THE NEW ASBESTOS REGULATIONS ASBESTOS ?

WHY DO WE NEED NEW

• What is it ?
REGULATIONS, • Why was it used ? Where was it used ?
• What are the REAL ( Compared with PERCIEVED) risks ?
HOW DO WE COPE ? • What (legally) has just happened, and why ?
Prof R J Willey FInstP, FIOSH,FRSA • What do I do ?

IOSH, Glasgow, November, 2004 • HELP !!!!!!!

www.acs-environmental.com

© Roger Willey 2004

WHY WAS IT USED ?

WHAT IS ASBESTOS ?
A FAMILY NAME GIVEN TO THE FIBOUS FORMS OF A GROUP OF GOOD INSULATOR AGAINST:
NATURALLY OCCURING MINERAL SILICATE FIBRES.
HEAT
ELECTRICITY
NOISE
VIBRATION
• RELATIVELY IMPERVIOUS TO:
ACID
WEATHER
VERMIN

• ORIGINALLY CHEAP TO PRODUCE AND IMPORT

TYPICALLY WHERE WAS IT USED? Pipe insulation

INTERNALLY
PIPE/BOILER INSULATION
FIRE PROTECTION BOARDS
CEILING TILES
WALL CLADDING
FIRE DOORS (EXTERNAL PANEL OR SANDWICH)
HOT AIR CENTRAL HEATING SYSTEMS
NIGHT STORAGE HEATERS
BEHIND RADIATORS
GASKETS FRICTION MATERIALS
FLOOR TILES ARTEX

1
 Ceiling tiles Ceiling Tiles - perforated

Internal Partitions Floor (vinyl) tiles

Decorative coating (Artex

(Artex)
Artex) TYPICALLY WHERE WAS IT USED ?

EXTERNALLY

WATER AND SEWAGE PIPES

DRAIN PIPES

SOFFITS EXTERNAL WALL CLADDING

(CORREGATED) ROOFS OF OUT BUILDINGS

2
 Asbestos cement – gutter, pipe,
Asbestos Cement Roof cladding

COMMON LOCATIONS IN PUBLIC

Soffits SECTOR HOUSING

Why would it affect this group ?

• Not often a problem in privately built

houses
• A significant problem in publicly funded
housing stock/buildings.
• Therefore, a significant problem for L.A.
and Housing Associations/Cooperatives
– particularly when built in 1960’s, 70’s
and early 80’s.

3
 The Result WHAT ARE THE RISKS ?

• We are surrounded by asbestos products. INHALATION OF ASBESTOS FIBRES CAN LEAD TO:

• ASBESTOSIS MASSIVE OVER

• Post mortem studies show that more than EXPOSURE
60% of people in the UK have asbestos
• LUNG CANCER
fibres in their lungs at point of death
(over 36 000 000 people). • MESOTHELIOMA “LOW LEVEL”

LATENT PERIOD BETWEEN 10 - 40 YRS: typically 25/35

• It was nothing to do with cause of death.

WHAT IS THE REAL RISK ? WHAT IS THE REAL RISK ?

LUNG CANCER
HSE PROJECTIONS FOR ENGLAND & WALES
ASBESTOS & LUNG CANCER
TYPES OF DEATH NUMBERS DEATH RATES PER 100 000 MAN YEARS
HEART DISEASE 165 000
ASBESTOS SMOKER DEATH MORTALITY
CANCER 140 000
WORKER RATE RATIO
RESPIRATORY DISEASE 56 000
HOME ACCIDENTS 4 500 NO NO 11.3 1
SUICIDES 4 000 YES NO 58.4 X5
ROAD ACCIDENTS 3 000 NO YES 122.8 X 11
HOMICIDES 630 YES YES 601.6 X 53
WORK ACCIDENTS 235
ASBESTOS DEATHS 2 000

