*Deleterious Materials Flashcards
What is a deleterious material?
Deleterious materials are those that are either dangerous to health, commonly cause failures in buildings or are environmentally damaging
Name 10 deleterious materials.
- Asbestos
- HAC Concrete
- Calcium Silicate Bricks
- Lead
- Woodwool Slabs
- Hollow Clay Pot Floors
- Brick Slips
- Clinker Concrete
- Chlorofluorocarbons
- Machine Made Mineral Fibre
What deleterious materials might you find in a 1960s office block?
- Asbestos
- HAC Concrete
- Woodwool slabs
- Brick slips
What is asbestos?
- Asbestos is the generic term for several mineral silicates occurring naturally in fibrous form
- It was extensively used as a building material in the UK from the 1950s through to the mid-1980s
What guidance is available in relation to asbestos?
- RICS GN ‘Asbestos and its implications for surveyors and their clients’ (3rd ed. 2011)
- HSE website
- HSE Approved Code of Practice - Managing and Working with Asbestos
Why is asbestos dangerous?
When asbestos fibres are inhaled, they can cause serious diseases, which often take a long time to develop but once diagnosed it is usually too late to do anything:
- Asbestosis - permanent scaring of lung tissue (fibrosis), causes lungs to shrink, stiffen and lose elasticity
- Lung cancer
- Mesothelioma - cancer of the lining of the lung or, in rare cases, the abdominal cavity (crocidolite only)
- Pleural thickening - lining of the lung (pleura) thickens and swells, causing shortness of breath and discomfort in the chest
What are the different types of asbestos?
- Chrysotile (white) - accounts for 90% used commercially
- Crocidolite (blue) - accounts for 6% used commercially
- Amosite (brown) - accounts for 3% used commercially
Which is considered the worst type of asbestos?
Crocidolite (blue)
When was asbestos banned?
- 1970 - voluntary ban of crocidolite
- 1985 - crocidolite and amosite banned by law
- 1999 - chrysotile banned
- 2000 - everything else and most second-hand supply (except for very high performance materials) banned
Where might you find asbestos in buildings?
- Sprayed coatings (e.g. ceilings, walls, beams, columns)
- Asbestos cement water tank
- Loose fill insulation
- Lagging on boilers and pipes
- AIB (Asbestos Insulating Board) ceiling tiles, partition walls, panels in fire doors, around boilers, behind fuse board, bath panel, behind fire, interior/exterior window panels
- Toilet seat and cistern
- Rope seals, gaskets and paper
- Vinyl floor tiles
- Textiles (e.g. fire blankets)
- Textured decorating coatings (e.g. artex)
- Asbestos cement panels (e.g. roof covering, wall cladding)
- Asbestos cement gutters, downpipes, soffits, flues
- Roofing felt
Where might you find white asbestos?
- Cement tiles
- Floor tiles
- Gaskets
Where might you find blue asbestos?
- Sprayed coatings (limpet)
- Insulation
- Old textiles
Where might you find brown asbestos?
- Wall panels
- Ceiling tiles
- Pipe insulation
What legislative controls govern asbestos?
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974:
- Enabling act for asbestos legislation
- Failure to comply is a criminal offence
- Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR) 2012
What are the requirements of the current asbestos regulations?
Places a duty on the owner or person/organisation that has responsibility for the maintenance or repair of non-domestic premises (i.e. those in control of the premises):
- If existing ACMs are in a good condition and not likely to be damaged, they may remain in place, their condition monitored and managed to ensure they are not disturbed
- Duty holders have a ‘duty to manage’ asbestos and protect anyone within the building from the risks of exposure
- If any building or maintenance works are to be done, duty holders must ensure asbestos is identified, its condition and risks assessed and manage and control these risks
- Certain work with asbestos is to be carried out by licensed contractors
- Certain work with asbestos can be carried out by non-licensed contractors, but must still have effective controls
- The control limit is 0.1 fibres per cubic centimeter (averaged over 4 hours)
- Training is mandatory for anyone liable to be exposed to asbestos fibres at work
What changes have been made to the asbestos regulations in 2012?
- Some non-licensed work needs to be notified to the relevant enforcing authority
- By April 2015, ensure notifiable non-licensed workers have a medical examination at least once every 3 years
- Keep a record of notifiable non-licensed work, e.g. the type and duration of work done with asbestos along with copies of all medical records, for 40 years
What is the significance of the asbestos control limit?
