An asbestos company will be involved in some way in the process of identifying asbestos materials, assessing the risk presented by them or by controlling the risk. Asbestos companies active in this field include:
-> Asbestos surveyors
-> Asbestos analysts
-> Asbestos removal and encapsulation (sealing) businesses
An asbestos surveyor or asbestos surveying company will undertake the process of assessing a site or property for the presence of asbestos. The area will be carefully examined and samples of some suspect materials taken for analysis to confirm or refute the existence of asbestos fibres in the sample. This process will be undertaken by a surveyor qualified to BOHS P402 and having suitable experience, and will be carried out in compliance with HSE (Health & Safety Executive) guideline MDHS100. The asbestos surveying company will then provide a detailed report which will enable the “dutyholder” or person responsible for the building in this context, to control the risk of exposure to asbestos to employees, contractors and other stakeholders in the business.
An analyst may have different roles in an asbestos company. Some analysts are totally laboratory based, and provide a service analysing samples of suspect materials removed from site by surveyors. Other analysts play a key role in the asbestos removal process, acting again in accordance with HSE guidelines to monitor the work of an asbestos removal company.
The last category of asbestos company is involved in the removal process itself. These companies are licensed and monitored by HSE for the removal of most types of asbestos. Removal of a given material or group of materials on site is notified to the HSE by the asbestos company involved, and controlled at the time of removal by an analyst.
Some forms of asbestos do not require a licensed asbestos company to remove them. These include cement based products (eg: corrugated roofs) and other materials such as floor tiles and textured coatings in which the fibres are contained within some other substance. In many cases however, it is wise to use an experienced asbestos company even for these forms as a non-asbestos contractor may not have appropriate knowledge or insurance to undertake the task without causing a release of fibres.
