POLICY HD19
ASBESTOS MANAGEMENT POLICY
The asbestos policy is an integral part of the Department’s general policy on Health & Safety, already produced under separate cover, and will seek to ensure the Health & Safety of all persons, Staff, Contractors and Tenants alike in respect of the management of asbestos bearing materials in all premises under the administration of the Department.
STATEMENT OF GENERAL INTENT
It shall be the policy of the Housing Department to ensure that within a period of 20 years all asbestos bearing materials within properties under its administration is removed, where practicable and subject to adequate funding.
Specifically, materials with differing categories of risk on assessment will be dealt with as follows:
PRIORITY 1 within a period of 5 years
PRIORITY 2 within a period of 15 years
PRIORITY 3 within a period of 20 years
In any circumstance where removal is not practical, adequate information will be maintained and provided to all persons to ensure that the risks of disturbing the material is reduced to the absolute minimum.
ASSESSMENT
A representative proportion of the property base has been surveyed for the presence of asbestos bearing materials.
It must be understood that not every property has been surveyed, particularly those homes on estates of more than one property built at the same time where a percentage of the homes have been surveyed only. However, every possible effort has been made to ensure that the percentage of properties surveyed is truly representative of the total property stock.
It must also be noted that the surveys have been carried out in a non-destructive manner, that is to say that asbestos hidden behind decorative finishes, furniture or in inaccessible areas may not have been noticed.
THE RISKS
All identified asbestos bearing materials have been analysed to establish their fibrous content and each occurrence has been assigned a risk factor taking into account the fibrous content, location and likely hood of disturbance.
The risk factors used are:
PRIORITY 1
PRIORITY 2
PRIORITY 3
MANAGEMENT PROCEDURES
Until all asbestos is removed from the property base it will be necessary for the presence of asbestos bearing materials to be managed, to ensure the Health & Safety of all persons, tenants, staff and contractors alike.
A database of all identified asbestos bearing materials has been developed and shall be available to all staff involved in property maintenance.
This database shall be maintained by the Capital Projects Team.
VOID PROPERTY OFFICERS
Before instructing work on a void property the Void Property Officers shall check the survey data for the known presence of asbestos bearing materials in the property;
On receipt of this information the Void Property Officer shall ensure that this information is passed in its entirety to any contractor carrying out work in the property. This information shall be attached to any job order raised.
Additional Asbestos Bearing Material
In the event that during the course of works on the property, material is identified that is suspected of being asbestos bearing material that is not detailed in the survey, the Void Property Officer, shall suspend work and arrange for a suitably qualified and competent person to carryout analysis of that material.
Negative Sample
In the event that the sample is negative for the presence of asbestos, work may then proceed. The negative report shall be copied to the asbestos database.
Positive Sample
In the event that the sample is positive for the presence of asbestos, work must not proceed. A competent firm of Asbestos Removal Contractors is to be invited to provide an estimate for removal or encapsulation of the material, the contractor will arrange for a removal permit to be issued by the Health & Safety Inspectorate where appropriate. If encapsulation is the recommended method of management, this is to be carried out b y a suitably competent contractor and the process recorded in detail. The positive test result and cost of removal or encapsulation is to be entered onto the database.
Asbestos removal
Removal of asbestos shall only be permitted by suitably competent contractors, licensed for such operations.
Before any asbestos is removed a comprehensive survey all other areas of the property shall be carried out by a competent person, ensuring that all asbestos bearing materials are removed at the same time.
MAINTENANCE OFFICERS
Before instructing work on a tenanted property the Maintenance Officers shall ensure that the contractor is warned to be aware of the presence of asbestos bearing materials in the property.
Identification of Asbestos Bearing Material by Contractors
In the event that during the course of works on the property, material is identified that is suspected of being asbestos bearing material, the Maintenance Officer shall order work suspended and shall then check the Asbestos Database.
Negative Result
In the event that the database indicates that the material found has been analysed previously and that that analyses proved negative for the presence of asbestos, work may then proceed.
In the event that the database indicates that the material found has not been analysed previously, work must not proceed. The material is to be analysed by a competent person and a report compiled.
Positive and negative results are to be dealt with as detailed in this policy.
Positive Result
In the event that the database indicates that the material found has already been analysed and that that analyses proved positive for the presence of asbestos, work must not proceed. A competent firm of Asbestos Removal Contractors is to be invited to provide an estimate for removal or encapsulation of the material, the contractor will arrange for a removal permit to be issued by the Health & Safety Inspectorate where appropriate. The positive test result and cost of removal or encapsulation is to be entered onto the database.
Asbestos removal
Removal of asbestos shall only be permitted by suitably competent contractors, licensed for such operations.
Before any asbestos is removed a comprehensive survey all other areas of the property shall be carried out by a competent person, ensuring that all asbestos bearing materials are removed at the same time.
Policy Drafted | 2nd May 2007 | C MAVITY |
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Policy Reviews | Date | Reviewed By |
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