According to statistics received from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), asbestos is the UK. Every year 1,000 people who have been involved in carrying out building maintenance and repair work die due to a result of past exposure to asbestos fibres and it is estimated that nearlyhalf a million commercial buildings still contain asbestos.
Buildings all need repair and maintenance work from time to time and it is when the fibres are disturbed, for example, by drilling or cutting, that they are most likely to be inhaled as a lethal dust. The Control Of Asbestos Regulations introduced a legal obligation to manage asbestos. The duty applies to all non-domestic buildings and the common areas of residential rented buildings.
If you are liable for maintenance and repairs of premises covered by the Regulations, you have a legal duty to manage asbestos if:
• you are the owner of the premises;
• you are responsible through a contract or tenancy agreement; or
• there is no formal contract or agreement but you have control of the building.
Whilst a building made in or after 2000 is unlikely to contain asbestos, if it was constructed on a brownfield site or contains old equipment (e.g. ovens, brakes, soundproofing, insulating mats, fire blankets, oven gloves or ironing surfaces), it is important to follow the correct steps in order to comply with the law. For any confusing law terminology, see a legal definitions website.
The ‘duty holder’ must take reasonable steps to find out if the premises contain asbestos and, if they do, its amount, where it is and what state it is in. Unless there is strong evidence that the building does not contain any asbestos material, it must be treated like it does.
The Health and Safety Executive has released new guidance[spin], which takes duty holders through the process of [spin]fulfilling their obligations with regard to the management of asbestos. This includes a useful checklist of each step that must be taken and an example of an asbestos management plan. In addition, it can also help you decide whether or not you need to use an HSE licensed contractor to carry out planned maintenance work. If any advice is required consult a solicitor.
Did you know, that the Gas masks given out during the second world war were manufactured with asbestos, and if you wore one long enough, it would kill you. In fact, test’s carried out by the MOD concluded that the Gas Masks only raised the chances of survival from a mustard bomb attack by a paltry 2%. Some companies charge very high fee’s for asbestos removal, so it pay’s to shop around. Some towns and cities have dedicated facilities for the safe and correct disposal of asbestos and are funded by the respective borough councils therefore you can dispose of it for nothing.
Find out pragmatic things to know in the sphere of forex book – go through the page. The time has come when proper info is truly only one click away, use this opportunity.