Understanding the reasons behind the new L143

The new L143, incorporating L143 and the old L127

The two ACoPs have been updated and brought together to help employers find the information they need quickly and easily and understand how to protect their workers from the dangers of working with asbestos. The revised ACoP (L143) also provides better clarity on identifying dutyholders for non-domestic premises and the things they must do to comply with the ‘duty to manage’ asbestos (Regulation 4).

To understand why, until December 2013, there were two ACoPs for the Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR) 2006 instead of a single ACoP for CAR 2012, it is necessary to look at the history of these codes, and of the legislation they support. 

At the 11th hour last year (20 December) CAR 2012 received ministerial approval for its own single L series document, L143, fusing relevant ACoP and guidance from the old L127 and L143.

The new ACoP has taken account of changes between CAR 2006 and CAR 2012. In particular, it reflects on the notification of non-licensed work with asbestos and the arrangements required for employee medical examinations and record keeping.

The new tables in L143 (2013) are a much clearer way of presenting guidance. Table 1 gives examples of work that do and do not normally require a licence. Though the double negative is confusing initially, the examples of work activities that are non-licensed but not normally classed as notifiable non-licensed work (NNLW) in table 2 are helpful when compared with the NNLW examples in table 3.

Table 4 helps employers to better understand their duties under CAR 2012 to employees and others, while table 5 explains arrangements in different types of domestic premises. Tenancy arrangements from L127 have been supplemented by two further examples and tabulated in table 6, while table 7 gives information on enforcing authorities.

The requirement to assess the presence of asbestos in premises is the same in CAR 2006 and CAR 2012. In CAR 2012 the requirement to review the assessment has changed only in that, instead of being reviewed “forthwith”, it must now be revisited “without delay” if there is any reason to suspect it is no longer valid or there has been a significant change to the premises.

But the ACoP makes a significant change to the emphasis put on this requirement. L127 asked only that the asbestos records “be reviewed and brought up to date every time it is known that something has changed that affects the risks from the material”, with no timescale.

Revised L143 demands more. As well as the requirement to update records when there are changes, paragraph 143 specifies: “As a minimum, the management plan, including records and drawings, should be reviewed every 12 months.”

In contrast, the requirement for checking the condition of asbestos has lost its prescriptive timescale. L127 advised: “As a minimum, the material should be checked every six to 12 months even if it is in good condition.” But the requirement that “any identified or suspected ACM must be inspected and its condition assessed periodically” has been upgraded from guidance to ACoP with the suggestion that the frequency of inspection will depend on location, activities and other “events or changes”. This is another example of a belated move to a risk based approach.

Requirements for training have also altered. The 2006 version of L143 included ACoP (para 147) that “refresher training should be given at least every year and should be appropriate to the role undertaken”.

Some asbestos training companies used this as grounds to convince organisations to buy a generic, off the shelf training course once a year, ignoring the guidance: “Refresher training should include reviewing where things have gone wrong and sharing good practice.”

The new ACoP removes the prescriptive time interval and clarifies who needs it most: “Asbestos awareness training should be given to employees whose work could foreseeably … expose them to asbestos ... to those workers in the refurbishment, maintenance and allied trades where it is foreseeable that ACMs may become exposed during their work.”

The guidance points out that “there is no legal requirement to repeat a formal refresher awareness training course every 12 months” and allows for appropriate methods of training, including asbestos e-learning and supervisor led safety talks.

Unscrupulous employers could use this revision as an opportunity to drop awareness training, but the best interpretation would be to stop buying generic courses and to base refresher training on how the asbestos management system works (and where it goes wrong) in your own organisation.

So does the new L143 meet the HSE claim? In terms of clarity, it has two points in favour: the summary boxes and the greater use of tables, and one point against: the unnavigable Regulation 4 guidance.

It does at last mean we have an up-to-date single ACoP to support CAR 2012, and the move towards a risk based approach should encourage better use of resources where they are needed rather than generic courses and cursory annual inspections.

As for the consolidation, while everyone had an opinion on the loss of the Management Regs. L21, no one seems bothered about the loss of L127. Perhaps it was such an obvious improvement that the only question is why it was not done years ago.

History

In 1983 we had the Asbestos Licensing Regulations, accompanied by the L11 A guide to the Asbestos Licensing Regulations. In 1987, the original Control of Asbestos at Work (CAW) Regulations were introduced.

