The requirements of the new duty seek to prevent further unknowing exposure to asbestos of building and maintenance workers with the aim of saving 5,000 lives over the next 50 years.

The duty to manage requires those in control of premises to:

• Take reasonable steps to determine the location and condition of materials likely to contain asbestos;
• Presume materials contain asbestos unless there is strong evidence that they do not;
• Make and keep an up-to-date record of the location and condition of the ACMs or presumed ACMs in the premises;
• Assess the risk of the likelihood of anyone being exposed to fibres from these materials;
• Prepare a plan setting out how the risks from the materials are to be managed;
• Take the necessary steps to put the plan into action;
• Review and monitor the plan periodically; and
• Provide information on the location and condition of the materials to anyone who is liable to work on or disturb them.

The new regulation covers all non-domestic premises, whatever type of business is carried out in them. It also covers the common areas of domestic premises, including halls, stairwells, lift shafts and roof spaces.

All those who have responsibility for the maintenance and/or repair of non-domestic premises have duties under this regulation. The extent of the legal duty is determined by the terms of any tenancy agreement or contract that applies, and in the absence of any such agreement, on the degree of control the party has over the premises.

The dutyholder may well be the landlord, tenant or a managing agent, depending on the circumstances of the case. In some situations, responsibility could be shared between two or more parties.

The regulation also includes a duty to co-operate, which applies widely. This will, for example, require a tenant to allow a landlord to gain access to a building to carry out a survey. Also a building surveyor or architect who had plans which show information on the whereabouts of asbestos would be expected to make these available to the dutyholder at a reasonable cost.

• Check that their current arrangements for the management of asbestos within their premises are effective and are being applied properly;
• Adopt a precautionary approach to maintenance work. Until a proper assessment of their premises has been carried out they must assume that all materials being worked on are asbestos, adopting the standards set out in 'Asbestos Essentials'. Alternatively they can carry out a 'mini survey' of the material being worked on before the work is done; and
• Carry out an initial inspection of the premises to look for serious damage and disturbance of material and take effective remedial action as necessary.

Plan their compliance strategy. This should include:

• Deciding what type of inspection/survey is appropriate
• Identifying who should carry out the work, and who should manage the whole process
• Determining priorities in terms of which buildings or parts of buildings must be tackled first
• Deciding how information is to be recorded/retrieved and in what form
• Considering how maintenance activities will be controlled to warn those at risk and control exposure to asbestos
• Deciding who should review the arrangements and how often

HSE and Local Authority inspectors will be carrying out visits to a number of key dutyholders throughout 2004 to encourage them to take the steps set out above. The emphasis will be on advising dutyholders and assisting them to put management systems in place. However, if inspectors find that maintenance workers or others are at serious risk of being exposed to asbestos fibres, then enforcement action will be taken.

It is understood that many organisations, because of the size, number and complexity of their premises, may not be able to complete all inspections and assessments before the regulation comes into force on 21 May 2004 . In those cases, inspectors will not only make sure that the immediate risks have been dealt with, but will also expect to see fully-worked compliance strategies, together with implementation timetables to demonstrate how they are working towards full compliance.

If this information has highlighted areas that you aren’t sure of, contact us for a free guide to MDHS 100 and to arrange a consultation.

Source: www.hse.gov.uk

• What will Duty to Manage mean to you?
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