduled Public Authority has determined that this information is exempt under Article 16 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.

JPH has undertaken a thorough Asbestos Management Survey of properties constructed prior to the year 2000 and undertakes re-inspections on the properties identified to have known Asbestos Containing Materials present as required. Buildings constructed since 2000 have to strictly comply with relevant legislation so will not have any ACMs present.

Articles applied

Article 16 A scheduled public authority may refuse to supply information if cost excessive

(1) A scheduled public authority that has been requested to supply information may refuse to supply the information if it estimates that the cost of doing so would exceed an amount determined in the manner prescribed by Regulations.