The HSE published two codes: CoP 21 (later L27) The control of asbestos at work, which mirrored the regulation title, and also an overly specific CoP 3 (later L28): Work with asbestos insulation, asbestos coating and asbestos insulating board.

As understanding about the relative risks of, for example, textured coatings versus insulating board changed, the inflexibly named L28 was difficult to adapt. In the 2002 consultation document on changes to L27 and L28 there were so many uses of the phrase “this guidance is also relevant to L27” when referring to L28 that it seems odd the merger of these documents did not occur then. Instead, the fourth edition of L27 was given a name change to “Work with asbestos which does not normally require a licence.”

With the fractured guidance spread between L11, L27 and L28, there was no obvious home for new advice on the “duty to manage” introduced in Regulation 4 of CAW (2002), so yet another ACoP was introduced: L127 “The management of asbestos in non-domestic premises”.

The sensible consolidation of L11, L27 and L28 into L143 “Work with materials containing asbestos” did not occur until 2006, when the Asbestos Licensing Regulations, the Asbestos Prohibitions Regulations and the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations were consolidated into the Control of Asbestos Regulations. A key change at this point was from the prescriptive requirements based on type of asbestos to an approach based on the risk of exposure. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations had been introduced in 1992, and revised in 1999, so why had it taken until 2006 to adopt a risk based approach to asbestos? Negotiations over the Asbestos Worker Protection Directive may have caused the delay.

Having introduced L127 only in 2002 (for 2004 implementation) it seems no one felt able to get rid of it and give businesses just one ACoP for one regulation in 2006, so L127 had a second edition to line up with CAR 2006.

One argument for keeping the management advice in L127 separate from the “work with” advice in L143 was to have different documents for different audiences. Non-asbestos specialists need to know who is responsible and how to manage the process. Experts can be brought in to “work with asbestos” — to carry out surveys, to remove asbestos and to check the working environment afterwards. The dutyholder just needs to know when to get in experts, and how to tell whether they are doing the right thing. The problem was, in order to control the experts, non-specialists still needed to read both ACoPs, as well as HSG 227 a comprehensive guide to managing asbestos in premises.

In 2012, a new version of CAR was introduced, but HSG 227, L127 and L143 were not updated. Confused managers had to deal with references to documents that were no longer available, such as MDHS 100, and had to scrabble around the HSE website for advice on the changes from 2006 to 2012.

What does “sporadic, low-intensity” exposure actually mean? Just another difficult to answer question about asbestos.

I think all of us in the asbestos industry are familiar with the above term, but nowhere in the published guidance is the phrase actually defined. We are indeed told that exposure to asbestos of more than 0.6 fibres per cubic centimetre over a 10-minute period CANNOT be regarded as sporadic, low-intensity and therefore work where such exposure was likely to occur would require a licence; however this does not define what the phrase means, only what it doesn’t!

What about work with asbestos cement panels on a regular, daily basis? Is this sporadic? Not in my book.

“Most work with asbestos cement will not require a licence”, or so we are told. Yet go and check out the table of expected exposure concentrations in HSG 189/2 and what do you find? Only that the majority of such expected exposures are above the Control Limit (if carried out for long enough of course)!

“Risk is dependent upon dose” we are also told – and yet we also know that the chances of developing mesothelioma are notoriously dose independent. Many people have contracted this horrid disease after only brief exposure to what may well have been comparatively low fibre concentrations.

So who do we believe? What do we really need to do to protect ourselves and others?

I read somewhere that the comparative risk (for equivalent exposure) of developing mesothelioma from the various common asbestos types was 1 to 100 to 1000 for chrysotile (white); amosite (brown); and crocidolite (blue) respectively. In other words, we would need 1000 times the exposure to white asbestos fibres to equal the risk from exposure to blue asbestos. But is this correct? Where are the actual figures to show it?

Not being an epidemiologist, the situation as I see it (and this is probably the case for a lot of other people too) is that the waters are so muddied on this issue that it is best to assume that no exposure to asbestos is acceptable, no matter how low. Yes, exposure to chrysotile asbestos isn’t likely to be as risky but we’re much more likely to be exposed to dust and fibres from white asbestos anyway (perhaps the likelihood ratio for encountering white: brown: blue asbestos is almost the same as the mesothelioma risk ratio, thus cancelling out any difference? Just a thought!

