Safety, Health and Welfare At Work (Exposure to Asbestos) Regulations, 2006

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR SI 386/2006
• Year: 2006

S.I. No. 386 of 2006
SAFETY, HEALTH AND WELFARE AT WORK (EXPOSURE TO ASBESTOS) REGULATIONS 2006
ARRANGEMENT OF REGULATIONS
Regulation
1. Citation 2. Interpretation 3. Application 4. Duty of employer to non-employee workers 5. General duties of employer 6. Exposure limit value 7. Identification of the presence of asbestos 8. Determination and assessment of risk 9. General measures relating to exposure to asbestos 10. Measurement of asbestos in the air 11. Notification requirements 12. Presumed asbestos-containing materials 13. Measures to be taken if the exposure limit value is exceeded (Unforeseeable) 14. Measures to be taken if the exposure limit value is exceeded (Foreseeable) 15. Plan of Work 16. Ability to perform asbestos work 17. Training and information 18. Provision and cleaning of protective clothing 19. Responsible medical practitioner 20. Assessment of the health of employees 21. Medical records relating to health assessments 22. Review of the determination of the health assessment 23. Disclosure of information contained in health assessments 24. Asbestosis and Mesothelioma Register 25. Occupational health register 26. Prohibitions 27. Revocations
Schedule 1
Meaning of Asbestos
Schedule 2
Measures to be Taken to Ensure the Safety and Health of Employees
Schedule 3
Particulars to be Notified to the Health and Safety Authority
Schedule 4
Evidence of Ability to Perform Asbestos Work (Indicative, non-exhaustive list of information to be provided for the purposes of Regulation 16, as appropriate and applicable to the intended work)
Schedule 5
Information to be included in Individual Medical Records and Practical Recommendations for the Clinical Assessment of Employees for the purposes of Regulation 20
Schedule 6
Occupational Health Register
S.I. No. 386 of 2006
SAFETY, HEALTH AND WELFARE AT WORK (EXPOSURE TO ASBESTOS) REGULATIONS 2006
I, Tony Killeen, Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, in exercise of powers conferred on me by section 58 of the Safety Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 (No. 10 of 2005) and the Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) Order 2005 ( S.I. No. 316 of 2005 ) and for the purpose of giving further effect to Council Directive 83/477/EEC of 19 September 19831 on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to asbestos at work, as amended by Council Directive 91/382/EEC of 25 June 19912 amending Directive 83/477/EEC and as amended by Directive 2003/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 March 20033 amending Directive 83/477/EEC and for the purpose of giving further effect to Council Directive 87/217/EEC of 19 March 19874 on the prevention and reduction of environmental pollution by asbestos, after consultation with the Health and Safety Authority, hereby make the following Regulations:
	Citation	1. These Regulations may be cited as the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Exposure to Asbestos) Regulations 2006.
	Interpretation	2. (1) In these Regulations -
“Act” means the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 (No. 10 of 2005);
“asbestos” means the fibrous silicates referred to in Article 2 of the Directive and which are set out in Schedule 1;
“Authority” means the Health and Safety Authority;
“Directive” means Council Directive 83/477/EEC of 19 September 19831 , as amended by -
(a) Council Directive 91/382/EEC of 25 June 19912 , and
(b) Directive 2003/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 March 20033 ;
“exposure limit value” means the level of daily exposure above which no employee shall be exposed;
“health assessment” has the meaning assigned to it by Regulation 20;
“medical examination” means any laboratory tests and X-rays of the chest that a relevant responsible medical practitioner may require in accordance with Regulation 20(4);
“occupational health register” has the meaning assigned to it by Regulation 25;
“responsible medical practitioner” means the registered medical practitioner employed, or otherwise engaged, by an employer to be responsible for health assessments of employees under these Regulations;
“risk assessment” means the assessment of risk required under Regulation 8;
“WHO method of 1997” means the publication “Determination of airborne fibre concentrations. A recommended method, by phase-contrast optical microscopy (membrane filter method), WHO (World Health Organisation), Geneva 1997”.
