Managing Health and Safety in Historic Buildings

Building maintenance and upkeep is an ongoing issue for many organisations, including many schools where facilities can be made up of a wide variety of buildings, from new build through to historically significant and listed properties.

In fact, a government survey conducted in 2021 found that over 4,000 of the approximately 24,000 schools in the UK are home to more than 5,000 buildings  that are 100 years old or more.

With buildings of significant age, what challenges might be presented when carrying out maintenance, upkeep or refurbishment works? Do health and safety risks increase when maintain older buildings? And how can you keep your workforce safe when carrying out what can be complicated projects?

Construction Work – A Well-Established Risk

Construction and refurbishment works continue to be one of the most dangerous sectors, with many serious injuries and worse occurring each year.. The risks associated with these works increases significantly when working on older buildings due to the increased risk of uncovering materials known now to be hazardous, working with structures and building materials that have deteriorated or in locations that are complicated and difficult to manage.

It is likely that work will need to approached with much greater levels of investigation, technical reports and surveys and a general increase in time to ensure all necessary information is collated, considered and effectively communicated to those carrying out the work.

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM) legally require any relevant information to be collated and passed on. The lack of effective communication is such a common causal factor in so many incidents; so often contractors or individuals will say, “No-one told me!”, “I didn’t know it was there”, but after the event.

All those who commission construction work should ensure they carefully consult the CDM Regulations and seek advice to ensure they comply and in all cases, ensure the principle of the regulations is applied – ensure communication about health and safety issues is given effectively and in a timely manner in order to reduce the risk of injury.

Risk Assessments

Risk assessment is a vital part of any project or activity, but is especially important in older buildings. The wide variety of construction methods and materials, years of maintenance and renovation are likely to throw unexpected risks into what may at first appear to be straightforward tasks..

The risk assessment process will likely involve a range of technical specialists and a methodical assessment of the risks will be needed to ensure how the works can be carried out sensitively and without causing damage to historically or architecturally significant elements, while still sufficiently reducing the levels of risk.

Remember, the safety of workers, employees and other parties at risk is of upmost importance and should always take priority over the historical significance of a structure.

Asbestos

As buildings are repaired and refurbished over many years, the safety standards of past eras are found. A key example of this is asbestos which was used throughout the 20^th century before being all asbestos-containing materials were ultimately prohibited in 2000.

If the presence of asbestos in a building is suspected, a management asbestos survey should be consulted, as well as any management or action plans for the building. Where construction or refurbishment works are needed, a demolition / refurbishment survey will also be needed to ensure the location, type, quantity and condition of any asbestos containing materials is known.

The survey may highlight the need for removal or encapsulation in order to ensure materials remain undisturbed during the works, but in all cases, it is vital that the information from the surveys is communicated to the workforce; those who will be exposed to the potentially deadly fibres in the event of disturbance.

Should removal of ACM’s be needed, a Licensed Asbestos Removal Contractor should be engaged.

Fire Risk Assessments

With the regulations and standards surrounding fire safety every improving, it is no surprise that many older buildings were not built to modern specifications, designed to prevent fire spreading and to ensure a safe route of exit for those inside.

As such, fire risk assessments are a vital part of considering what improvements, repairs, or changes may be made to a building. When considering material changes to an area, any recommendations for measures should be realistic. It may not be realistic or possible to achieve the level of protection that would be ideal, therefore, the assessment of other conditions including the level of risk from activities, the ease of evacuation, the number of floors, etc should be carefully assessed.



Other Hazards

Many features in historic buildings can be at conflict with current building standards. It should be appreciated that standards were revised as they required improvement to reduce risk. An example is edge protection, which previously would be installed to a height of around 800-900mm if it was fitted at all. Materials used would often be lightweight and generally inadequate; new edge protection standards are generally installed at around 900-1000mm – areas where a lower hand-rail, or worse, no hand-rail at all, clearly represent a significantly higher risk and will require additional precautions to ensure the workplace is safe. It should be pointed out that historicity does not justify reducing necessary safety precautions. It can be more difficult, more expensive, time-consuming and generally more complicated to ensure suitable precautions, I line with current legislation are provided.

Investigation, via technical specialists will likely be needed from a number of disciplines to ensure such matters as structural integrity are carefully assessed prior to works commencing and communication with all parties involved is essential.