• An Asbestos Register is central to managing asbestos materials in a non-domestic property’s and workplaces, as required by the CODE OF PRACTICE FOR THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF ASBESTOS IN WORKPLACES [NOHSC: 2018 (2005)] . It comprises of a list of all materials which are either presumed to contain asbestos, or which have been confirmed to contain asbestos following laboratory analysis of a sample of the material. Both categories of material must be managed in the same way, and the asbestos register will contain details of all of them.
• Many other details will be included in the Asbestos Register, including the location of each product, and information such as the form of asbestos (chrysotile, crocidolite, amosite etc), the product type (board, lagging etc), its surface treatment and the condition of the item.
• The information in the Asbestos Register will be used to generate risk assessments and identify where there is a high risk that people will be exposed to the inhalation of asbestos fibres. This enables a duty holder (the person responsible for management of asbestos materials within a property) to create a plan which will reduce that risk to an acceptable level.
• Over a period of time, the Asbestos Register will change. Materials may be removed or measures will be taken to reduce the risk they present, for example by painting or sealing them. Equally, new asbestos materials may come to light following work on the building, and details must then be added to the Asbestos Register. The condition of materials may also change, usually deteriorating with age, or becoming damaged if located in an area where they are subject to disturbance.
All in all, the Asbestos Register is vital to the safe management of asbestos containing materials, and is perhaps the single most important part of an Asbestos Management Plan for a workplace.
• The Asbestos Register must be held on site and made available to all persons using, frequenting, occupying, working on or around the building.