PURPOSE of JIWG

The Asbestos in Soil and Construction & Demolition Materials – Joint Industry Working Group (Asbestos in Soil JIWG for short) was established in November 2011 after The Environmental Industries Commission (EIC) and Contaminated Land: Applications in Real Environments (CL:AIRE) formally joined forces and then invited a wide range of both private and public sector organisations that are all looking to work together to meet the challenges posed by asbestos in soil. The JIWG project will be working alongside the CIRIA research project trying to ensure that the two projects complement and link as much as possible with a co-ordinated approach.

AIMS of JIWG

The aims of the Joint Industry Working Group are:

• To bring together the asbestos management, occupational hygiene and brownfield management sectors with the aim of promoting the development of a consistent and harmonised approach to the regulation, investigation, analysis, assessment and management of asbestos in soil.
• To develop practical practitioner guidance on asbestos in soil that provides a consistent approach for UK industry, stakeholders and regulators.
• To promote the development of the relevant industry professional qualification framework for asbestos in soils for the brownfield and asbestos management sectors, building on the existing professional qualification framework for the management of asbestos in buildings, and relevant statutory requirements.
• To engage with the principal regulatory bodies for asbestos – the Health & Safety Executive, the Environment Agency and representatives of Local Authority Contaminated Land Officers - with the aim of promoting a consistent, unified and transparent regime for the regulation of all aspects relating to the remediation of land contaminated by asbestos.
• To promote and develop an improvement in public and stakeholder awareness of relevant issues, including inter alia health & safety, public health, technical, legal and insurance, related to the occurrence of and investigation and remediation of asbestos in soil.
• To promote the work of the Asbestos in Soil – Joint Industry Working Group to ensure all organisations are fully informed of its activities.

ORGANISATION

• The working group is chaired by EIC.
• It will aim to meet quarterly with additional meetings scheduled by teleconference when required.
• CL:AIRE will perform the secretariat duties for the working group.
• Membership of the working group will be by invitation to specific organisations. Such invitations being reviewed as appropriate. The current list of members is provided here:

All notes from the JIWG meetings are made publicly available and can be accessed from the index to the right.

JIWG ASBESTOS IN SOIL JOINT STATEMENT WITH HSE AND EA

The Joint Industry Working Group (JIWG), Environment Agency and Health and Safety Executive has agreed to work together to bring clarification on a number of key regulatory and guidance issues that will help underpin the development of the industry code of practice for asbestos in soil, construction and demolition materials . This work will help clarify a number of important issues relating to the application of some of the legislation as it is currently being applied to the regulation of asbestos in soil, construction and demolition materials.

JIWG ASBESTOS IN SOIL STATEMENT ON CLASSIFICATION OF WASTE CONTAMINATED BY ASBESTOS

The Environment Agency will shortly be issuing revised technical guidance on waste, "rWM2". This guidance will contain new worked examples of how to classify as "hazardous" waste soil and other waste materials such as made ground and general C&D wastes that are contaminated by asbestos fibres and asbestos-containing materials. The EA has agreed with the JIWG that there is a need to provide industry with refined, detailed and practical guidance in this area. Work to produce this guidance, therefore, will continue over the coming months, these efforts being led by the EIC-CL:AIRE JIWG on Asbestos in Soil and C&D Materials in conjunction with the EA. This work will ultimately feed into the development of the JIWG Industry Code of Practice for Asbestos in Soil.

TERMS OF REFERENCE

The JIWG Asbestos in Soil are working under agreed Terms of Reference.