- This is the trigger for which regulation 18(2) ‘Designated Areas’ applies, where ‘respirator zones’ must be established, to which access is restricted to ‘competent’ persons and suitable respirators must be worn at all times
- If the control limit is not likely to be exceeded, then it is one of a number of circumstances set out in regulation 3(2) for which specific regulatory requirements may not necessarily apply
Explain to your client what his responsibilities are as a duty holder of premises with regards to asbestos under the current regulations?
Duty to manage:
- Take reasonable steps to determine the location of likely ACMs
- Presume materials contain asbestos unless strong evidence otherwise
- Make ACM location and condition record and keep up-to-date
- Risk assess the likelihood of anyone being exposed to fibres
- Prepare a plan setting out how risks are to be managed
- Take necessary steps to put the plan into action
- Review and monitor the plan periodically
- Provide awareness training to anyone working on ACMs
Name the types of asbestos survey and when they are required.
Management Survey:
- Required to manage ACMs during the normal occupation and use of premises
- Locates ACMs that could be disturbed by normal activities, maintenance or installing new equipment
- Involves minor intrusions to make a Materials Assessment, which shows the ability of the ACM to release fibres if disturbed
- Guides the client in prioritising any remedial work
Refurbishment / Demolition Survey
- Required where the premises, or part of it, is being refurbished or demolished
- Locates all ACMs before works begin
- Does not need to record ACM condition
- Involves destructive inspection (areas surveyed must be vacated and ‘fit for reoccupation’ after survey)
Does asbestos have to be removed from a building and why?
Asbestos should not be removed unnecessarily as doing so could be more dangerous than leaving it in place and managing it
What remedial works can be undertaken where materials cannot be removed in their entirety?
Asbestos can be encapsulated, e.g. work to enclose or seal ACMs in good condition
What are the statutory requirements for the removal of materials containing asbestos?
- If existing ACMs are in a good condition and not likely to be damaged, they may remain in place, their condition monitored and managed to ensure they are not disturbed
- If ACMs are likely to be disturbed, then depending on the type, condition and extent of works being carried out to the ACM will depend on the category of work required
What are the different asbestos works categories?
- Licensed
- Non-licensed
- Notifiable non-licensed
If you needed to remove asbestos, how would you determine which works category the work would fall under?
The HSE has produced a decision flowchart and illustrative diagram to help determine which category the work falls under
What are the general requirements for licensed asbestos removal works?
- Requires a licensed contractor to undertake the works
- Higher-risk work
- All licensable work must be notified to the appropriate enforcing authority at least 14 days before works start
What are the general requirements for non-licensed asbestos removal works?
- Must meet certain requirements within CAR 2012 to be exempt from being licensable
- Generally involves work that is sporadic and of low intensity
- Does not require a licensed contractor to undertake the works but work must still be:
- Risk assessed
- Carried out with appropriate controls in place (provided for by the various HSE equipment and method sheets)
- Undertaken by those carrying the correct level of information, instruction and training
What are the general requirements for notifiable non-licensed asbestos removal works?
Requires employers to:
- Notify the relevant enforcing authority of the works
- Designate areas where the work is being done (marked with suitable warning notices, restricted to those carrying out the work, no food or drink within designated areas)
- Ensure medical examinations are carried out at least every 3 years whilst continuing to undertake such work
- Maintain registers of work (health records), including nature and duration of works and dates of medical examinations (must be kept for at least 40 years)
- Still requires a risk assessment, appropriate controls and the correct level of information, instruction and training as per non-licensed work
Give an example of work that may be included under each asbestos work category.
- Licensed - removing sprayed coatings, disturbance of pipe lagging or work on asbestos insulation board (AIB) where the risk assessment indicates it will not be of short duration
- Non-licensed - work involving asbestos cement products (e.g. roof sheeting, tiles and rainwater goods), short duration work to AIB or encapsulation of ACMs in good condition
- Notifiable non-licensed - asbestos cement products that have been/will be substantially broken up
Define what asbestos works of a ‘short duration’ means.
Defined as no more than 2 hours in any 7 day period and no one person works for more than one hour in that 2 hour period
Do licensed contractors still need to notify asbestos works classed as notifiable non-licensed work?
Yes