HSE guidance · HSG210
Asbestos Essentials (HSG210)
Not every asbestos job needs a licensed contractor. HSG210 covers the routine non-licensed tasks a competent trade can carry out under CAR 2012 — with the exact PPE, RPE, controls and waste route for each activity.
Health and Safety Executive · Third edition, 2018 · Status: Current
Scope
What it covers.
Task sheets cover a range of non-licensed activities: removing cement roof sheets, drilling into cement, removing small AIB panels, cleaning after minor disturbance, replacing gaskets, and removing textured coatings. Each sheet is a one-page permit-to-work substitute where non-licensed work is genuinely non-licensed.
Who it applies to
- Construction and maintenance trades doing occasional non-licensed asbestos work
- Non-licensed asbestos contractors
- Site managers auditing trade competence
- Consultants advising on the licensed / non-licensed boundary
Key provisions
The duties, provision by provision.
Prescribes controls per activity, not per material
Each task sheet identifies the material, the exposure profile of the activity, the controls, the RPE requirement, decontamination and waste route.
Requires NNLW or non-licensed asbestos training
Non-licensed asbestos work still requires documented training. Task-sheet use is not a substitute for competence.
Defines waste routing per material
Asbestos cement waste must be double-wrapped and consigned to a licensed carrier; hazardous-waste consignment notes are required for anything above 5kg per year at a site.
In practice
How we apply it.
- We advise on the licensed / non-licensed boundary on every Refurbishment Survey scope where marginal materials are found.
- Where a client's in-house team plans HSG210 work, we can audit the task-sheet application and controls under a consultancy retainer.
FAQs
Common follow-up questions.
Is HSG210 a substitute for a survey?
No. HSG210 tells a competent trade how to do a task safely once the material has been identified. A CAR 2012 Reg 5 survey (or a documented sample result) is required first.
Which trades most commonly use HSG210?
Roofers (cement sheet), electricians (drilling into cement soffits), plumbers (removing small AIB airing-cupboard panels), and general builders removing textured coatings.
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