New HSE Guidelines Delegate Responsibilities to Duty Holders for Asbestos Surveys
New HSE guidelines for asbestos surveying, which are supposed to be implemented by autumn, are likely to include aspects like surveying, sampling and assessment of asbestos containing materials (ACMs). A legal firm has issued a word of caution to people involved in asbestos surveys to scrupulously follow the new rules.
Duty holders and surveyors will come under the purview of these guidelines. Other organisations and people looking after different aspects of the surveys in the interest of public health at homes and at workplaces will also have to conform to the new rules. To ensure your organisation is aware of its health and safety obligations and remains compliant with the latest Construction (Design and Management) Regulations for major building, maintenance or refurbishment work; click on CDM Courses.
Duty holders have been made responsible for providing the complete details of the survey starting from the planning and execution to providing concrete data on the number of buildings involved in the survey, their usage, known hazards and other details regarding access points.
The duty holders have been made responsible for checking the authenticity and competence of a surveyor. They are also supposed to hold an on-site meeting with the surveyor right before the survey. They are further required to check the report once the survey is finished and make sure that it’s complete and authentic on all counts and fully reflects the actual survey done. Other aspects related to a surveyor like insurance, reference, and the details of the plan are to be verified by the duty holders as well.
Angela Taylor, Shoosmiths partner and an asbestos expert, succinctly put the role of surveyor and the duty holders in the light of the new guidelines by saying that while duty holders needed to get acquainted with the kind of work required to be done – which included verifying the surveyor’s credentials and being involved in the survey from the inception to the report draft stage – a surveyor was also responsible for his work that had to be up to the standards and couldn’t be compromised for offering competitive prices. She also hailed the guidelines as being a progressive step for the regulation of asbestos surveying.