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Last Updated on October 1, 2020 by
The asbestos risk register is required by law under the duty to manage in the 2012 asbestos regulations and should be part of the overall asbestos management plan for non residential properties.
An asbestos management plan should record and detail how you as the duty holder intend to manage any asbestos that is found or is presumed to be within the building(s).
It is vital that the asbestos management plan contains up-to-date information about where any asbestos materials may be located in the building and the condition they’re in.
As the asbestos risk register forms part of this management plan, it’s very important that it is kept up to date (the HSE advise that it should be updated at least once a year as a minimum).
In order to keep your records up to date, it is recommended that every 6-12 months you make sure to do the following:-
It is up to you to decide on whether it would be more practical to keep the asbestos risk register as paper or electronic records.
But whichever method you choose, the records must be easily accessible by others who work in or have access to the building, such as maintenance workers, and they must be kept up to date.
Want to see a good example of a completed asbestos risk register? Then please see the image below.
The answer to this question is yes, but only if you are classed as a Duty holder of a non residential building.
A Duty holder is the person who has responsibility for the maintenence of a commercial or public building, so a Landlord or facilities/building Manager for example.
In the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, it stipulates that by law the Duty holder has a duty to manage asbestos.
Therefore, as the Duty holder, you have to manage the overall risk from asbestos on your premises.
This will entail having to carry out certain procedures as follows:-
An asbestos management survey performed by a professional asbestos Surveyor is the best way to locate and identify any asbestos containing materials in larger premises as it will prove more accurate.
Once the asbestos survey is complete and you receive the asbestos survey report, you will have enough information at hand to compile an asbestos register.
But if it’s a smaller premises, you may wish to carry out some checks yourself either instead of or before enlisting the help of an asbestos Surveyor.
Follow these steps to inspect the building yourself:-
After you have inspected your building, you will need to prepare records showing where you have located or presumed any asbestos to be.
These records will also have to identify the type of asbestos, the name of the building material it’s contained within and whether it’s in good or poor condition.
Once you have compiled these records, they need to be written in a clear and simple format and made readily available to anyone who may need them.
This will include yourself and anyone else that needs to know where the ACMs are located (such as visitors or contractors) so that they can easily find them if they need to.
Remember that you can choose whether to keep these records as a paper copy or store them electronically, although keeping an electronic version will make it much easier to update them when required.
Once you have compiled all the information you need, you will need to record this information on your register as follows:-
As outlined above, you should make sure that you are inspecting the asbestos in your premises on a regular basis and updating your records.
We would recommend that you inspect the asbestos materials every 6 to 12 months depending on their condition, location and the type of material.
You will need to have an asbestos management/action plan in place that details how you will deal with any asbestos that is found, and by making regular inspections you will be able to monitor and review your action plan.
But having a working management plan isn’t enough on it’s own as you will still need to continue to actively manage any risks from the asbestos that exists within your building.
An asbestos register will need to be kept and updated as part of the management plan, which will help to identify and manage any risk.
Which means regularly walking around your building to review the asbestos and update the register as is necessary.
Check the condition of any ACMs that have been left in situ, including those that have been sealed or enclosed, and see if they have been damaged or disturbed in any way since you last checked.
Any arrangements that have been set out in the management plan to control the risk from asbestos will have to be checked to see if they are working effectively.
If any ACMs are removed or there are any significant changes, then you will have to review the management plan to reflect these changes.
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Published Nov 13, 2019
