Suspected Discovery of an Acm
University of Strathclyde, Estates Services
/ID: SAF003
Procedure: Work Involving Asbestos (Emergency Procedure)
/Author: PM
SUSPECTED DISCOVERY OF AN ACMDiscovered suspected ACM where?
By whom?
Date / Building…………………………………………
Floor Level……………Room No.……………
Exact Location
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
In your opinion, has the suspected discovery of the ACM resulted in the potential liberation of fibres?
If YES go to section no. 2
If NO continue with section no. 1 /
YES NO (tick)
Have you notified Estates Asbestos Coordinator?
If NO, who has been notified of the situation? /
YES NO (tick)
………………………………………………
FOR OFFICIAL USE. THIS SECTION TO BE COMPLETED BY ESTATES ASBESTOS COORDINATOR
Notification
Time
Date / ………………………………………………
………………………………………………
Has the Safety Office been notified of the situation? /
YES Date……………………
Who in the Safety Office was notified? / …………………………………………………
Has a bulk sample of the suspect material been taken? /
YES NO (tick)
Results of bulk sample:
Asbestos register updated / …………………………………………………
YES NO (tick)
Actions taken / ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………………………………………………………
Print name / Signed / Date
………………………………….. / ………………………………….. / …………………………
Legislation
- The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
- Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR) 2012.
- Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
Narrative
To achieve compliance with legislation, it is the responsibility of Estates Services staff (project managers/supervisory/trade staff) to ensure, where ACM’s are uncovered or possibly damaged during the course of works being undertaken, that all necessary actions will be taken to safely control and record such incidents.Procedure Section 1 - Actions to be taken following the suspected discovery of ACM without the liberation of asbestos fibres.
Procedure Section 2 -Actions to be taken where ACM fibres may or have been liberated during a work activity
Procedure Section 3 – Actions to be taken where ACM fibres may or have been liberated out with normal working hours
SECTION 1
Procedure Section 1
Actions taken following the suspected discovery of ACM without the liberation of asbestos fibres.YOU MUST STOP WORK IMMEDIATELY
NOTIFY THE ASBESTOS CO-ORDINATOR (or nominated person acting on their behalf)
REMAIN ON SITE UNTIL OTHERWISE ADVISED
The Asbestos Co-coordinator or nominated person acting on their behalf (See appendix 2) must be notified immediately of any such a discovery. Mobile phone communication shall be sufficient at this stage.The Asbestos Co-coordinator shall inform the Safety Office of the situation and as soon as possible thereafter visit site and decide subsequent action points on the specifics surrounding that particular situation.
The Asbestos Co-coordinator or someone acting on their behalf shall arrange for a sample of the material to be taken to verify that it is an ACM and which type it is.
Where a sample is confirmed as containing an ACM, a decision will be taken on whether to remove it (Removal options see appendix 1)or leave the suspected ACM in situ in which case an Asbestos Warning self-adhesive notice will be affixed to the material and the asbestos register updated to reflect the type and location of the ACM.
SECTION 2
Procedure Section 2
Uncovering an ACM during a work activity where fibres may or have been liberated.YOU MUST STOP WORK IMMEDIATELY
CLEAR AREA OF ALL UNAUTHORISED PERSONS
NOTIFY THE ASBESTOS CO-ORDINATOR (or nominated person acting on their behalf)
POST WARNING NOTICES &PREVENT UNAUTHORISED PERSONS FROM ENTERING THE AREA
REMAIN ON SITE UNTIL OTHERWISE ADVISED
The Asbestos Co-coordinator or nominated person acting on their behalf must be notified immediately of any such incident. Mobile phone communication shall be sufficient at this stage.
The Asbestos Co-coordinator shall inform the Safety Office of the situation and as soon as possible thereafter visit site and decide subsequent action points on the specifics surrounding that particular situation.
The immediate area where the suspected ACM has been found must be cleared of all unauthorised personnel and securely locked offsuch that access to the area is restricted.
Access to the area shall be controlled via the Asbestos Co-ordinator or nominated person acting on their behalf. (See Flowchart in appendix 3 for further detail)
Has any potential ACM dust or debris landed on your clothing?
Contaminated clothing/coveralls must be removed and placed in a plastic bag for removal as contaminated waste (Arrangements for this will be made via the Asbestos Co-ordinator or nominated person acting on their behalf). Where possible take a shower otherwise wash thoroughly.
The Asbestos Co-ordinator shall make arrangements for the posting of standard notices shall on all the doors leading to the area of the suspected ACM stating that the "area is out of bounds until further notice" The notice shall detail the telephone extension and/or e-mail address of the person in control of the site.
It shall be necessary to communicate with and update at regular intervals, the head of the department in which the suspected ACM was found, of all necessary information related to the matter. The Asbestos Co-ordinator shall confirm that the foregoing communication is taking place.
The names of those personnel that were in the immediate area of the suspected ACM fibre liberation shall be recorded and passed to the Asbestos Co-coordinator as soon as possible for record purposes and post incident interviews.
The person in control of the site (Project Manager, Plant Engineer etc.) shall make arrangements for the completion of an S1 in conjunction with the Asbestos Co-coordinator. The S1 shall thereafter be forwarded to the Department Safety Convener for processing in the usual manner.
