When and why does a building or structure require an asbestos survey?

Posted by Luke Austin on 6 August 2017 | 0 Comments

Tags: asbestos, ACM, building, structure, survey

Since Ladra gained ISO 17020 accreditation, more people are asking me questions regarding asbestos management. The most recent one is regarding when and why an asbestos survey needs to be undertaken? These questions will be answered below as outlined in the Regulations:

Management Survey

If you own a building or structure, you may need to have a management survey undertaken to determine if there is any asbestos containing material (ACM) present that may affect the daily operation of any business undertaken within that building or structure.

The requirement to have a survey is based on the following Regulations:

The Health and Safety at Work Act (General Risk and Workplace Management) Regulations 2016 states:

"5 Duty to identify hazards

A PCBU, in managing risks to health and safety, must identify hazards that could give rise to reasonably foreseeable risks to health and safety."

The Health and Safety at Work (Asbestos) Regulations 2016 states:

"10 Duty to ensure asbestos identified at workplace

(1) A PCBU with management or control of a workplace who knows or ought reasonably to know that there is a risk of exposure to respirable asbestos fibres in the workplace must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that all asbestos or ACM giving rise to the risk at the workplace is identified.

(2) A PCBU with management or control of a workplace must,—

(a) if material at the workplace cannot be identified but the PCBU reasonably believes that the material is asbestos or ACM, assume that the material is asbestos; and

(b) if part of the workplace is inaccessible to workers and likely to contain asbestos or ACM, assume that asbestos is present in that part of the workplace.

(3) Subclause (1) does not apply if the PCBU—

(a) assumes that asbestos or ACM is present; or

(b) has reasonable grounds to believe that asbestos or ACM is not present.

(4) Subclause (1) does not apply in relation to soil at the workplace unless there is reasonable cause for the PCBU to suspect that asbestos-contaminated soil is present.

(5) If asbestos or ACM is assumed to be present at a workplace, it is taken to be identified at the workplace."

Therefore, from the above it can be seen that there is a strong requirement on PCBU’s to treat any ACM that may be in the building or structure in the same way as any other hazard that exists and that its existence, or absence, must be documented with the building or structure’s hazard register.

The type of survey required for this is called a ‘Management Survey’ as outlined in the WorkSafe Good Practice Guideline: Conducting Asbestos Surveys: October 2016, which describes it as:

"The purpose of the asbestos management survey is to help the workplace PCBU to systematically identify and manage all asbestos in their workplace. The survey has to provide sufficient information for the workplace PCBU to indicate the presence and location of asbestos or ACM, carry out a suitable risk assessment, and develop an asbestos management plan.

In most cases, the survey will have three aims.

To find and record the location, extent and product type of any assumed or known asbestos and ACM.
To inspect and record information on the accessibility, condition and surface treatment of any assumed or known asbestos and ACM.
To determine and record the asbestos type, either by collecting representative samples of suspect materials for laboratory identification, or by making an assumption based on the product type and its appearance, etc."

The information contained within this survey needs to be provided to all people using the building or structure to enable them to address it within their own Site-Specific Safety Plan.

Refurbishment and Demolition Survey

If you own a building or structure built before than 1 January 2000, and need to undertake refurbishments or demolition works then a more detailed survey is required before any work can start. This requirement comes from the following clauses of the Health and Safety at Work (Asbestos) Regulations 2016:

19 Application of this subpart

(1) This subpart applies to the demolition or refurbishment of a structure or plant—

(a) that was constructed or installed before 1 January 2000; or

(b) in which asbestos has been identified; or

(2) For the purposes of this subpart, demolition or refurbishment does not include minor or routine maintenance work, or other minor work.

20 Determining presence of asbestos or ACM

(1) This regulation applies if demolition or refurbishment of a structure or plant is to be carried out at a workplace.

(2) The PCBU who intends to carry out the demolition or refurbishment must not carry out the demolition or refurbishment until the structure or plant has been inspected to determine whether asbestos or ACM is fixed to or installed in the structure or plant.

(3) The PCBU who intends to carry out the demolition or refurbishment must ensure that the determination is undertaken by a competent person.

(4) The PCBU who is to carry out the demolition or refurbishment must assume that asbestos or ACM is fixed to or installed in the structure or plant if—

(a) the competent person is, on reasonable grounds, uncertain whether asbestos is fixed to or installed in the structure or plant; or

(b) part of the structure or plant is inaccessible and likely to be disturbed.

(5) If asbestos or ACM is determined or assumed to be fixed to or installed in the structure or plant, the PCBU who intends to carry out the demolition or refurbishment must inform,—

(a) if the workplace is a home,—

(i) the occupier of the home; and

(ii) the owner of the home; and

(b) in any other case, the PCBU with management or control of the workplace.

You will note that it mentions PCBU; in this context, the first PCBU is the owner (they have management or control of the workplace), and then it also will include the designers, project managers and then the contractors, as all are PCBU’s under the Act. All parties are liable if work proceeds without the necessary survey.

For refurbishment and demolition work any existing Management Survey is not acceptable and a new survey will be required. The WorkSafe Good Practice Guideline: Conducting Asbestos Surveys: October 2016 says this about demolition and refurbishment surveys:

“The purpose of asbestos refurbishment and demolition surveys is to help PCBUs locate all the asbestos in a workplace (or the relevant part) before work commences. It is a disruptive and fully intrusive survey which may need to penetrate parts of the building structure.

Aggressive inspection techniques are used to lift carpets and tiles, break through walls, ceilings, cladding and partitions, and open up floors. In these situations, the asbestos surveyor needs to put controls in place to prevent the spread of debris.

Refurbishment and demolition surveys should only be conducted in unoccupied areas to eliminate or minimise risks to the public or workers on the premises.”

Conclusions

In answer to the questions of when and why do you need to have an asbestos survey done, the answers are:

ACM is a known hazard and presents risk to occupants of buildings or structures, PCBU’s are required to manage all hazards and risks. (Health and Safety at Work (Asbestos) Regulations 2016)
A Management Survey is required as part of the normal day to day operation of the building or structure if there is the potential for any ACM to be present. (WorkSafe Good Practice Guideline: Conducting Asbestos Surveys: October 2016 )
A comprehensive Refurbishment and Demolition Survey is required if any significant modifications are being planned for the building or structure and the building or structure was built before 1 January 2000. (WorkSafe Good Practice Guideline: Conducting Asbestos Surveys: October 2016)