80 Twenty Projects
Immediate Release
Asbestos Legislation may catch out Landlords
With tougher asbestos legislation now in force it is likely to catch out many landlords who previously thought they would be unaffected. New clearer guidance means that for many landlords and their staff / sub-contractors, any of the properties they manage need to be checked for Asbestos. This covers anything from warehouses through to domestic tenanted flats. Tim Ashley-King of 80 Twenty Projects believes many companies and individuals will end up being fined through a general lack of understanding of these issues.
The ‘duty to manage asbestos’ requirements of regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR) 2006 do not normally apply to individual domestic premises, however, the requirements do apply to common parts of premises such as foyers, corridors, lifts, staircases and gardens etc, including housing developments and blocks of flats. Many landlords are fully aware if this.
What is rarely understood is that The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, requires all employers to ensure their employees will not be exposed to health and safety (Asbestos) risks, to provide health & safety information to others who may be affected, and places legal duties on employers and the self employed, towards people not in their employment. Landlords therefore need to assess any Asbestos risks to third parties, e.g. tenants who may be affected by their activities, and make appropriate arrangements to protect them.
These requirements mean that organisations such as private landlords, local authorities, housing associations, social housing management companies and others who own, or are responsible for, domestic properties, have legal duties to ensure the health and safety of their staff (and others) in domestic premises, and this is where organisations are likely to be caught out by legislation.
Asbestos can be found many buildings built before the year 2000, in floor tiles, various fire retarding panels, boiler rooms, roof spaces and even in ‘Artex’. It is an easily overlooked, and hard to identify material. It was a commonly used throughout the 1950’s, to 1990’s, before its carcinogenic life-threatening legacy was fully understood. Currently in the UK it is responsible for over 4,000 deaths per year, as a result of past exposures.
As employers, organisations have duties to identify asbestos. Tim Ashley-King said I believe that we will see an increasing number of prosecutions through a lack of awareness of Asbestos legislation. 80 Twenty Projects can help prevent this through providing training to identify and deal with the problem, or by conducting Asbestos Surveys and advising on Asbestos Management Strategies.
80 Twenty Projects is a Bristol based Asbestos specialist company covering the UK and deals with everything from houses and schools to small shops and even fire damaged supermarkets. Tim Ashley-King said We are a growing company and currently are recruiting for competent Asbestos Surveyors. Anyone interested should send us a CV and covering letter. It is likely to be busy in the next few months!
Further information on Asbestos can be found on www.8020projects.co.uk and on the HSE Website.
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Notes to Editors:
80 Twenty Projects is based in Bristol and run by Tim Ashley-King. Operating on a nationwide basis, they are able to offer a range of services including:
• Asbestos Surveys, Asbestos Bulk Sample Analysis, Re-Inspection
• Asbestos Management Plans
• Asbestos Training, Health and Safety Training
• Tender Design and Specification, Contractor Selection, Project Management
• Qualitative Face Fit Testing for RPE
• Fire Risk Assessments
• Health and Safety, Health and Safety Risk Assessment
• Health and Safety Policy and Health and Safety Audits
For further information, interviews and images please contact:
Tim Davies of Copper Phoenix
T/M: 07919 914512
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Tim Davieswww.copperphoenix.co.uk
Great to see people are being done for this.
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