Asbestos Management Consultants COMPANY PROFILE Tersus Consultancy Limited www.tersusgroup.co.uk
Asbestos has been used in the UK construction industry since around 1890. Once hailed as the wonder building material it is of course now known to be a killer. Millions of tonnes of asbestos were imported into this country, more during the 1960 s and 1970 s than at any other time. The use of blue and brown asbestos (Amosite & Crocidolite) was prohibited in 1985 but the use of white asbestos (Chrysotile) in building products was not prohibited until 1999. It s a sobering thought that buildings we all think of as modern could and often do, often contain asbestos. The Asbestos Imperative In 2002 the HSE brought out a set of regulations which placed an explicit duty to manage all asbestos in the workplace and to ensure that the risk to their employees from exposure to asbestos was reduced to the lowest level possible. This legislation was further strengthened with the release of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 and now 2012 which placed even stricter controls on asbestos and the risk of exposure to it. We specialise in asbestos, we can take the fear out of asbestos management and ensure - working in partnership with you that you comply fully with the regulations. We can undertake surveys, risk assessments and analysis, provide you with management data storage and project manage any necessary removal or treatment work on your behalf. We are passionate about what we do - so that you can get on with what you do best - your business.
Managing your asbestos The Tersus vision is to operate closely with your organisation taking the strain of asbestos and compliance with legislation away from duty holders. With offices located across the UK, Tersus is able to offer a truly national service, ensuring uniformly high standards of technical reports. Our service is designed to ensure that you understand and comply with all current legislation regarding asbestos. The following steps outline the different stages needed in order to ensure compliance: Surveying your site or your portfolio The starting point of the asbestos management process is the survey, which aims to locate and identify any asbestos containing materials (ACMs). Proven ACMs are risk-assessed and prioritised prior to inclusion in a report, which is then used as a basis for a site specific management plan. Creating a searchable asbestos survey database Survey reports are generated via our web enabled database, giving you or your nominated representative secure access to all information held on your property either singly or as part of a multi-site portfolio. The survey reports are easy to use over the web 24 hours a day. Finding asbestos information within the report may be detailed as a single room or single entry meaning that precise asbestos location details can be extracted quickly allowing contractors to safely carry out work in the area safe in the knowledge that all ACM s have been identified. Developing a site specific management plan The Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR) 2012 places an explicit duty on all duty holders to manage the risk of exposure to asbestos fibre in their workplace and to formulate an asbestos management plan. The survey and the subsequent priority assessment of ACMs found forms the basis of your management plan. Asbestos removal is not the only course of action; the regulations also allow for treatment, encapsulation or just management on site. Our independent advice will guide you to the most effective option.
Asbestos removal Sometimes removal is the best or only option, and we will tell you if this is the case. We will then work with you to develop a timetable and budget for removal, and go on to manage the removal process for you. This includes preparing a removal specification and seeking quotes for the work, validating responses to ensure appropriate and safe methods of work, overseeing works on site and providing the Certificate of Re-Occupation as your proof of a job completed safely and to the required standards. Tersus employs pre-qualified, licensed asbestos removal companies, from our approved list, to undertake removal and treatment work on your behalf. We can prepare the specification, validate method statements and ensure the works are carried out in accordance with current legislation and guidance. We can manage removals from cradle to grave ensuring that you remain compliant at all times and that works are carried out to the highest standard for the protection of your company and your staff. Updating your database Where we are involved from beginning to end with your asbestos management, it is a simple step to update your database following any removals. This ensures that you and your staff are always viewing the most up to date information online. Re-inspecting in accordance with the management plan With the Management Plan information, complete and up to date, a timetable for reinspection can be created. This would only require a re-visit to the areas where asbestos has been previously found but not removed. If the condition has changed then this is recorded in the database, detailing any new risk, priority scores and recommendations. Keeping you abreast of changes in legislation Tersus, as your asbestos partner, will monitor all the new regulations, ensuring that you remain compliant with all current legislation. Training your Staff Part of the requirement of the regulations is that you inform your staff of the presence of any asbestos materials and train them in how to manage the risk from exposure to asbestos. Asbestos Awareness is a vital part of complying with the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. Being a member of UKATA (United Kingdom Asbestos Training Association) and an approved course provider for BOHS Proficiency Certificates P401 to P406 and Speciality Certificate S301, Tersus can look after all your Asbestos Training needs.
