Asbestos Regulations & The General Duties of an Employer

27 Dec 2023

The OHSS team possesses a wealth of expertise and experience in the occupational hygiene and asbestos safety and management fields. In the regular blogs that we create, our aim is to educate businesses across Ireland about the dangers that exist in the workplace and how to mitigate their effective training and management. 

Today, we focus on asbestos regulations and what they say about the general duties of employers in Ireland and the obligations they have to their staff in protecting them against the hazards presented by this deadly material. 

What Employers Must Ensure 

According to Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Exposure to Asbestos Regulations 2006, it's the duty of every employer in Ireland to:

• Assess the risk to employ health or safety from any activity during which an employee may be exposed in their place of work to asbestos or dust arising from the material.

• Determine the nature and degree of any team member's exposure to dust arising from asbestos or materials containing asbestos, and lay down the necessary measures to be taken to ensure the safety and health of employees.

• After the results of a risk assessment, ensure the exposure limit value for asbestos in the air of the working area is not exceeded.

Certain regulations don't apply, however, where work involves:

• Short, non-continuous maintenance activities during which only non-friable materials are handled.

• Asbestos removal is carried out without deterioration of non-degraded materials in which fibres are firmly linked in a matrix. 

• Encapsulated or sealed ACMs in good condition. 

• Air monitoring & control, and sampling are carried out to ascertain whether a specific material contains asbestos.

Naturally, asbestos removal and disposal must only ever be carried out by a suitably qualified person and managed by someone appropriately qualified. As an employer, it's vital that you seek expert assistance with regard to your obligations if you are in any way unsure. 

Helping Irish Businesses Safeguard Employees 

Asbestos monitoring and asbestos surveys represent control measures that are necessary because of the very real danger presented by asbestos. The OHSS team offers asbestos awareness training, as well as safety and management services designed to protect Irish businesses from this hazard that exists in premises across the country. 

To learn more about us and our work in occupational hygiene, please visit us today at www.ohss.ie. Alternatively, to speak to one of our experts, call 01 6905907, and we'll be happy to assist in keeping your staff protected.

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