(2) In these Regulations a reference to a paragraph or subparagraph is to a paragraph or subparagraph in the Regulation in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other Regulation is intended, and a reference to a Regulation or a Schedule is to a Regulation of, or a Schedule to, these Regulations, unless it is indicated that reference to some other Regulation or Schedule is intended.
(3) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations and is also used in the Directive has, unless the contrary intention appears, the same meaning in these Regulations as in the Directive.
	Application	3. These Regulations apply to activities in which employees are or are likely to be exposed to dust arising from either or both asbestos and materials containing asbestos during their work and, accordingly, no person shall be employed in such activities in contravention of these Regulations.
	Duty of employer to non-employee workers	4. Where duties, however expressed, are placed by these Regulations on an employer in respect of any of his or her employees at a place of work he or she shall be under a like duty in respect of every other person at work at that place of work who is or may be exposed at that place to dust containing asbestos as defined in Regulation 2(1) except that the duties under Regulation 16 (except where those persons are on the premises where the work is being carried out) and Regulations 18 to 23 shall not apply to persons who are not his or her employees.
	General duties of employer	5. It shall be the duty of every employer -
(a) to assess the risk to any employee's health or safety resulting from any activity from which an employee is or may be exposed in their place of work to dust arising from either, or both, asbestos and materials containing asbestos, and for that purpose to determine the nature and degree of any employee's exposure to dust arising from asbestos or materials containing asbestos, and to lay down the necessary measures to be taken to ensure the safety and health of employees taking account of the provisions laid down in Schedule 2,
(b) where an employee's exposure is sporadic and of low intensity, and when it is clear from the results of the risk assessment referred to in paragraph (a) that the exposure limit value for asbestos in the air of the working area will not be exceeded, Regulations 11, 20 and 21 shall not apply where work involves:
(i) short, non-continuous maintenance activities in which only non-friable materials are handled;
(ii) removal without deterioration of non-degraded materials in which the asbestos fibres are firmly linked in a matrix;
(iii) encapsulation or sealing of asbestos-containing materials which are in good condition; or
(iv) air monitoring and control, and the collection of samples to ascertain whether a specific material contains asbestos.
	Exposure limit value	6. Every employer shall ensure that no employee is exposed to an airborne concentration of asbestos in excess of 0.1 fibres per cm3 as an eight-hour time-weighted average (TWA).
	Identification of the presence of asbestos	7. An employer shall not undertake any work which would expose or would be liable to expose an employee to dust arising from either or both asbestos or materials containing asbestos at any premises unless he or she has either -
(a) carried out a risk assessment as to whether asbestos or materials containing asbestos is present or is liable to be present in those premises; or
(b) if there is doubt as to whether asbestos or materials containing asbestos is present in those premises he or she shall -
(i) assume that asbestos or materials containing asbestos is present, and
(ii) comply with the provisions of these Regulations as appropriate.
	Determination and assessment of risk	8. (1) Without prejudice to section 19 of the Act and Regulation 5, where employees are or would be liable to exposure to dust from either or both asbestos or materials containing asbestos, an employer shall not permit an employee to carry out any activity which would or would be liable to cause such exposure unless he or she has made an assessment of the risk arising from such exposure.
(2) In carrying out the risk assessment referred to in paragraph (1), an employer shall-
(a) identify the type of asbestos or materials containing asbestos;
(b) identify the condition of the asbestos or materials containing asbestos;
(c) make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risk created by that exposure to the health of those employees and of the steps that need to be taken to prevent or minimise the exposure and to comply with the requirements of these Regulations;
(d) record the significant findings of that risk assessment as soon as is practicable after the risk assessment is made;
(e) for the purpose of these Regulations record and retain every risk assessment in a permanent form, and
(f) implement the steps referred to in subparagraph (c).
(3) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraphs (1) and (2), the risk assessment shall -
(a) determine the...