I am often asked by asbestos courses delegates, “What is the chance of someone developing an asbestos disease if exposed to fibres near to the Control Limit on a daily basis?” This is a good question and we should be able to answer it properly. Of course it depends on the type of asbestos (see above) but it’s extremely difficult to quantify. Yes, it’s easy enough to count the bodies so to speak but to try to relate the mortality rate to the exposure levels 30 or 40 years ago is a bit more difficult… just not enough reliable exposure data is available. Only the Central Electricity Generating Board produced any really meaningful statistics, but this is a very small pool of data from which to extrapolate risk. We do know that the exposure was high though and much, much higher than most exposures today. Yet we still here of teachers developing mesothelioma following exposure to dust emanating from holes in insulating board panels made by drawing pins!

In the absence of definitive answers to the many questions still being asked about asbestos, let us all remember: Asbestos (in all its forms) is a proven human carcinogen with the potential to kill. It must be treated with caution and respect, and we must take all steps we reasonably can to prevent exposure to fibres of any type.

Alex Nicoll CCP (Asb.), AFOH

Senior Consultant

Asbestos Consultants to the environment Limited

ASBESTOS SURVEYS – AVOIDING THE PITFALLS

So you need an asbestos survey? What type of survey? Are there different types? Who do you contact? What do you need to ask for? How do you ensure the survey will give you all the information you require? What then?

Asbestos management can only begin when you have a log (or register) of where all your asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) are. You’ll also need to know what type of material you’re dealing with, how much is there and what condition it’s in. You’ll need to know how accessible it is so that you can assess the risk of fibre release from it if it’s disturbed. You’ll also want to know what type of asbestos you’re dealing with as some types are even more hazardous than others. In other words you need to get an idea of how hazardous the ACM is (i.e. an assessment of the potential for it to cause harm) and what are the chances (based on likely exposure of people) of this harm actually occurring. For the latter you’ll need more information such as what goes on in the area, how many people are involved, doing what and for how long. You’ll also need to know about any maintenance activities going on because these often give rise to potential exposure.

Quite a lot of information then? But don’t worry, that’s what asbestos consultants are for! They will gather all this information together for you and present it in the form of an asbestos survey report and register. They will quantify the hazard by conducting a “material assessment” and assess the risk of exposure by looking at all the other factors involved and conducting a “priority assessment” which will end up giving you a “priority rating”; a simple score-based, quantitative risk management tool which will help you decide on further action and give you an indication of what you need to deal with first. You can then base your “asbestos management plan” on the outcome of the survey and should feel comfortable that you’re tackling everything in a logical, prioritised manner.

So what can go wrong? Well, plenty actually. You could end up using a survey company which has no quality procedures in place! Amazingly perhaps, asbestos surveys do not have to be conducted by an accredited organisation! Most other asbestos consultancy work, for example measuring the concentration of fibres in air, conducting clearance inspections after asbestos removal and analysing samples for asbestos content, will need accreditation by UKAS (the UK Accreditation Service) but not surveying – it’s only strongly recommended in the official guidance (HSG 264) and it’s not required under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006.

All that aside, since the revised guidance for surveys (HSG 264 – Asbestos: the survey guide) was published in January 2010, communication between the consultant and the client prior to carrying out a survey has become even more important than it was before. So what questions should a consultant be asking you prior to conducting a survey? Well, the following might be a useful starting point:

• Is a pre-survey site meeting and walk-through inspection required? This would probably be more necessary for large buildings or for a site with a multitude of buildings on it.
• What type of survey is needed? It might be a management survey of the whole site, or part of site. It might be a demolition survey of one, some or all buildings or it could be a refurbishment survey that’s needed. Are you even sure of the type of survey you want?
• What is the scope of the survey? Possibly a partial refurbishment survey is needed and it might have to be undertaken within occupied buildings, in which case careful planning and partial enclosure of access and/or sampling points might be needed.
• Do all buildings need to be surveyed? Is the scope for one building, or part of a building, different from that of another? Is there existing survey information which the customer wants incorporated? How valid were the original survey findings? Answers to all these questions are needed.
• Are the surrounding areas and grounds to be included or excluded from the survey? Remember that “premises” refers not only to the buildings but to the whole site; often especially important in the case of a demolition survey.

