“Are we safe to look?” Ensuring a healthy Environment: A reflection of Asbestos Management by Bob Philbrook
Facilities management organisations face many challenges almost daily to maintain the estates and buildings entrusted to us as the “experts” to ensure a warm, dry, well-lit, safe, and above all, legally compliant environment.
We are well versed in the maintenance requirements for water, air quality, medical gas supply, electrical and fire safety, and the list goes on, but perhaps, and from my experience, there is one responsibility that may have "dropped through the net": the management of asbestos!
On January 15, 2024, the HSE relaunched its “Asbestos Your Duty” campaign to re-emphasise legal duties when managing asbestos. Is there not now a connection between the use of RACC in schools, hospitals, and public buildings?
From the 1950s to the early 1990s, it was used as a quick and cheap construction method, and allegedly, asbestos was a quick and cheap fire-retardant material used to clad RACC (asbestos was “legal” back in the day). However, depending on which articles you read, the extensive use of asbestos is disputed!
Q: There are 22,000 schools and colleges affected by RACC; are they all asbestos-free?
So, these circumstances prompted me to think about my experiences when working in aged facilities such as schools, hospitals, and public buildings and how much “we” are aware of asbestos in the buildings and estates we manage, and to answer the “5 million Doller question as an FM provider, do we have a problem?
Q: Is asbestos management at the top of our priority list?
When beginning a new project to plan and complete FM activities in buildings built before 2000 (when asbestos was banned as a building material), the number one question should be, “Is there any asbestos present?"
At the beginning of a contract, when handing over building information from one FM provider to another, it is not always clear who the duty holder is or who was to obtain asbestos management records.
In my experience, once provided, it is not always clear that the asbestos management information, asbestos registers, and annual survey reports are up-to-date. I have often found asbestos information, such as surveys, not being kept up-to-date and actions within the surveys not being completed. This results in maintenance activities being suspended until the location and condition of asbestos are known and a safe environment is established.
Recently, I discussed with a few colleagues their experiences, and all were similar to mine, so are we missing something from our duties? As an FM provider, do we need to better understand our asbestos duties, and is there a need to educate our clients and, indeed, fellow FM providers to ensure we are managing asbestos-related issues safely and within the law?
Back to RACC! At the height of the “RACC debate,” I listened to a phone-in on LBS, and a head teacher described how, when the surveyor arrived at their school, they accompanied them during the survey in the areas of suspected RACC, lifting ceiling tiles and looking into voids and confined spaces. There was no mention of having to complete site-specific risk assessments wearing appropriate PPE, or even if the FM provider and possibly the custodian of the Permit to Work Scheme and the custodian of historical records such as “as-built drawings,” and notably the Asbestos Register and surveys.
Q: Are we, as the FM provider, often ignored under such circumstances?
I could not help but wonder if the head teacher, the surveyor, and anyone else in the vicinity had unknowingly been exposed to asbestos dust and particles, or was that just my assumption?
Owning or renting buildings: is there a difference? If you own the building in which you are completing the maintenance activities, then the simple answer is yes. Someone within the organisation will be appointed as the duty holder and will manage the asbestos-related activities carried out by the legislation. Still, I have found the management of asbestos in rented buildings to be a different story!
I often find that when establishing maintenance activities for rented properties, it is essential to review the lease contract to establish maintenance responsibilities. I have often read:
“The tenant will be responsible for ensuring the building remains compliant with all statutory and regulatory requirements.”
We are familiar with the standard requirements for electricity, water heating, lighting, fire alarms, etc., but it is not always clear if the management of asbestos is included.
Q: Can an owner discharge the task of the duty holder to the tenant?
In this case, as a part of the tenancy agreement, we would receive all the historical maintenance information from the landlord provided by the previous tenant, but it has never been the case that all of the information is provided. The landlord's response, "It was the previous tenant's responsibility, sorry”! has been a common answer.
Q: As the incumbent FM provider, how confident are we that we will be able to hand over comprehensive and updated information, and in this case, asbestos management information, should we lose the contract to a competitor?
But worry, it is not just a potential problem in the FM industry for those who are in a “pickle”!
I recently worked on a project for a water company for which I had to organise several site surveys. In preparation, one of my duties was to prepare a site document pack for each of the sites, and one of the mandatory documents was the asbestos register. To my surprise, we were “short” of several up-to-date registers, which resulted in asbestos surveys having to be arranged before the site surveys could take place!
Sad to say, I have first-hand experience with a colleague who died from an asbestos-related illness some 30 years after the initial exposure, so I feel duty-bound in the hope that sharing my experiences will open a debate about exploring our working practices relating to asbestos management. If we are “falling short, our subsequent actions will collectively make a difference!
Question and Answer Session:
Swati Rekha | myfm
Yeah. So, who, ideally, do you think is responsible for maintaining these registers?
Bob Philbrook
That is quite simple to answer, but on occasion, it is not so easy to demonstrate. It is the duty holder!
Q: Do all of my FM colleagues know who the duty holder is for the buildings in their care, and are the asbestos registers up to date?
Swati Rekha | myfm
Yeah. Bob, how do you think this impacts the overall health of the building, especially schools and hospitals, when things like this may not be in place?
Bob Philbrook
That is a tricky question.
If the arrangements for asbestos management are not in place or, at best, the records are not up to date, it may be that during our maintenance activities, we inadvertently disturb asbestos, releasing fibres and partials into the atmosphere, the consequences of which are unimaginable!
I would guess that a sizeable percentage of the buildings we maintain fall into the 50s–90s age bracket, so how much do we know about the construction of these buildings, and do we know to what extent asbestos has been used during the construction phase?
Since the RACC disclosure and the potential impact on the education and health sectors should there be asbestos, removing asbestos from some 22,000 schools and colleges would be a huge task, removing asbestos from the very foundation of the building structure, resulting in the closure of many schools and colleges?
It is worth trying to encourage the FM industry to realise how much knowledge we have about these buildings to ensure that, if not them the landlord or owner realizes their responsibilities to keep the occupants safe.
Swati Rekha | myfm Yeah.
Holly Lochinger | myfm
Good suggestions, Bob. So, who takes responsibility for this?
Bob Philbrook
Maybe we, the FM industry, need to step up to the challenge, as, after all, we are employed as FM experts!
But let us not forget the role the duty holder plays in this conundrum!
Holly Lochinger | myfm
I see. So, in terms of job title, who normally has that kind of authority?
Bob Philbrook
It is now the responsibility of the building owner to appoint the duty holder or the landlord under contract with the tenant.
Holly Lochinger | myfm
So, we could say that it is the duty holder.
Bob Philbrook
Yes, that is the legislation!
Swati Rekha | myfm
Bob, what are the preventive measures we can think of to maintain the safety of these buildings, and how important is asbestos management?
Bob Philbrook
I cannot stress enough how important asbestos maintenance is to ensure the safety and well-being of occupants in buildings that may well contain asbestos.
We need to clearly establish who the duty holder is for the duty holder to conduct their mandatory tasks to ensure a “safe environment” for all of the building occupants!
I think I have enough understanding through my own experiences and what I read in the press and industry publications like LinkedIn to think we as an industry need to raise awareness of the implications of not complying with the requirements of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 and the recent HSE Asbestos Your Duty campaign to help prevent any Asbestos-related incidents occurring, leading to dishabituating ill health and possibly death due to the avoidable risk of Asbestos-related ill health!
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