The Importance of Asbestos Surveys

31 Aug 2023

The OHSS team is regularly involved in the delivery of asbestos safety and management and occupational hygiene services to businesses across Ireland. We regularly bring you blogs like this one to provide insight into the work we do for our clients. 

One particular aspect of asbestos control that we look at today is the asbestos survey and why they're required in renovation and demolition works. 

So, What Is an Asbestos Survey?

As the name suggests, it's a survey carried out within a structure, property or building in order to identify the presence of asbestos-containing materials (ACMs). These surveys are vital in establishing which materials are present so the correct control measures can be put into place.

They're conducted to protect any person, particularly tradespeople, from exposure to airborne asbestos fibres in the vicinity of renovation or demolition projects.

Which Buildings Need Asbestos Surveys?

If the building in question was built or worked on before the year 2000, there's a chance it could contain any one of 3,000 asbestos-containing products. In this case, according to the 

Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR) 2012, building owners have a duty to manage this asbestos safely. 

Should you allow anyone to disturb this asbestos unknowingly, you’re putting their life at risk, as well as breaking the law. There’s a wide range of buildings that may be home to ACMs across Ireland, such as:

• ​ Residential Properties

• ​ Retail Premises

• ​ Factories

• ​ Hospitals

• ​ Schools

• ​ Offices

When someone is exposed to airborne fibres, it can lead to aggressive lung cancers like mesothelioma, as well as other serious health complications. That's why it's hugely important, mandated by law that asbestos surveys must be carried out on certain properties.

Giving Businesses the Advice Needed to Stay Safe

Hundreds die from asbestos-related conditions every year in Ireland and the OHSS team is committed to helping protect people against this workplace killer. If you'd like to know more about this or the work we do in occupational hygiene, visit us today at www.ohss.ie.

Alternatively, to talk to us directly about anything described here, call us on (01) 6905907 and we’ll do our utmost to give you the assistance you require.

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