The British Occupational Hygiene Society [BOHS] announced the closure of the Asbestos Building Inspectors Certification Scheme [ABICS] last week.  This means that individual surveyors who don’t work for UKAS accredited organisations, can no longer demonstrate competence, as recommended in HSE’s guidance HSG 264: Asbestos, the Survey Guide.

The following is from the BOHS Press Release:

Steve Perkins, Chief Executive of BOHS, states, “Despite the support of the Health and Safety Executive [HSE], the cooperation with UKAS, and the high level of initial interest from individual surveyors that ABICS has always generated, we have come to the conclusion – after eight years of significant and unsustainable investment – that a voluntary certification scheme is not viable in the extremely competitive environment of asbestos surveying.”

It was recognised many years ago that there are individual asbestos surveyors who are competent but who operate as sole traders or in small companies outside UKAS accredited organisations, and who are not likely to apply for UKAS accreditation for commercial reasons. The concept of personal certification was developed out of recognition of this need, and ABICS finally achieved UKAS accreditation as a personal certification scheme in February 2009, launching as a cost-effective alternative to company accreditation for individuals and smaller companies.

At BOHS we remain committed to the control of exposure to asbestos at work and in the community, and we maintain our original position, behind the decision to develop ABICS in the first place, that competence is key in this particular sector where lives can be put at risk through incompetence. It is estimated that there are between half a million and a million non-domestic properties which still contain asbestos, and there is an increasing requirement for the more invasive refurbishment/demolition surveys which are particularly demanding. In the worst case scenarios, incompetent surveying can and does result in uncontrolled exposure to asbestos if a tradesperson disturbs a material they wrongly believe to be free of asbestos: there are some 4,000 asbestos related deaths annually in the UK, with the greatest occupational risk for tradespeople, such as electricians, plumbers and joiners, etc. Read More