ASBESTOS & HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES
APEX GIVES BUSINESS OWNERS A LIFT WITH ASBESTOS
Warren Jenchner, Managing Director of Apex Lifts, explores the prevalence of asbestos and offers advice for those wanting to remove the substance from their premises.
Asbestos, although outlawed in the UK 17 years ago, can still be found in millions of homes, business premises and public buildings. Since the Asbestos Regulation legislation was signed in 1999, any building, including its elevator system, built before the year 2000 must undergo a full asbestos inspection to prevent any serious health risks.
Perhaps surprisingly, asbestos is still a huge issue for the lift industry, commonly found around elevators in older buildings. This is often overlooked during safety checks, causing significant risk to workers when lift maintenance is required. Here we detail responsibilities of lift owners when it comes to asbestos and how the lift industry can tackle asbestos-related challenges.
RISKS Asbestos materials present a risk to health when the fibres become airborne. This occurs during cutting, drilling or otherwise breaking asbestos-containing materials during work or maintenance, posing a significant risk to lift company workers. Breathing in high levels of asbestos fibres could mean developing an asbestos-related disease. When inhaled regularly, even small jobs can prove dangerous, so it is vital for elevator maintenance companies that significant checks have taken place before starting a project on a site.
ASBESTOS IN LIFTS Unfortunately, because of its fire and heat resistance properties, asbestos was long used in lift manufacturing.
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It can generally be found around elevators and in control rooms, on the back of the landing, car doors, wires inside trunking, brake linings and flash guards. Today however, if asbestos is found anywhere on an elevator system, the site owner could risk hefty fines under Construction, Design and Management (CDM) regulations, particularly if they have failed to ever carry out an asbestos inspection.
RESPONSIBILITIES Typically, if a lift owner or facilities manager has not done so already, they should carry out an Asbestos Survey as soon as the contract or tender is produced. Under CDM regulations, lift owners should then produce an Asbestos Register which says where asbestos is located or where there might be asbestos. Prior to a lift company beginning their maintenance work on the site, asbestos should be removed from anywhere where it could cause harm. It is ultimately the client’s responsibility to make the lift shaft and motor room safe.
SAFETY FIRST If you believe that asbestos is present, stop your work immediately and report the areas where asbestos has been found to the client. Be sure to only return to work when the area has been declared as safe. Ultimately, it is vital that lift companies educate their employees during training on the issues surrounding asbestos, how to recognise it and the best way to keep safe.
apexlifts.com What is an Asbestos Survey?
An Asbestos Survey generally requires premises managers to:
• Take reasonable steps to find out if there are asbestos containing materials (ACMs) within the premises, and if so, its amount, where it is and what condition it is in.
• Make, and keep up-to-date, a record of the location and condition of the asbestos containing materials or materials which are presumed to contain asbestos.
• Assess the risk of anyone being exposed to fibres from the materials identified.
• Prepare a plan that sets out in detail how the risks from these materials will be managed.
• Take the necessary steps to put the plan into action.
• Periodically review and monitor the plan and the arrangements to act on it so that the plan remains relevant and up-to-date.
• Provide information on the location and condition of the materials to anyone who is liable to work on or disturb them – this includes maintenance personnel attending to lifts and escalators.
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