At OMC, our expert staff have over 50 years of combined experience delivering professional environmental management solutions for many areas of industry, which equips us with the knowledge and skills to tackle even the most challenging of problems.
In the following case study, our team demonstrated how choosing an experienced and knowledgeable asbestos management specialist can ensure that an asbestos survey can be carried out thoroughly and professionally, within your projected timescales.
Case Study: The Client
Our customer is a large and well-known UK baked goods manufacturer. The facility we were requested to work in is located in the north of England.
The project
Our client needed to run a series of cables and pipes through walls of a factory as part of their refurbishment of the premises. However, it was first vital to establish whether there were any Asbestos Containing Materials (ACMs) concealed within wall voids prior to work commencing, so we:
- Oversaw the entire project, including planning predetermined drilling points across the factory, established project parameters and feasibility, and devised workarounds to mitigate potential problems.
- Worked with a qualified asbestos contractor with experience of core drilling to make wall penetrations, reviewing their Risk Assessment Method Statements (RAMS) and training to ensure their suitability.
- Recovered samples of the core which were promptly processed in-house to confirm whether ACMs were present.
- Recorded all survey information and provided a full report to our client to confirm our findings.
The Challenges And How We Overcame Them
This project presented several key challenges that we had to overcome in the course of the asbestos survey:
- Formation of the wall and floor penetrations due to the size of the holes, depth of the walls, or unseen obstacles.
- Carrying out drilling alongside factory production within a demanding timescale.
- Observance of health and safety requirements due to the client’s role in food manufacture.
- Access to restricted spaces, particularly at height.
Drilling challenges were overcome with a pragmatic approach to the project and open communication with the drilling contractor to prevent delays. Surrounding obstacles, such as pipework, made use of the core drill inappropriate at times, so the diameter or shape of the penetration was changed to allow the pipe to pass through. Where a metal floor plate was concealed below the floor screed, we liaised with the drilling contractor to use more effective tools and methods to break through the material, without undue delays.
To prevent potential contamination from the drilling, we erected mini asbestos enclosures to protect equipment from the spread of debris and ensure that production could continue in areas where it could not be halted without major disruption.
Due to the urgency of the project, we carried out in-house analysis of samples so that contractors installing new pipework could continue with their work without being confronted with extensive delays. This also allowed manufacturing to continue uninterrupted, so that the client’s productivity was unaffected while renovation work progressed.
Outcomes
Following our asbestos survey, our client was pleased that all works were completed thoroughly, within the allocated time.
We were pleased to report that there were no incidents or accidents, and there was minimal disruption to factory operations due to the effective chain of communication between OMC, our contractors, and the site project managers.
All work areas were left in a clean and tidy condition, so that they were safe to quickly re-occupy.
Contact OMC For Expert Asbestos Management Advice
To find out more about our professional asbestos management services, please call us on 01484 425043 or send us an enquiry and one of our team will respond promptly.
