Asbestos Testing and Consultancy Association

The Asbestos Testing And Consultancy Association (ATAC) is the trade association for companies in the UK who carry out asbestos surveying, analytical and laboratory work.

History
The organisation was founded in Burton in 1990. It was founded by various consultancy companies through its sister association, the Asbestos Removal Contractors Association (ARCA), as the consultancies required a trade association voice of their own.

Structure
The head office is in Burton and there is a training centre in Rayleigh, the association also has access to various other training centres across the UK.

Staff
The association was up until 2013 run on a day to day basis by Ian Stone CCP who has been in the asbestos industry for over fifteen years. Ian has worked on both the asbestos consultancy and asbestos removal sides of the industry. The current Chairman of ATAC is Andrew Jackson who has been in the industry for nearly two decades, he also is the managing director of an asbestos and statutory compliance consultancy (Acorn Analytical Services Ltd). Andrew replaced Jonathan Francis as ATAC Chairman in 2011 and will hold the tenure for two years.

Ian Stone has since left ATAC after 3 years at the association. During Ian's time at the association he helped create various industry recognised qualifications which helped place ATAC at the forefront of the asbestos industry. He is now a Director of Acorn Analytical Services. He works from the Northampton and London offices providing consultancy to various large scale and blue chip clients.

Functions
ATAC is at the forefront of the asbestos industry raising awareness about asbestos issues. One of the latest campaigns has been Asbestos In Schools, which has led the association to be part of a parliamentary steering group.

The association also works alongside the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and other regulatory bodies such as the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) to help raise awareness of asbestos and to improve the standards within the asbestos industry.

The association currently has 70 member companies which are located across the UK; there are also information members of the association who subscribe from Europe and internationally.