K2 Consulting Group is industry-leading asbestos and occupational hygiene consultancy offering asbestos register services in Sydney. Our Occupational Hygienists are experienced in undertaking asbestos registers in Sydney for various building types including high-density residential developments, commercial, and industrial buildings.
Asbestos can be found in many places within the workplace and residential premises. Due to the health risks involved in the management of asbestos, NSW legislation mandates the creation and usage of the asbestos register in NSW for commercial, industrial buildings and apartment blocks constructed before 31 December 2003.
An asbestos register is a document that is prepared by a qualified Occupational Hygienist or Licenced Asbestos Assessor which records the presence of all asbestos-containing materials in the building, either confirmed by a NATA accredited laboratory method or by assumption if the sample is unable to be collected due to access constraints.
NSW Legislation, Clause 425 of Work Health and Safety Regulation 2017 states that a person with management or control of a workplace (PCBU – Person conducting a business or undertaking) must ensure that an asbestos inspection is undertaken, and an updated register is prepared and kept at the workplace.
A comprehensive asbestos register will carry the below information:
● Record all asbestos or Asbestos Containing Materials (ACM) identified at the workplace under clause 422, either confirmed or presumed to be present;
● The date of the asbestos survey, the location, type and condition of the asbestos or ACM; and
● State that no asbestos or ACM is identified at the workplace if the licenced asbestos assessor knows that no asbestos or ACM is identified or is likely to be present from time to time, at the workplace.
The person is not required to prepare an asbestos register for a workplace if a register has already been prepared for that workplace. However, the asbestos register needs to be updated if any asbestos had been removed, or if new asbestos materials were identified.
Our typical process in creating an asbestos register in Sydney involves visiting the property, completing a detailed asbestos survey which includes assessing the condition of the material (bonded or friable asbestos), collection of asbestos samples, and asbestos testing in a NATA accredited laboratory and preparation of a comprehensive asbestos report.
The asbestos analytical results are usually issued within the same or following business day, depending on the time of the survey and an asbestos survey report will be prepared by an Occupational Hygienist.
An asbestos register is not required to be prepared, if:
● the workplace is a building that was constructed after 31 December 2003, and
● no asbestos has been identified at the workplace, and
● no asbestos is likely to be present in the workplace from time to time.
An Asbestos Register and a comprehensive Asbestos Management Plan will make your property comply with the relevant WHS Acts and regulations and can relieve you of any liabilities from Contractors exposing themselves to asbestos. Remember, you still have the responsibility to provide the relevant reports to Contractors and residents of the buildings. Read more about this on NSW SafeWork’s website.
Attention Strata Managers… As a PCBU, regarding asbestos registers and your obligation towards maintaining them.
Asbestos registers and asbestos management plans shall be reviewed every five (5) years or when requested by an authorised health and safety representative or when asbestos is removed, disturbed, sealed or enclosed or when the control measure is no longer adequate.
K2 Consulting Group has a team of Occupational Hygienists who are experienced and trained to undertake asbestos inspections in Sydney and asbestos surveys in residential and commercial premises.
We actively participate in many forums and are members of some esteemed organisations in Australia including the Faculty of Asbestos Management of Australia and New Zealand (FAMANZ), Australian Land and Groundwater Association (ALGA), and The Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienist (AIOH) and Engineers Australia (EA).
If asbestos is confirmed to be present in a building or presumed to be present in a building, then an Asbestos Management Plan is recommended to be prepared and maintained on the premises.
NSW legislation, Clause 429 of Work Health and Safety Regulation 2017 states that A person with management or control of the workplace (PCBU) must ensure that a written plan (an asbestos management plan) for the workplace is prepared and that the information in the asbestos management plan is up to date.
The asbestos management plan shall contain the following information:
Asbestos management plans are not limited to the above information only and can contain more information based on the site and the condition of asbestos.
The PCBU (person in charge of the workplace) shall ensure that the asbestos management plan is readily accessible to all staff, any workers including sub-contractors at the workplace, tenants and any personnel who is likely to come in contact with asbestos during their tenure in the building or on-site.
Asbestos registers and asbestos management plans shall be reviewed every five (5) years or when requested by an authorised health and safety representative or when asbestos is removed, disturbed, sealed or enclosed or when the control measure is no longer adequate.
Due to the conflict of interest with our Consulting business, K2 Consulting Group does not undertake any asbestos removal works, however, we can put you in touch with reputed and trusted asbestos removalists in Sydney so that you can engage them with confidence. During the asbestos removal process, our consultants can provide you with asbestos air monitoring services and site supervision to ensure that all asbestos removal works are undertaken with utmost care to the residents of the site and neighbours and the removal works meet the relevant WHS acts and codes of practices.
