External Agencies with Responsibility for Asbestos in Ireland

22 May 2018

At OHSS Safety Consultants, we are the foremost Occupational Hygiene and Safety consultancy in the country with a focus on training programs to help employers and employees to stay safe and productive in the workplace. Now, as much as we’d like to spend the rest of this article telling you all out the work we do in asbestos abatement, asbestos removal and disposal, we need to tell you about the other, external agencies that exist in Ireland which all have very important, very specific roles. So, let’s dive in.

Office of Public Works
This agency works to coordinate the management of asbestos, and we have done a lot of work on state establishments, with the notable exception of schools. Should you have any asbestos disposal or general asbestos related queries in a state building, you should direct them to the Health and Safety Services at OPW Headquarters located in Trim, County Meath.

If the query relates to a school property, then the query should go to the Department of Education and skills or the Schools’ Boards of Management, located in Tullamore, County Offaly.

National Waste Collection Permit Office
The primary role of this office is the processing of new and the renewal of waste collection permit applications across the Republic of Ireland. They maintain a register of all who hold the permit and any contractors or hauliers who move asbestos waste must have one.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
The EPA controls the licensing aspect of the storage of hazardous waste, which includes asbestos. Any local authority or company that stores asbestos waste, must hold this license. If you are disposing of this hazardous material, it’s important that the facility chosen is endorsed by the EPA.

National Transfrontier Shipment (TFS) Office
The Dublin based National TFS Office controls the export and import of shipments of waste materials. All movement of asbestos waste must have obtained prior written approval to be able to do so via Dublin City Council.

Local Authorities
Any given local authority is responsible for the investigation of any kind of water or air pollution within its borders. If any infringements of the 1987 Air Pollution Act or the 1977 Local Government Water Pollution Act have occurred, it will be prosecuted by the relevant local authority.

As you can see, asbestos abatement is a huge ongoing job that requires a huge effort from many public and private bodies. If you would like to know more about anything covered here or what we do at OHSS, you can do so by visiting our website www.ohss.ie

Alternatively if you have an urgent need for assistance or would simply like to have a chat with one of our friendly experts, call 01 6905907 now and we’ll be glad to help.

‹ BACK TO BLOG