In addition to providing the answers to all of these questions, you’ll also need to provide your consultant information on the following:

• A full description of the properties to be surveyed;
• Information on the principal use of the building/s and of any other activities taking place at other times;
• Details of the activities and processes being undertaken within the premises;
• Whether you have any areas requiring priority attention;
• The number of buildings including their age, type and details of their construction;
• As many current plans or drawings, documents or survey reports that are available relating to the design, structure or construction of the building/s to be surveyed;
• The approximate number of rooms and any unusual features that may impact on the survey scope;
• Structural information, including details of any previous extensions and/or refurbishments and when such work was carried out;
• Any historical data on buildings previously demolished and the whereabouts of any underground ducts, shafts etc.;
• Details of all plant and equipment to be included or excluded from the survey;
• General security information, alarm tests, PPE requirements, etc.) and where the taking photographs may be restricted;
• Any restricted access areas (radiation controlled areas, high voltage equipment, etc.) and how to gain access therein;
• Whether there are any listed buildings or conservation areas involved;
• Restrictions on access, preferred hours of work etc.;
• Contact details for relevant operational, health and safety, building management, key-holder personnel etc.;
• Any other special requirements to be noted.

Hopefully, if your consultant is in possession of all the above information before preparing the survey specification for your property, the survey report and register produced as a result will be as fully comprehensive as possible and provide you with useful information to help you develop your asbestos management action plan. The more accurate information on the location, extent and condition of asbestos made available, the less chance there is of some unfortunate soul inadvertently disturbing asbestos fibres, inhaling them and by so doing making themselves more vulnerable to developing an insidious, potentially fatal disease in the future.

Alex Nicoll CCP (Asb.), AFOH

Why Asbestos was called a ‘magic mineral’?

Introduction

Asbestos is a collective term for several naturally occurring silicate minerals, mined in other countries but used extensively throughout the last century in the manufacture of Asbestos-containing Materials (ACMs). The UK was a major player in such manufacturing, the two main producers being Cape Asbestos and Turner & Newall.

Over six million tonnes of raw asbestos fibres were imported into the UK during the 20^th century, the peak period being the late 1960s and early 1970s when an average of about 150,000 tonnes of asbestos fibres were reaching our shores each year.

Asbestos has many useful properties, which led to it being regarded by many as “the magic mineral”.

• Asbestos is fireproof and will not burn; this led to its use as fire-proof boarding within fire-breaks, fire doors, oven and furnace door gaskets and textiles for protective garments, including suits and gloves.
• Asbestos is an excellent thermal insulator, having a very low heat transfer coefficient.
• ACMs are usually very strong and durable, with the fibres having a high tensile strength, making them ideal for use as reinforcing or binding agents.
• Asbestos has excellent electrical resistance and is a good sound absorber.

One of the main uses of asbestos of relevance to redundant plant was for asbestos insulation (or lagging) in the form of amosite (brown), crocidolite (blue) and chrysotile (white), or mixtures of such types. Asbestos insulation is most often encountered as lagging to boilers and/or pipes. Asbestos insulation can, in the case of hand-applied lagging, contain anything between around 5% to 85% asbestos, and up to 100% (almost exclusively chrysotile) for pre-manufactured textile blankets. Another pre-manufactured form of asbestos insulation, Caposite, contains around 70% asbestos, mainly amosite. Caposite insulation is usually encountered in the form of hemispherical lengths of material applied to either side of pipes and held in place by jubilee clips.

Other types of ACMs often associated with redundant plant include gaskets (CAF joints or rope), electrical switchgear, cables and pipe linings.

Alexander Nicoll CCP (Asb.), AFOH

Senior Consultant, Asbestos Consultants to the Environment Ltd

Asbestos as a Health Risks

Asbestos Health Risks

All forms of asbestos fibres are carcinogenic, the risk being dependent on the type of asbestos, the propensity of the ACM for fibre release, and the likelihood of exposure to such fibres. An ACM which is in good condition, sealed, and with a low likelihood of disturbance poses a very low-risk of causing asbestos-related disease.

