ARCA publishes new guidance

A new Guidance Note has been published by ARCA today, the leading asbestos removal association.

The Guidance Note covers responsibilities Clients have when appointing an asbestos contractor.

Asbestos exposure is a devastating disease, however significant exposure is avoidable with well-managed projects. With Clients at the head of the procurement chain, they are well placed to ensure these projects are well managed and have a major part to play in ensuring asbestos exposure is avoided.

The aim of the guidance is to help clients [such as, facility, estate and construction managers and architects] meet their legal requirements so that asbestos is dealt with in a controlled and safe manner.

The law requires that clients, make suitable arrangements for managing a project, and maintain and review these arrangements throughout the project to ensure health and safety risks are managed appropriately. Therefore this Guidance Note references clients’ legal duties, including those under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM 2015) and the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

“Clients are not expected to be experts in either construction work or asbestos work, however, they are responsible for ensuring appropriate arrangements are in place to manage and organise projects,” commented Steve Sadley, Chief Executive of ARCA.

“This means appointing suitably competent people – such as ARCA members who are independently audited asbestos removal contractors and ATaC members who are UKAS accredited asbestos analysts – and providing them with sufficient information, time and resources to do the job properly. All helping to ensure projects are well planned and managed for the health and safety of the workforce, and also the public.”

This Guidance Note is now available as a free download on the ARCA web site

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