ENGEO was engaged by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) who were completing the European Union funded PacWaste survey of hazardous materials in 12 Pacific Island Nations.
ENGEO’s scope of services focused on asbestos containing materials (ACM) in government owned public buildings such as hospitals, libraries and schools of primary importance.
Surveys included review of publicly available information relating to the use, management and disposal of asbestos in each country with a large focus on existing national guidelines and regulations. ENGEO coordinated with representatives from each country’s government departments including ministries of health, environment, labour and education to gather existing data and to arrange site access.
For each country, remediation and management priorities were produced based on the risk assessment completed. The surveys included the collection of over 1,000 bulk samples of potential asbestos containing material (PACM), and air samples where required.
The survey team spent over 150 days in the Pacific conducting surveys in Nauru, The Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Palau, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa, Tonga and Tuvalu. The surveys included approximately 23 hospitals, 130 schools and 148 government owned buildings.
The investigation provided the client with a priority list of sites in each country where corrective action was required based on a risk assessment completed in accordance with Health and Safety Executive: Asbestos Survey Guide (HSG:264).