The most common diseases related to asbestos exposure are:

• Mesothelioma – a cancer of the mesothelium, the fluid-filled membrane which lines the lungs (pleura), the intestines (peritoneum) and the heart (pericardium). Mesothelioma is now the most common asbestos-related disease with over 2200 people (as of 2008) developing the disease in the UK each year. Because of the long average latency period (the length of time between exposure and first onset of symptoms) of around 38 years, the annual death rate from mesothelioma is still increasing and is not expected to reach a peak for another four or five years (i.e. around 2015 to 2016). The disease is nearly always caused by exposure to asbestos, principally the amphibole types such as crocidolite and amosite.
• Lung cancer – cancerous tumours occurring inside the lungs, proven or considered most likely to have been caused by exposure to asbestos fibres. Unlike mesothelioma, where the disease is principally related to amphibole asbestos exposure, chrysotile asbestos (a serpentine fibre) is also strongly implicated in the onset of lung cancer. Because there are multiple other potential causes of lung cancer, principally from smoking and/or exposure to industrial or environmental pollutants, the death rate from this disease attributable to exposure to asbestos is difficult to determine with certainty. About 15 years ago, the HSE used to assume a comparative death rate twice that of mesothelioma (as evidenced by the increased incidence of lung cancer among asbestos workers) but it is now probably lower than a ratio of 1:1 because of the increasing death rate from mesothelioma, and the shorter latency period associated with lung cancer. About 2000 people per year are currently estimated to be dying of asbestos-related lung cancer in the UK.
• Asbestosis – progressive scarring of the lung tissue caused by asbestos exposure. Asbestosis has the best dose-response relationship of all the asbestos diseases, with a strong correlation between the amount of exposure to asbestos and the likelihood of disease occurrence. Asbestosis is actually pulmonary fibrosis triggered by exposure to asbestos fibres (as opposed to the same disease triggered by exposure to α-quartz, cristobalite or tridymite, i.e. silicosis). Asbestosis has a comparatively short latency period of 10 to 15 years. As a consequence the death rate attributable to asbestosis is now at a comparatively low level of around 120 people per annum.
• Other diseases – these include pleural plaques, considered benign and, apart from in Scotland) no longer warranting compensation, asbestos warts (a localised effect, now rare, usually attributable to prolonged handling of asbestos insulation materials) and cancers of the throat, larynx, stomach and bowel, although these are very rare.

Alexander Nicoll CCP (Asb.), AFOH

Senior Consultant, Asbestos Consultants to the Environment Ltd

Legal requirements for Asbestos Management

Legal Issues

The importation supply and use of products containing crocidolite and amosite asbestos was banned in 1985, although in reality most products containing such materials had been voluntarily phased out much earlier; in the case of crocidolite since the early 1970s and for amosite mostly by the beginning of the 1980s. These Prohibition Regulations also banned the use of all types of asbestos insulation and sprayed coatings. Thus chrysotile asbestos, where used in such products, was also banned.

The 1992 Prohibition Regulations extended the ban to all amphibole asbestos products. This meant that the other forms of such asbestos, i.e. fibrous tremolite, fibrous anthophyllite and fibrous actinolite were no longer permitted. The use of such types of asbestos had not been widespread however.

Products containing chrysotile (the sole serpentine form of asbestos) were banned only in November 1999, bringing to an end the importation of asbestos into the UK after over a century of such practice. Although the UK also has deposits of asbestos, and there is evidence of early exploitation of this resource (chrysotile fibres being used to strengthen clay or earthenware pots for example) the mineral has never been mined here on a commercial basis. The UK was, however, a massive importer of asbestos and had an extensive asbestos materials manufacturing industry.

Once asbestos had been confirmed as an extremely injurious material, moves commenced to remove such material (or at least that which had been damaged and thus posed the greatest risk to health). However, early asbestos removal exercises were often haphazard and some practices were downright dangerous, often posing more of a risk to health than would have been caused by leaving the materials in place. This led in 1980 to the formation of the Asbestos Removal Contractors’ Association (ARCA) who worked with the HSE and other interested parties to put together the Asbestos (Licensing) Regulations of 1983. These regulations required that only HSE licensed contactors be used for all work with asbestos insulation and sprayed coatings and that all such work would require 28 days pre-notification to the HSE or local authority.