Surveying The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 (CAR2012) creates an explicit duty on duty holders to manage asbestos risk, in whatever form it appears, in non-domestic premises. Tersus holds Type C inspection body status. We are accredited by UKAS under the criteria of ISO/IEC 17020. We offer comprehensive survey and assessment packages designed to ensure that you comply fully with all current legislation. Tersus has locations across the UK enabling a truly national surveying package, delivering a uniform solution to contracts that are being carried out nationally. Surveys meet UKAS accreditation standards using methods laid out in HSG 264, The Survey Guide. We can undertake all survey categories - Management, sampling and assessment, and Pre-demolition/major refurbishment. We offer an on line Asbestos Management Reporting System, free to our clients, which means that your survey reports are accessible 24 hours per day, 365 days per year to all authorised persons within your organisation and your contracting partners. CAR 2012 requires a site specific risk management plan. Tersus is suitably qualified to ensure that all aspects of asbestos risk management are considered when delivering a site specific management plan.
Air testing Air testing is a requirement prior to re-occupation of a building following asbestos removal or treatment works. Air samples are taken and fibres from these samples counted against recognised clearance indicator levels. Tersus is accredited by UKAS to ISO/IEC 17025:2005 to sample and count fibres away from a permanent fixed laboratory in accordance with HSG 248 The Analysts Guide. Fibre counting is carried out in one of our mobile laboratories, which are themselves regularly checked and inspected to comply with UKAS accreditation. Tersus currently has around 30 mobile laboratories located across the UK. All come equipped with a complete range of equipment designed to undertake on-site air monitoring, 4 stage clearance testing and the production of Certificates of Re-occupation. With our air testing services we offer a wide range of monitoring services: Site clearance certification - 4 stage testing (L143) to CAR2012, Guidance HSG247 Certificate of Re-Occupation Decontamination clearance testing Background sampling Leak (enclosure check) sampling Reassurance sampling Personal monitoring Compliance sampling - assessment for need for respirator protection. This area falls under the requirements of CAR2012 and HSG 248 which requires that all such testing for the presence of airborne asbestos fibres is undertaken only by a laboratory accredited to ISO/IEC 17025:2005.
Bulk identification Tersus provides an accredited bulk sampling and identification service from fixed laboratories at each of its office locations. We can either, visit your site, take a sample of a suspect material and analyse the sample in one of our accredited laboratories, or analyse samples that you send directly to us. We can analyse one exploratory sample or several samples, such as would be the case where a full survey has been carried out. Whatever approach is chosen we analyse all samples to the same high standards as demanded by our UKAS accreditation. All asbestos samples analysed in the UK must be analysed by a laboratory accredited to ISO/IEC 17025:2005. We are accredited and meet these standards. We appreciate the urgency with which you may need to address asbestos issues and for urgent samples can provide information to you on the same day we receive, or take, samples. Under normal circumstances we aim to turn around Bulk Identification of asbestos samples within 72 hours of receipt in our labs.
Managing your asbestos The Tersus vision is to operate closely with your organisation, taking the strain of asbestos, providing a one stop shop for all your asbestos needs and compliance with legislation. With offices located across the UK, Tersus is able to offer a truly national service, ensuring uniformly high standards of technical reports. Our service is designed to ensure that you understand and comply with all current legislation regarding asbestos. Our service is designed to ensure that you understand and comply with all current legislation regarding asbestos. The following steps outline our approach to helping you achieve compliance: Surveying your property Creating an on-line searchable database of information Developing a site specific management plan Managing removals where necessary Updating your database Re-inspecting in accordance with the management plan and HSG 264 Keeping you abreast of changes in legislation Training your staff in the management plan, asbestos awareness and how to manage the risk from exposure to asbestos Ask us for more information about how this approach can benefit you and your organisation.
