Asbestos Exposure Prevention and Compliance: Asbestos Network Technical Working Group Insights

The Asbestos Network (AN) Technical Working Group, comprised of UKATA, ACAD, ARCA, BOHS-FAAM, HSE, NORAC, and Independent Industry Representatives, met in August 2023. 

The Asbestos Network serves as a platform for collaboration between the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and pertinent stakeholders, fostering a constructive partnership aimed at preventing or reducing work-related asbestos exposure in Great Britain. 

It operates in harmony with the established asbestos regulatory framework, striving to:

• Enable the development of effective strategies for asbestos management, handling, disposal, and enforcement procedures.
• Recognise and disseminate both successful and problematic practices related to these strategies, while pinpointing opportunities for enhancement.

August saw the 40th meeting of the AN Technical Working Group, which produced a clear and concise document, ‘Personal Sampling, Employee Health, and Exposure Records’, detailing the requirements for personal sampling and employee health and exposure records relating to asbestos.

The guidance document is primarily aimed at Licensed Asbestos Removal Contractors (LARCs). However, it may also be useful for others who are involved in personal sampling for asbestos exposure and the compilation of employee health records to comply with the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 (CAR 2012).

The guidance provides an invaluable refresher on why we do personal monitoring. For smaller companies undertaking Notifiable Non-Licensed Work (NNLW), such as gasket removal, the guidance states that ‘a minimum of one company personal monitoring sample per month is considered reasonable where workforces are small with low staff turnover, rare usage of temporary workers, repetitive work, and consistently low previous results.‘

Personal Monitoring

Asbestos air monitoring assesses the concentration of airborne asbestos fibre levels that the asbestos removal process may have generated or if an asbestos-containing material is suspected to have been disturbed, affecting the surrounding air. Asbestos air testing can be conducted to confirm that an appropriate level of personal protection equipment (PPE) or respiratory protective equipment (RPE) has been chosen. This can be achieved by undertaking personal air monitoring or sampling on individuals where works are being carried out

Personal Asbestos Monitoring ensures that the control methods adopted within the risk assessment and method of work are sufficient and that the operatives are wearing respiratory protective equipment fit for purpose. carried out during a shift for as long as the operative is performing a particular task. The cowl of the sample head is placed within the operative breathing zone to replicate exposure. Should results show that the filter is obfuscated with non-fibrous dust the procedure is repeated.

Personal Asbestos Air Monitoring can also be used to provide data for employee exposure records.

Retained Employee Health Records

The AN Technical Working Group guidance details that employee health records must be retained for a minimum of 40 years after the employee stops working and until the employee is at least 80 years old. 

If you are a LARC who employs a 20-year-old who works for a few months and leaves, the regulation requires you as the employer to keep the records for 60 years.

For further information about the Asbestos Network (AN) Technical Working Group please get in touch below:

E: info@ukata.org.uk

T: 01246 824437