In 1987, the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations were published, replacing and extensively updating the Asbestos Regulations of 1969. The emphasis of such regulations was on the protection of workers involved in both the manufacturing and removal industries. New Control Limits and Action Levels (different for amphibole and serpentine asbestos) were set, along with the necessity to conduct formal exposure risk assessments and to produce effective plans of work prior to any work with asbestos materials. These regulations were amended in 1992 and again in 1998. Around the same time, the Licensing Regulations were amended to include asbestos insulating board (AIB) as a licensable material.

In 2002, the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations were introduced and included Regulation 4, the duty to manage asbestos in non-domestic premises. This was to have a major impact. For the first time there was an implicit requirement for employers (or duty-holders) to identify where all asbestos was on their premises, assess the risk of exposure to people and implement a full management plan to control such risks. Also, all asbestos-in-air monitoring and bulk sample analysis could only be performed by a UKAS accredited laboratory. There was a lead-in period applied to some of the regulations but by May 2004, everyone had to be compliant.

In November 2006, the Control of Asbestos Regulations, revising the 2002 regulations and incorporating both the Licensing and Prohibition regulations, were introduced. The concept of licensable and non-licensable materials was done away with and replaced by a new terminology – licensable and non-licensable work; effectively much the same as before but emphasising the need to assess the exposure risk from all asbestos work, including work with materials such as asbestos cement which had always been regarded in the past as non-licensable. At the same time, a revised Control Limit for all forms of asbestos was introduced; 0.1 fibres per cubic centimetre of air (averaged over a 4-hour period). Controversially, the new risk-based approach to licensable work meant that work textured coatings no longer automatically required a licence. However, this was offset to some extent by the potential extension of the licensing net to many jobs, including some involving asbestos cement. Strangely, the Approved Code of Practice for CAR 2006, “Work with materials containing asbestos” includes a comment that most work with asbestos cement will not require a licence, seemingly contradicting some of the exposure assessment data (based on airborne fibre concentration only) published in earlier HSE guidance HSG 189/2, “Working with asbestos cement”.

Regulation 8 of CAR 2006 effectively states that ALL work with asbestos should be considered as licensable, EXCEPT work which fulfils the exemption requirements detailed in Regulation 3(2).

These requirements are:

·         Exposure to asbestos as a result of the work must be SPORADIC and of LOW-INTENSITY; and

·         Exposure to asbestos must be unlikely to exceed the CONTROL LIMIT.

·         Work cannot be regarded as being sporadic and low-intensity if the short-term exposure limit (STEL) of 0.6 fibres per cubic centimetre is likely to be exceeded.

In addition, the work must be either:

·         Short, non-continuous maintenance work (defined as any one person spending a maximum of one hour doing the job in any one week, more correctly any consecutive 7-day period, with the total time spent on the job by all persons not exceeding two hours); or

·         Work with asbestos where the asbestos fibres are well-bonded in a matrix with other materials (e.g. asbestos cement, bituminous products, resins, plastics, floor tiles or textured coatings); or

·      Encapsulation (including painting) of asbestos materials in an otherwise good condition (i.e. if slightly damaged, such work would be permissible only under the short-duration maintenance work criteria); or

·         The taking of bulk samples for asbestos analysis or air monitoring.

All asbestos materials must be disposed of as hazardous waste, defined in the Hazardous Waste Regulations of 2005 as any waste containing more than 0.1% by weight of asbestos. These regulations were amended in 2009 where the maximum amount of hazardous waste allowed to be disposed of before pre-registration is a requirement was raised from 200 kg to 500 kg per year. For waste produced by such unregistered originators, the disposal contractor is now regarded as the originator of that waste.

The Carriage of Dangerous Goods etc. Regulations apply to asbestos waste materials. These Regulations were restructured extensively in 2009 so that they now follow almost exactly the EU’s ADR regulations. The following information was extracted from the HSE’s web-site and is reproduced with full acknowledgement to the source:

·         Some asbestos waste (for example thermal insulation material, asbestos insulation board) is dangerous for carriage under UN numbers 2212 (transport category 2; the more hazardous) or 2590 (transport category 3).

·         It is also "special waste" for the purposes of waste disposal legislation which is enforced by the EA or SEPA as the case may be.

·         Accordingly it has to be properly packaged in UN certified packaging (usually double bagged in polythene bags that are tested and certificated) and properly consigned as for any other dangerous substance.