The cost to complete an asbestos register or a HAZMAT register depends on various factors including the size of the property, the complexity of accessing various locations, the presence of many different types of hazardous materials and the objective of the survey. Typically, we charge a lump sum for the survey so that you can be certain about the cost.
A thorough asbestos inspection or a HAZMAT survey is a time-consuming process where the licenced asbestos assessor or the asbestos consultant would need to carefully survey all areas of the building as detailed as possible, leave fewer assumptions, and collect as many representative asbestos samples as required. A detailed asbestos survey can be a worthy investment as it will provide you with the location of all hazardous materials leaving fewer assumptions, so you can minimise the surprise element later. In demolition projects, we strongly recommend that a pre-demolition comprehensive hazardous materials survey is undertaken so that all hazardous materials are identified and managed before the commencement of demolition, thus mitigating cross-contamination to other areas of the site, including soils. If the soils are contaminated (asbestos in soils), remediation of soils can be a very expensive exercise to bring the land back to an acceptable state. If you have an asbestos in soils issue, our Environmental Consultants could prepare an environmental assessment report to assess the condition of asbestos in soils.
Having said the above, a cheaper survey can lead to more assumptions thus increasing the uncertainty and the risk level. As the adage goes – the cheapest quote is not always the best – you do get what you pay for. We offer high-quality workmanship and professionalism and produce detailed reports for the benefit of the Client and the project – however, we try to provide competitive rates.
Councils in Sydney often request a Hazardous Materials Survey or an asbestos survey before the commencement of the demolition/construction works as a part of the Development Application (for buildings built during the asbestos era) and a detailed asbestos report would need to be produced by a Competent Person or an Occupational Hygienist (who is a member of AIOH). Our reports are widely accepted by Councils in Sydney, and NSW SafeWork and we have not had to revisit the reports, because we produce quality work for the first time. We understand that any delays in reproducing the work later can be a costly affair when dealing with Government Departments. Hence, we aim to get through that in the first shot, through our years of experience and greater understanding of the Council’s requirements.
We can assist you with the following services related to asbestos registers:
● Create new Asbestos Registers
● Create new Asbestos Management Plans (AMP)
● Update existing Asbestos Registers and Asbestos Management Plans
● Assist in asbestos removal from buildings by choosing an asbestos removalist in Sydney
● Assist you in meeting WHS Acts and Regulations related to asbestos
● Preparation of Hazardous Material Registers (HAZMAT)
Asbestos in building materials, if not identified properly, can make its way to the soil through poor material handling practices and the problem has then shifted to a bigger scale, where you must undertake remediation of asbestos in soils.
Once the bonded asbestos is damaged and made loose and friable, it is difficult to contain the fibres and asbestos fibres can travel to other parts of the premises via foot traffic, air movements and material cross-contamination.
K2 Consulting Group has a team of Occupational Hygienists who are experienced and trained to undertake asbestos inspections and asbestos surveys in residential and commercial premises. Our Occupational Hygienists are licenced asbestos assessors recognised by the NSW SafeWork and are licenced to undertake asbestos inspections and provide advice on the management of asbestos in the workplace and asbestos at homes.
Soils are referred to as contaminated when the concentration of contaminant is usually higher than the ambient concentrations. There may be naturally elevated concentration of contaminants while in most of the cases, there is an apparent source of contamination (point source).
Consultants at K2 Consulting Group are trained and experienced in the assessment and management of contaminated soils and groundwater. Our quick, effective and practical approach in contamination management puts us at the forefront of today’s emerging contamination management market.
Soils are referred to as contaminated when the concentration of contaminant is usually higher than the ambient concentrations. There may be naturally elevated concentration of contaminants while in most of the cases, there is an apparent source of contamination (point source).
Consultants at K2 Consulting Group undertake a systematic and exhaustive approach in classifying soils, as it can be a huge savings to the project if lesser quantity is sent to the landfill or waste recovery centre, while still meeting the regulations.
K2 Consulting Group utilises best-practice planning, collection, analysis and conduct human health risk assessment and site screening. K2 Consulting Group’s team of expert engineers ensure that regulatory requirements are met so that stakeholder risks are understood.
When Acid Sulfate Soils can be detrimental to the environment when exposed to atmospheric air through anthropogenic activities (excavation for construction purposes etc) or natural means (drainage of groundwater).
PFAS refers to Per & Poly Fluorinated Alkyl Substance which is a group of long chain fluorinated organic compounds used in various industrial applications. Australia and other leading nations have banned the usage of the PFAS containing chemicals.
Consultants at K2 Consulting Group are qualified lead auditors in Environmental Management Systems – ISO 14001:2015, Management Systems Auditing – ISO 19011:2018. We can assist your organisation in identifying various environmental risks.