The Asbestos Co-coordinator or nominated person acting on their behalf will: -
- Arrange for background airborne fibre concentrations to be taken in areas surrounding the site. (Refer Approved Outsourced Chemist) Copy of Report passed to the Asbestos Co-coordinator.
- Arrange for airborne fibre concentrations to be taken within the immediate area of the site. (Refer Approved Outsourced Chemist) - Copy of Report passed to the Asbestos Co-coordinator.
- Arrange for bulk sampling of material to be carried out by trained personnel to verify the type of material. Copy of Report passed to the Asbestos Co-coordinator Note; at this stage the Safety Office must be immediately informed of the results of the analysis to determine the requirements of notification to HSE.
Report
The Project Manager or person in control of the site shall gather all the appropriate information surrounding the incident and produce a Report. The Report shall contain a timeline of events leading up to and post incident. The Report shall be completed in conjunction with the Asbestos Co-ordinator and a copy of the Report (Including an S1 form) shall be forwarded to the OHSandW via the Asbestos Co-ordinator.
The Asbestos Co-coordinator shall subsequently arrange through the University's Safety office, the opportunity for the personnel involved in the ACM incident to discuss the incident with the University’s Health and Safety Adviser and Occupational Safety Adviser.
Estates Services and the University’s Safety Office shall securely retain one copy of the aforementioned interviews minutes for record purposes. The information shall be held securely on file for 40 years. This file is accessible to all those legally required under the Data Protection Act 1998
SECTION 3
Procedure Section 3In the event of an emergency situation out of hours that could potentially involve the disturbance of ACM’s such as the collapse of a ceiling following a burst water pipe or damage to the building fabric due to a break in, the following actions shall be taken,
The area in question must be secured such that unauthorised access to the area is restricted. Where this presents a problem such as in a corridor for example, bunting and warning signage should be posted such that university staff/students are made aware that unauthorised persons cannot access the area in question.
The following licensed Asbestos Removal contractors provide an out of hour’s service and should be contacted if there is an urgent need to access any such area in question.
Asbestos contractors who operate an out of house service on:
- Carymar Construction Services Ltd. Tel 0141 776 5551
- Enviviraz (Scotland ) Ltd. Tel 0141 882 8440
Appendix 1
Policy on Asbestos Removals
Following an unexpected discovery of asbestos during the construction phase of a project the project manager in conjunction with the University's Asbestos Co-ordinator shall arrange asbestos removal works to be carried out in accordance with the following options.Option No 1.
Asbestos material removed under a directly appointed contract, undertaken by a University approved asbestos contractor and following the criteria as set out elsewhere in this procedure.Post completion testing and analysis to be undertaken by a separate and independent University approved chemist. The clearance certificates and associated test certificates shall be forwarded to the University Asbestos Co-ordinator. The contractor may only recommence work within the defined area following consultation with the University Asbestos Co-ordinator.
The project manager is reminded of the need to ensure that appropriate risk assessments are prepared in advance to ensure that the asbestos removal contractor has a safe method of work available within a building site where there may be a number of hazards and in a site that they are likely to be unfamiliar with. It is required that detailed discussions are held to plan the work between the Principal Designer , principal contractor, asbestos contractor, and Estates Services Staff and that the conclusions agreed are recorded and documented.
Appendix 1 Continued
Policy on Asbestos Removals
Option No 2.
Asbestos material removed under a domestic subcontract arrangement where the asbestos subcontractor is appointed direct by the principal contractor.The project manager may instruct (via the contract administrator) the principal contractor to appoint a University approved asbestos contractor to undertake the removal of the asbestos material as a variation under the terms of the building contract. The project manager shall also instruct (via the contract administrator) the principal contractor to appoint a separate and independent University approved chemist to undertake post completion testing and analysis. The principal contractor shall remain fully responsible for all site operations and shall ensure a safe method of work is in place. The principal contractor shall ensure that actions are recorded as appropriate in the Health and Safety File. The clearance certificates and associated test certificates shall be forwarded to the University Asbestos Co-ordinator.
The contractor may only recommence work within the defined area following consultation with the University Asbestos Co-ordinator.
Project Managers are reminded that the testing, certification and verification works shall be undertaken by an independent University approved company, separate from that which undertakes the asbestos removal works. Appointed companies shall be instructed to liaise and co-ordinate with each other to ensure that the testing and analysis is undertaken at the appropriate time.
University Approved Asbestos Removal Contractors:
- Carymar Construction Services Ltd. Tel 0141 776 5551
- Enviviraz (Scotland ) Ltd. Tel 0141 882 8440
- EDP. Tel: (0)1744 766003
- Environtec. Tel:01698 421898
- ACS Physical Risk control Tel: 427 5171
- REC, Resource & Environmental Consultants (Asbestos) Ltd Tel: 01355 573360
Appendix 2
Paul McGowan - Asbestos CoordinatorT: 5783
M: 07967581769
E:
Richard Samson - Assistant Asbestos Coordinator
T: 2038
M: 07971035781
E:
Mark Lindsay - Assistant Asbestos CoordinatorT:2112M:07971032785E:
Appendix 3 Emergency procedure flowchart
No
Yes
Date: May 2017Page 1 of 8