·         Carriage documentation is separate from waste disposal documentation, though some information may be shared. 

·         Note that the key information of proper shipping name, UN Number, class (in this case "9") and packing group (in this case same as transport category) preceded by the word "WASTE" must be together in the documents (ADR 5.4.1.1.3).

·         Asbestos cement products are covered by ADR special provision 168 and as such are not regarded as dangerous for carriage.

·         Articles such as lengths of pipe or ducting that have asbestos insulation inside or outside, or timber that has been used for enclosures should be treated as "manufactured articles" for the purposes of SP 168 provided that they are so wrapped in heavy gauge polythene (or similar) that asbestos fibres cannot escape. It follows that the way they are handled and transported should ensure that the integrity of the wrapping is not compromised.

·         ADR requires packages of asbestos to be carried in closed vehicles or containers (packing instruction P002, Special Provision PP37). The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 will apply. 

·         The preferred method is to use skips with lockable covers.

·         Skips meet the definition of "container" (ADR 1.2.1) so, unless the load limit exemptions apply (threshold 333 kg for blue/brown, 1000 kg for white asbestos), they must be marked as required by ADR 5.3.1.2 (UN Class 9 hazard placards on all four sides), and the vehicle must also display plain orange plates front and rear (ADR 5.3.2.1.1) - again subject to the small load exemption.

Substance	Application of ADR	Carriage requirements
Waste thermal insulation and AIB	UN 2212 or 2590 Class 9	Certified packaging (usually double polythene bags). Other aspects of Carriage Regulations apply. Special waste legislation
Asbestos in or attached to items such as pipes or ductwork	Treated as SP 168 exempted	Must be wrapped to prevent escape of fibres
Asbestos cement products (new)	Does not apply by SP 168	None
Asbestos cement products as waste	Does not apply by SP 168	Special waste legislation
Waste rubble or soil contaminated with asbestos	UN 2212 or 2590 Class 9	Certified packaging (available in up to 2 tonnes capacity bags) within skip or freight container. Other aspects of Carriage Regulations apply. Special waste legislation

·         Asbestos cement products are "special waste" and must be consigned under the relevant waste rules which include a "duty of care". That duty of care means, amongst other things, that duty-holders prevent escape of the waste whilst it is in their control.

Alexander Nicoll CCP (Asb.), AFOH

Senior Consultant, Asbestos Consultants to the Environment Ltd

DEALING WITH ASBESTOS ISSUES RELATING TO REDUNDANT PLANT

Implications for Redundant Plant Management

The implications of dealing with asbestos in redundant plant can thus either be minor or extensive dependent on how much asbestos is present and in what form. Regulation 4 of CAR 2006 requires the removal of all asbestos materials from premises, as far as reasonably practical, prior to the demolition or refurbishment. It requires a “demolition and refurbishment” Asbestos survey be carried out to establish where all asbestos is located. The scope of such D&R survey goes well beyond the requirement for a management survey which is carried out for all premises so that ACMs may be identified, the risk of exposure assessed and an asbestos management plan put in place. Although not referred to specifically in CAR 2006, a survey (or assessment) similar to a D&R survey will be needed if the plant is to be sold or supplied or simply earmarked for use elsewhere within the same organisation.

Where asbestos insulation is present, and the plant is not to be scrapped, this will need to be removed and the plant certified as being asbestos-free prior to (or possibly during) demolition and certainly before transportation elsewhere. Almost certainly, the exposure risk assessment will flag that the proposed work will be licensable and such work will have to be carried out by a licensed asbestos removal contractor. The work will need to be notified to either the HSE or the local authority, dependent on who has jurisdiction, at least 14 days prior to the start of the work and an appropriate risk assessment and method statement (RAMS) prepared. Most likely, except where the work is to be carried out in a remote location and the erection of an enclosure is impracticable, the work will need to be carried out under fully-controlled conditions within a tented enclosure kept under negative static pressure relative to the atmosphere. Following the removal of all the asbestos, the enclosure can only be dismantled once a Certificate of Reoccupation has been obtained. This will involve an independent, UKAS-accredited analyst carrying out a 4-stage clearance within the enclosure. This comprises of the following:

Stage 1 – a preliminary evaluation of job completion, external transit routes, provision of decontamination facilities, whether the area is dry and free from obvious debris and whether all the equipment and waste has been removed from within the enclosure or work area (where no enclosure has been erected). Access equipment and lighting must remain however.

