Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012
The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 will cAme into force on 6 April 2012. They were brought in as a result of a European Commission ruling that the omission in the 2006 Regulations of certain terms from the EU Directive on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to asbestos at work meant that the UK had failed to fully implement the Directive.
The main changes in the new regulations relate to non-licensed work and in particular the exemptions related to the requirements to notify work to the relevant enforcing authority, carry out medical examinations and to keep a register of work.
Under CAR 2006 certain low risk work with asbestos was exempt from the requirements to:
1. Notify work with asbestos to the relevant enforcing authority
2. Carry out medical examinations
3. Maintain a register for each worker of the type and duration of work done with asbestos
4. Hold a licence
5. Have arrangements to deal with accidents, incidents and emergencies
6. Designate asbestos areas.
The amendments in CAR 2012 narrow the types of work to which the exemptions apply and mean that low risk (non-licensed) work is now split into two categories – low risk work which is exempt from the need to notify and notifiable non-licensed work (NNLW). Where NNLW is carried out the employers will have to:
1. Notify work with asbestos to the relevant enforcing authority
2. Carry out worker medical examinations
3. Maintain a register for each worker of the type and duration of work done with asbestos.
4. Comply with Part 1 of Regulation 15 to have in place arrangements to deal with accidents, incidents and emergencies.
(4. will be required for all asbestos work)
In order to achieve the required changes the new regulations provide a separate definition of licensable work and set out the scope of the work which is exempt from the various requirements as now. Other amendments have also been necessary and as a result there are changes to the notification requirements and those relating to health records and medical surveillance to distinguish between licensed and non-licensed work and amendments to permit a wider range of medical professionals to carry out the required medical examinations.
As noted above the biggest change is to Regulation 3(2) which sets out the exemptions for non-licensable work as follows:
Regulations 9 (notification of work with asbestos), 18(1) (a) (designated areas) and 22 (health records and medical surveillance) do not apply where—
(a) The exposure to asbestos of employees is sporadic and of low intensity; and
(b) It is clear from the risk assessment that the exposure to asbestos of any employee will not exceed the control limit; and
(c) the work involves—
(i) short, non-continuous maintenance activities in which only non-friable materials are handled, or
(ii) removal without deterioration of non-degraded materials in which the asbestos fibres are firmly linked in a matrix, or
(iii) encapsulation or sealing of asbestos-containing materials which are in good condition, or
(iv) air monitoring and control, and the collection and analysis of samples to ascertain whether a specific material contains asbestos.
No definition is provided for ‘non-friable’ or ‘without deterioration of non-degraded’ as no definition of these terms is provided in the European Directive. It is, however, proposed to issue guidance on the types of asbestos-containing materials and work activities that should normally be categorised as Notifiable Non-Licensed Work (NNLW) and it is expected that this will be published on HSE’s website when the regulations come into force in April 2012.
The requirement for workers carrying out notifiable non-licensed work to have medical examinations does not come fully into force until April 2015 to provide employers time to put suitable arrangements in place.
ABS Health and Safety Ltd will be keeping up to date with all of the changes to the Regulations and guidance so you can be sure of the best advice; please contact us for any information