Tersus A brief history Tersus is the trading name of Tersus Consultancy Limited and was formed following the amalgamation, in 2005, of two well respected and long standing asbestos consultancies which, for more than twenty six years, had specialised in asbestos, Fibrecount UK Limited and Argus Laboratories Limited. First incorporated in September 1986, Tersus is able to offer clients the very best of our experience in the delivery of asbestos consultancy, asbestos surveys, air monitoring and clearance testing, bulk sample identification, project management and training. We can offer a complete asbestos management solution or tailor our services to meet your specific requirements Tersus is accredited by UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service) for testing and inspection to ISO/IEC 17020 and ISO/IEC 17025 and is a BOHS (British Occupational Hygiene Society) approved course provider for all BOHS Proficiency Modules and S301 Certificate of Competency. Tersus is also accredited by UKATA (United Kingdom Asbestos Training Association) for asbestos training. Since opening our first office in Ilford, Essex in 1986 our company has grown both in size and reputation. Our second office in Sheffield was opened in 1996. To further strengthen our coverage in the south east our Brighton office joined the group and with our Birmingham Office, opened in 2008, Taunton Office opened 2014, Tersus covers the whole of the UK. We currently employ around 148 people offering a truly nationwide service from our 5 offices. Staff numbers include 28 site analysts, all equipped with mobile laboratories carrying out air monitoring and 4 stage clearances for both asbestos removal contractors and direct clients, around 50 Asbestos Surveyors and 24 Lab Technicians. Each office contains a UKAS accredited bulk asbestos identification laboratory. Underpinning the company is training and professionalism. We treat all our clients as if they were our only client and attempt to exceed their expectations in all our activities. We understand the meaning of the word urgent and set and maintain KPI s to ensure that reports etc. are with the client on the date required and in a form which allows easy access. During 2006 we developed an on-line Asbestos Management and Reporting system which produced the survey report and register and made it available free of charge to our clients. Our online asbestos management system currently holds many thousands of our clients reports in a secure system accessible at any time of the day, 365 days per year.
Our work involves asbestos consultancy in all sectors of commerce and industry throughout the UK and includes: Local Authority portfolios both Housing and Commercial; hospitals and medical facilities, power stations, shipping, offices, domestic properties, factories and industrial units, warehouses, oil rigs and chemical plants. Breakdown of company turnover shows the following percentages as value of service provided: Asbestos Surveying and Re-inspections (including survey sample analysis) 51% Air Monitoring Clearance Testing 35% Project Management 11% Bulk Sample Analysis (Client Samples only) 3% Over the last twelve months Tersus Surveyors will have carried out around 30,000 HSG 264, surveys and reinspections in domestic, non-domestic, commercial and industrial properties, Site Analysts will have undertaken around 8000 air monitoring jobs and four stage clearances and our Lab Technicians will have analysed around 95,000 bulk samples.
Contacts: Chief Executive Alan Peck Telephone: 0121 244 1828 Fax: 0121 244 1801 Mobile: 07825 186397 alan.peck@tersusgroup.co.uk Tersus office locations: London First Floor Rainham House Manor Way Rainham Essex RM13 8RH T: 01708 555705 F: 01708 555925 Contact: Trevor Rose trevor.rose@tersusgroup.co.uk Brighton Prospect House The Hyde Business Park Bevendean, Brighton BN2 4JE T: 01273 621100 F: 01273 621800 Contact: Dr Ahmad Hamed ahmad.hamed@tersusgroup.co.uk Sheffield Unit 6 Carrera Court Church Lane Dinnington Sheffield South Yorkshire S25 2RG T: 01909 560673 F: 01909 550418 Contact: Bryn Dodgson bryn.dodgson@tersusgroup.co.uk Birmingham Kings Court 17 School Road Hall Green Birmingham West Midlands B28 8JG T: 0121 244 1828 F: 0121 244 1801 Contact: Gurpreet Cheema gurpreet.cheema@tersusgroup.co.uk www.tersusgroup.co.uk