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Asbestos RegistersAsbestos Register Legislation
On the 13th of November 2006 the UK government introduced The Control Of Asbestos Regulations. These regulations effect all Dutyholders of non-domestic (business) premises. In essence if you employ staff or hire contractors in a building you must do the following before any work commences;
Identify asbestos containing materials (ACMs)The normal way to identify ACMs in your property is to contract a professional organisation (preferably UKAS accredited) to come and perform an asbestos survey. A trained surveyor will walk around your building taking small samples of materials they suspect may contain asbestos. These samples are then sent to a laboratory for analysis. Where it is not possible (or deemed necesssary) to take a sample the surveyor will use his judgement. The surveying company will normally issue you with a report of their findings. You can then extract the information you need to form your asbestos register. Establish an asbestos registerBy establishing an asbestos register you are recording the location and risk of asbestos materials. Registers are used to keep a record of ACMs and any actions that you carry out. The asbestos register is used by staff, contractors and any other operatives to view exactly where potentially dangerous materials are to be found in your premises. Labelling ACMsSee Asbestos Management. TrainingSee Asbestos Management. Asbestos Register StorageIt is perfectly adequate to store your asbestos information in an Office document such as an Excel spreadsheet or Word file. You should however ensure that this information is readily available to staff that work around ACMs. It is essential to maintain this information and update your register whenever you carry out remedial works or accidentally damage materials in the register.
Some larger organisations will look to use more sophisticated storage methods such as online asbestos register databases (see our sponsors below). As well as providing tools to maintain your registers these products will allow you to keep a log of whether your staff and operatives have accessed this information as they should. They also include tools to produce risk assessments and keep records of remedial works and reinspections. And the obvious advantage of using online asbestos software is that the information can be easily be accessed by people in just about any location including your maintenance companies and remote branch offices. Asbestos register contentA good asbestos register should hold the following information
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