Anyone whose work could disturb the fabric of a building needs asbestos awareness training. This free quiz checks the essentials in fourteen questions, from the 1999 ban to what to do when you find a suspect material, with the regulation or HSE guidance behind every answer.
Who needs asbestos awareness training
Regulation 10 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 requires employers to give adequate information, instruction and training to employees who are or may be exposed to asbestos, and to their supervisors, at regular intervals. HSE lists the trades most likely to come across it: general maintenance workers, electricians, plumbers, joiners, painters and decorators, plasterers, roofers, shop fitters, gas fitters, heating and ventilation engineers, demolition workers, telecom, alarm and data installers, architects and surveyors.
Asbestos was used in many buildings until it was banned in 1999, and HSE says that buildings constructed after 2000 are unlikely to contain it. In older buildings it is often still in place. Left alone and in good condition it is low risk; once disturbed, it releases fibres that you cannot see, smell or feel, and that can cause mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis and pleural thickening decades later.
What the quiz covers
- where asbestos is likely, and why disturbed fibres are dangerous;
- what awareness training lets you do (recognise asbestos and avoid disturbing it) and what it does not (work on it);
- what to do if you find a suspect material: stop work and ask your employer or the building owner;
- the duty to manage asbestos in non-domestic premises (regulation 4) and the rule to assume asbestos is present when in doubt (regulation 5);
- the control limit of 0.1 fibres per cm³ averaged over 4 hours, and licensed work;
- refreshers: no legal requirement to repeat a full course every 12 months, but some form of refresher as necessary, and no legal need for a certificate.
Practice, not the course assessment
These are practice questions written by Quizhat from the 2012 Regulations and HSE guidance. They are not the questions or answers of any awareness course, and Quizhat is not affiliated with HSE, UKATA or any training provider or licensed contractor. HSE accepts e-learning for awareness training when it meets regulation 10 and the Approved Code of Practice L143; a live quiz is a good way to deliver the refresher HSE asks for, for example at a toolbox talk.