Stage 2 – a thorough visual inspection of the area (and the plant within it) to ensure that all asbestos material has been removed and that no debris, dust or visible evidence of asbestos remains either within the enclosure or has been encapsulated (although this would not be acceptable for plant destined to be used elsewhere unless an exemption certificate has been issued by the HSE – normally limited to materials such as compressed asbestos fibre (CAF) gaskets). Such an asbestos inspection can take many hours to complete, particularly where complex pipework or plant is involved.

Stage 3 – Clearance air monitoring within the enclosure or work area (although usually not required if the area has been open to the outside environment) to ensure that fibre levels are below the clearance indicator (a.k.a. reoccupation level) of 0.01 fibres per cubic centimetre of air. Once achieved, the analyst may then give permission for the removal of the enclosure or removal of work area demarcation and/or barriers.

Stage 4 – Following dismantling of the enclosure or work area, the analyst will conduct a further visual inspection to ensure all asbestos materials have been removed and that no debris remains. Minor clean-up work may be necessary or, in the case of extensive contamination being discovered, the analyst may require the reconstruction of the enclosure or demarcation of the area and the job starts again from scratch.

If the plant is scheduled for scrapping then some equipment lagged with asbestos, especially pipe-work, may be removed using the wrap and cut method. Although still carried out within an enclosure (unless in a remote location and the risk assessment has indicated a low fibre exposure risk) this method involves wrapping of the pipes and insulation in polythene, prior to cutting or dismantling. In practice, this is usually limited to pipes no more than 150 mm in diameter and will result in increased costs associated with disposal to landfill as well as increased volume of waste production which is not environmentally friendly.

An alternative to landfill disposal of such contaminated items is recycling by vitrification of the lagged steelwork. The pipes can be added to steelworks’ furnaces and the asbestos will be converted to a form of glass which can then be tapped off as slag and re-used in road-works for example. Such recycling is more common on mainland Europe than in the UK.

Once any asbestos lagging has been dealt with, the remaining asbestos is likely to be in the form of CAF gaskets, rope seals or asbestos cement electrical phase barriers or shields. It may also be present as asbestos bandage around cables or paper/cloth cable wrapping. Dependent on the condition of such material, the risk assessment may flag the work as either licensable or non-licensable. For licensable work then the same procedure as described above for managing the removal of asbestos lagging will need to be followed. For non-licensable work, which will have a lower exposure risk, then less stringent controls can be applied. They must still be effective however, and all personnel performing such work will need to be trained in such work and wear protective clothing and suitable respiratory protective equipment (RPE). The HSE guidance document HSG 210, “Asbestos Essentials: Task Manual” consists of work sheets covering just about every conceivable job which can be undertaken with asbestos without a licence being required.

For plant containing asbestos in the form of CAF gaskets or other low-risk ACMs, the HSE can issue an asbestos exemption certificate (giving exemption from the prohibition regulations within CAR 2006) thus allowing such plant to be re-sold.

Training Requirements

Licensable or not, all work with asbestos must be undertaken in accordance with the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006. Asbestos awareness training is important and there must be a practical component to the training of people whose work will involve asbestos materials. Regulation 10 of CAR 2006 describes the level of asbestos training (referred to as Category B) required for non-licensable work with ACMs. This training must be refreshed annually.

Cautionary Note

Asbestos is a hazardous material and is responsible for more industrial deaths in the latter half of the 20^th century than any other substance or cause. Asbestos is a carcinogen and as such there is no threshold of exposure below which there is zero risk.

We need to ask ourselves:

·         What is “sporadic exposure”?

·         Can low level exposure on a regular basis be regarded as sporadic?

·         If not, then should not removal of CAF gaskets, if undertaken regularly (say in a central facility prior to recycling of pumps etc.) be regarded as licensable work?

·         What about demolition contractors working almost daily with asbestos cement roofing sheets? Is this sporadic exposure?

·         Should we continue to condone even sporadic exposure to asbestos fibres?

Alexander Nicoll CCP (Asb.), AFOH

Senior Consultant, Asbestos Consultants to the Environment Ltd