Many people in the construction industry require asbestos training but it isn’t always clear which course is best for them. This article aims to clarify this issue.

Asbestos Awareness should be given to employees and supervisors to provide them with the information, instruction and training that they need to avoid work that may disturb asbestos or which could disturb the fabric of a building and/or other items which might contain asbestos. In particular, it should be given to demolition workers and those who work in refurbishment, maintenance and allied trades. Asbestos Awareness training is not training to work with any forms of asbestos. It is likely to form the first part of training for work with asbestos, but on its own it is does not meet the legal requirements laid down under Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR) 2012.

Non-Licensed Work is aimed at those whose work will require them to disturb asbestos-containing materials, such as:

• drilling holes in asbestos materials (including for sampling and analysis purposes)
• laying cables in areas containing undamaged asbestos materials
• removing asbestos-containing floor tiles
• cleaning or repairing asbestos cement sheet roofing or cladding

This level of training is not sufficient for Licensable Work with asbestos which involves working with higher risk asbestos-containing materials.

You cannot complete a Non-Licensed course without completing an Asbestos Awareness course first. When you need to renew your training, you will only need to refresh the Non-Licensed element which encompasses both training courses.

For more information, please visit the HSE website by following this link: Asbestos information, instruction and training