Our aim is to give you information that will guide you to comply with the law and keep the rest simple.

If you, employers, their employees and the self-employed, carry out any work in pre 1970 homes and public buildings, regardless of what you do for a living, and your work involves disturbing any surface that could contain lead paint in the form of sanding, scraping, removing, chipping or demolishing work BY LAW YOU MUST COMPLY WITH The Control Of Lead At Work 2002 (CLAW) IF you are not sure about your requirements to comply with the law please contact Lead Check .

What is CLAW?

The Control of Lead at Work Regulations 2002 Is a set of guidelines designed to ensure your safety and any other person who could be affected by lead due to your work practices. This is to protect their own families from 'take-home' lead as much as it is to protect themselves and others likely to be affected by their work. Ignorance of these regulations is no excuse for non-compliance.

Important CLAW requirements include:

• Carrying out 'suitable and sufficient' Risk Assessments.
  
  
• Providing training and information about lead exposure risks, which includes exposure risks to third parties - you and your family or clients.
  
  
• Provision of adequate facilities for changing, washing and eating.
  
  
• Regular blood screening to monitor lead exposure levels.

 

Who Should Comply with CLAW?

Anyone who owns or manages housing or child-occupied facilities built before 1970. Contractors who perform activities that disturb painted surfaces in homes and child-occupied facilities built before 1970 (including certain repairs and maintenance, and painting preparation activities).

Contractors must use lead-safe work practices and follow these four simple procedures:

• Test for lead hazards.
• Contain the work area.
• Minimize dust.
• Clean up thoroughly.

Painters, decorators, carpenters, joiners, plumbers, electricians, repair and maintenance teams, cleaners, caretakers, clerks of works, facilities managers and building occupants, to name but a few, all need to be aware of their own, and each other's, obligations under CLAW.

What if I choose not to comply with the law?

unfortunately this has been the way for the vast majority of UK business who work in older properties. However this is no excuse under UK guidelines. And today there is a greater need for awareness due to recent research into the unseen health affects due to lead exposure. The UK government has now taken firm steps in awareness and clamping down on those who choose to ignore the law. There is now a growing number of UK law firms who are more than happy to take legal action against any businesses or self employed person who have ignored the law contaminating homes and buildings with lead paint and dust debris, as a result of this have poisoned adults, children or employees.

What should I do to comply with CLAW

We intend to keep this simple for you.

Important CLAW requirements include:

Carrying out 'suitable and sufficient' Risk Assessments.

OK, Lets say you plan to carry out work in a pre 1970 building, public or private. You as an employer or self employed person have a duty to assess if the work you intend to carry out will create any amount of dust or debris that could contain lead. If yes, you must assess any risk that would result in exposure of lead in the form of dust and paint chips that could be a danger to you, your employees or any other person who could be exposed , this could include your clients or your family in the form of take home lead.

Therefore you are required to test paint surfaces for lead content in the form of Quantitative Testing. This will tell you how much lead is in any given sample. Lead Check offer a full quantative analysis of paint, dust, soil, air and water.

IMPORTANT: Lead testing can be divided into two categories:

Qualitative Testing - Is there lead? Yes or No? This gives a low cost, chemistry-based indication for regular house and individual use. These kits are usually available in DIY stores BUT it is not sufficient for CLAW compliance purposes. Research has shown that this method of testing lead is unreliable and can give inaccurate and false results.

Quantitative Testing - (If there's lead) How much lead? This is the method used in order to meet The Control of Lead at Work 2002 (CLAW) compliance requirements. Quantitative is the most accurate and precise form of analysis. Lead Check lab analysis kits or on-site lead testing is a full quantitative analysis of paint, dust, soil, air and water samples.