AIRBORNE MEASUREMENT AIRBORNE LIMITS

• OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE 0.2 f/ml
SAMPLE FIXED KNOWN VOLUME (ml) • “ ENVIRONMENTAL” EXPOSURE 0.01 f/ml
COUNT NUMBER OF RESPIRABLE FIBRES (f)
TYPICAL AIRBORNE CONCENTRATIONS f/ml

RESULT EXPRESSED IN f/ml • DRY STRIPPING UP TO 100

• REMOVAL OF LIMPET UP TO 1000

WORKING WITH TILES

• BREAKING AND REMOVAL 5 - 20

• DRILLING OVERHEAD 4 - 10
• HAND SAWING 5 - 12

4
 OCCASIONAL OCCUPATIONAL
EXPOSURE THE JOB
ACTION LEVELS CONSIDER AN ELECTRICIAN WORKING FOR THE SIX WEEK SUMMER
MEASURES EXPOSURE IN THE LONGER TERM HOLIDAY IN A SCHOOL.

CUMULATIVE EXPOSURE IN ANY CONTINUOUS 12 WEEK HE TAKES DOWN OLD LIGHTS & DRILLS HOLES IN AN ASBESTOS
PERIOD SUSPENDED CEILING IN ORDER TO ATTACH NEW FLUORESCENT LIGHTS

AIRBORNE CONCENTRATION IN…………..f/ml

THE QUESTION
EXPOSURE TIME IN…………………...………hours
EXPRESSED IN ……………………….fibre hrs/ml IS HE AN ELECTRICIAN WHO IS OCCASIONALLY EXPOSED TO ASBESTOS?
• FOR CROCIDOLITE/AMOSITE 48 f.hrs/ml
• FOR ALL OTHER TYPES 72 f.hrs/ml OR
IF A.L. IS EXCEEDED THEN REGULATIONS ON NOTIFICATION, IS HE AN ASBESTOS WORKER WHO OCCASIONALLY FIXES THE LIGHTS?
DESIGNATED AREAS & MEDICAL SURVEILLANCE APPLY IN
FULL i.e. an asbestos worker.

OCCASIONAL EXPOSURE OF
Roger’s MESOTHELIOMA CYCLE
ELECTRICIAN
TYPE OF ASBESTOS IN SUSPENDED CEILING IS:
AMOSITE
ACTION LEVEL IS: 48 f.hrs/ml
HIS WORKING SCHEDULE IS:
6 WEEKS
5 DAYS PER WEEK
8 HOURS PER DAY………………POSSIBLY 2 HOURS ON
ASBESTOS WORK
POSSIBLE EXPOSURE LEVEL………..2 f/ml
CUMULATIVE EXPOSURE =
2 f/ml x 2hrs/day x 5 days/week x 6 weeks = 120 f.hrs/ml
SECOND 6 WEEK PERIOD IS ZERO
TOTAL EXPOSURE IN 12 WEEKS IS 120 f.hrs/ml

THE PETO PREDICTION Who are these people ?

THE NUMBER OF ASBESTOS DEATHS WILL RAPIDLY INCREASE OVER

THE NEXT DECADE. • The additional deaths occur NOT in the
conventional group e.g. heavy industry.
PEAK COULD BE AS HIGH AS 7500 P.A. (UP FROM 2000 P.A.)
8000 • Deaths occur primarily in tradesman e.g.
7000 electricians, plumbers, carpenters.
6000

5000
• Largest single group is “tradesmen working
for L.A.’s”
Deaths

4000

3000
• We need new asbestos regulations to
2000
protect these people.
1000

0
2002 2016
Year

5
Roger’s MESOTHELIOMA CYCLE
The Asbestos Regulations Oct.2002

• Exactly same as old Regulations (1987), except

Break loop here
for Regulation 4 - effective May 2004.

• Reg. 4 : duty to manage asbestos in premises.

• Duty came into force on 21 May 2004

The Asbestos Regulations Oct.2002 What do I do ?

