Facilities - Asbestos

With regard to Regulation 4 of The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2006, Daventry District Council as “the duty holder” has a legal requirement to manage asbestos containing materials (ACM’s) in all of its non-domestic premises. These include all office accommodation, work areas, public conveniences etc, that are managed by Daventry District Council.

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What are DDC’s duties with regards to asbestos management?

With regards to regulation 4 of The Control of asbestos at work regulations 2006, Daventry District Council as “the duty holder” has a legal requirement to manage asbestos containing materials (ACM’s) in all of its non-domestic premises. These include all office accommodation, work areas, public conveniences etc, that are managed by Daventry District Council.

Regulation 4, describes a duty holder as:

(a) Every person who has, by virtue of a contract or tenancy, an obligation of any extent in relation to the maintenance or repair of non-domestic premises or any means of access thereto or egress therefrom; or

b) In relation to any part of non-domestic premises where there is no such contract or tenancy, every person who has, to any extent, control of that part of those non-domestic premises or any means of access thereto or egress therefrom.

Under the regulations, Daventry District Council are obliged to have a suitable and sufficient assessment of the ACM’s in all non-domestic premises, where it is duty holder. This assessment is undertaken in accordance with guidelines described in document MDHS100, Surveying, sampling and assessment of asbestos containing materials. Surveyors trained to BOHS P402 standard update this assessment on a regular basis. This is to ensure that the survey remains relevant and any changes in ACM conditions are noted. If a material is found to be in a condition where the level of fibre release from it, is likely to exceed safe levels, DDC will endeavour to take action to make the material safe.

DDC own approximately 120 industrial factory units and approximately 20 shop units. The duty holder for these premises is the current tenant or management of the premises. The duty returns to DDC if or when the lease expires and control of the premises is returned to the council. DDC monitor the condition of the ACM’s in these premises, but the duty to manage is the responsibility of the building operator.

What is asbestos?

Asbestos is the name given to a group of naturally occurring fibrous minerals that have been extensively used in Construction materials and machine components during the last century. Asbestos materials are unique in that they exhibit a wide range of physical properties. The material is highly resistant to acids and chemical attack, can withstand heat up to 1400 BC and has a high tensile strength. These properties vary in the different asbestos types but this has the overall result of producing materials that, even with modern materials technology, industry struggles to produce in a single fibre.

The material generally falls into two groups. These being the serpentine group and the amphibole group and within these, the individual asbestos types can be identified.

The serpentine group only contains one type of fibrous asbestos this is called Chrysotile (common name - White asbestos) whereas the amphibole group, Consists of a number of asbestos types of which Amosite (Brown asbestos) and Crocidolite (Blue asbestos) are the most common. This group also includes fibrous Actinolite, fibrous Anthphopyllite and fibrous Tremolite as well as a number of other minerals loosely described as asbestos.

The importation of Amphibole asbestos into the EU was banned in 1986. Serpentine asbestos was banned in 1999 (although small amounts are still imported under strict license and controls, for certain industrial components and processes).

Where was asbestos used?

Buildings and their fixtures and fittings constructed between the 1930’s and 1980’s are most likely to contain ACM’s, but any building constructed before 1999 may have ACM’s present.

Asbestos was widely used in industry and construction throughout the last century. The material is widely found in many building components such as:

Cement roof sheets, cement flue pipes, roofing tiles and felts, bituminous materials, wall panels, insulating boards, electric storage heater linings, sprayed thermal Insulation, loose thermal insulation, pipe laggings, heating appliance gaskets and ropes, flash pads in fuseboxes, acoustic ceiling tiles, putties, thermoplastic floor tiles, textured wall and ceiling coatings etc. This list is only the main areas where asbestos can be found.

Further information on asbestos and asbestos containing materials can be found on The Health and Safety executives website.