Helia EHS offers a Hazardous Building Materials (HBMS) assessment to meet legal occupational, health and safety (OHS) requirements. An HBMS helps locate problem areas that could impact employees, other building occupants and the environment. Such assessments are typically conducted for two reasons to meet local compliance:
Helia EHS provides consultancy advice from the initial identification of HBMs to clearance (occupational hygiene) monitoring during and after the removal of such HBMs.
A material and/or substance, whether in solid, liquid or gas form, is considered hazardous if it has the potential to harm human health in any capacity.
Such substances can range from disinfectants and pesticides to hydrogen peroxide and propane cylinders.
Helia EHS’s Due Diligence assessment of hazardous materials carefully inspects the type of substance employed in the building and the risks that may arise from its application.
Complications may occur at different times – depending on the level and duration of exposure to hazardous materials. Helia EHS considers some of these factors with due diligence during the assessment of a building for appropriate control measures
Safety procedures will have a different set of guidelines depending on the hazardous materials existing in the building.
As an employer, it is of the utmost importance that certain basic safety regulations are encouraged and enforced in the workplace to reduce due diligence risks:
Accidents may still occur despite taking every precaution with hazardous building materials. Helia EHS can advise you on health and safety standards to implement in your building for such cases. Under legislation in Australia (e.g. Work Health and Safety Regulations 2011), it’s recommended to follow safety measures that should be enforced in businesses and workplaces:
Ensure entry and exit signs are properly in place.
Provide a first aid kit that is easily accessible in the building.
Supply appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) for the workforce when dealing with hazards.
Ensure all hazardous materials are correctly labelled and stored.
No food consumption should be allowed near hazardous substances.
Employees should wash and disinfect their hands after handling such materials even if they wore protective equipment.
Evacuation procedures should be set in place in case of an emergency.
Provide emergency training to employees or building occupants
Preventative measures are essential to managing any incidents (that could lead to personnel injuries) that could occur in buildings or workplaces.
Based on client requirements, part of Helia EHS’s building (transaction) Due Diligence investigation services is conducting an assessment on the following materials:
We carry out assessments in and out of due diligence periods and ensure that safety processes your business or organisation needs to meet are addressed. Especially in pre-purchase Mergers & Acquisition (M&A) assessments – where we can act for a potential asset buyer and inform them of potential environmental and/or OHS liabilities that they should be aware of prior to sale.
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