• Duty holder: (crudely) the person/body who • management plan to give the information to
commissions work on fabric of the building. tradesmen before they start work.
• Duty is for non-domestic premises ONLY,
except for common areas. • management plan to prevent work without the
• HSE estimate 1.5 million premises, 4 million info.
duty holders.
• asbestos survey of premises (common areas) ?

LEGAL DEFENITIONS SMART ?

WORKING PROCEDURES : WHAT THE LAW SAYS
Asbestos crocidolite, amosite, chrysotile,
fibrous forms of actinolite, PROCEDURE DEPENDS ON LEGAL CATEGORY
anthophyllite, tremolite. NAD DO WHAT YOU LIKE
Asbestos cement asbestos, cement, INSULATION LICENSED CONTRACTOR
density>1000 kg/cu.m. 14 DAYS NOTIFICATION
SPECIAL WORK PROCEDURES
Asbestos insulating sheet, tile, board with asbestos SPECIAL WASTE
board & anything else (not cement or
INSULATING BOARD AS INSULATION
bitumen)
(MAJOR WORKS)
Asbestos insulation low density material. (MINOR WORKS) USE IN HOUSE STAFF
(OWN STAFF, OWN TRAINED
PREMISES; 1 HR RULE) APPROPRIATE PRECAUTIONS
CEMENT NO TIME LIMIT, NO LICENSE

6
 AN EXAMPLE OF AN ASBESTOS
ASBESTOS SURVEYS SURVEY
THREE TYPES ARE DEFINED:
TYPE 1
LOCATION AND ASSESSMENT SURVEY (PRESUMPTIVE) SITE: BLOGGS HIGH SCHOOL
CLIENT: XYZ LOCAL AUTHORITY
TYPE 2
STANDARD SAMPLING, IDENTIFICATION AND ASSESSMENT SURVEY
Loc. Sample Location Area Position Asbestos Quantity
TYPE 3 No. No. Surveyed Type
FULL ACCESS SAMPLING AND IDENTIFICATION SURVEY (PRE-DEMOLITION / 1 1 G Floor Gym Ceiling Tiles Amosite 50 SQ M
MAJOR REFURBISHMENT). 2 As 1 G Floor Hall Ceiling Tiles Amosite 100 SQ M
3 2 G Floor Kitchen Red Floor Tiles Amosite 100 SQ M

AN EXAMPLE OF AN ASBESTOS
MANAGEMENT SYSTEM Who does the survey ?

• Organisations should be able to comply with the

standard ISO 17020 (accredited by UKAS).
Loc Sample Location Area Position Product Asbestos Quantity Surface Vuln. Damage Mats Priority • Individual surveyors should posses BIOH proficiency
No No Surveyed Type RA
1 1 G Floor Gym Ceiling AIB Amosite 50 M² Unseal High Good 6 1 module P.402 and have completed at least 6 supervised
Tiles
2 As 1 G floor Hall Ceiling AIB Amosite 100 M² Unseal Low Good 6 3 surveys.
Tiles
3 2 G Floor Kitchen Red AVT Chryso 100 M² Good Med Good 1 2 • At least one (senior) surveyor in organisation to posses
Floor
Tiles BIOH module S.301
• Sampling and analysis carried out to ISO 17025
THIS IS A MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (accredited by UKAS).
IT CAN BE USED AS A SMART MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

UKAS accreditation Good Information

UKAS ACCREDITATION HSE ASBESTOS CAMPAIGN

• ASBESTOS SURVEYING
• SAMPLING (AIR and BULK samples) Brian Trevette: Campaign Co-ordinator
• FIBRE IDENTIFICATION (BULKS)
• FIBRE COUNTING (AIRS) phone: 0207 717 6443
• FIVE different accreditations e-mail: [email protected]
UKAS telephone: 020 8917 8555 web site: www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos

www.ukas.com