HSG 264 is now fully implemented within the market place and all businesses should now see a marked difference in the approach to asbestos surveys under this new guidance.  Asbestos Consultancies have had to make a number of changes to meet the requirements of HSG 264 some of these are as follows:-

• A more accurate planning process, collecting more concise information in order to effectively plan the survey
• A revision to Quality Systems with additional auditing and the need for annual P402 refresher training of all surveyors
• Change to survey templates so that additional required information is incorporated into asbestos reports and registers
• Surveys with far less caveats must now be considered and ideally, caveat free surveys entirely

What this means for schools:-

This will mean that when commissioning a survey the school should consider the competency of the surveying organisation, they should be UKAS Accredited to ISO 17020 or the individuals undertaking the survey should be certified.  The school should request case studies and Accreditation Certificates as well as experience and qualifications of surveyors.  Once the school has decided the Consultancy to use for their surveys there will be a survey planning period, this should be a consultative time where the school confirms the scope of the survey and what they are trying to achieve and the Consultancy confirms they fully understand the requirements and have sufficient information to provide a survey plan to the school.

The school should then review this plan to ensure this fully meets with their requirements.  The survey will commence in a methodical manner and access provisions should be made as required to ensure a thorough and consistent survey is undertaken. Samples should be analysed in a UKAS Accredited laboratory to ISO 17025 and a full report and asbestos register will be issued.  The School should then review this report and register and ensure it is fully in accordance with the Survey Plan and Schools requirements.

This post was written by Kieran Moon of Redhills.

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