HSE have published a brief guide “Managing asbestos in buildings” that reflects CAR 2012. You can download a free copy or purchase 5 printed copies for £5 at http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg223.htm
A property manager from Cardiff has been fined for failing to properly manage the risks from asbestos at one of his premises.
Richard Hayward, who pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 over failings at the building, was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay costs of £20,000.
Pontypridd Magistrates’ Court heard that Mr. Hayward had let out part of the building in 2007, but it was only in 2008, when a request to provide an asbestos survey for insurance purposes was made, that the presence of asbestos insulating board (AIB) roof tiles and brown and blue asbestos was identified in the premises.
A subsequent HSE investigation confirmed there was a risk of exposure to asbestos due to the poor condition the asbestos was found in.
The court was told that between 2005 and 2008, three companies occupied the building. During this time, structural work to install a partition wall was completed and contractors were hired to carry out electrical works at the site.
In addition to those undertaking the work, any person in the vicinity, including tenants, were at risk of exposure to asbestos.
The HSE investigation found Mr. Hayward did not take steps to discover whether asbestos was present or liable to be present and he failed to effectively identify and manage the risks arising from asbestos containing materials at the building.
HSE inspector Lee Schilling said:
“The dangers of asbestos are well known in the property management industry.
Mr. Hayward could have prevented the risk of exposing persons to asbestos if he had simply considered whether or not asbestos was present when he first took over control of the building and, having confirmed its presence, passed on relevant information to those who were liable to disturb it.
For Mr. Hayward not to inform relevant persons that asbestos was present demonstrated a major failing in his management procedures at that time.
This prosecution highlights the importance of taking simple, practical steps to protect maintenance workers and others from the risk of exposure to asbestos.”
Source: Workplace Law
The presence of asbestos in most UK state schools constitutes a “national scandal”, MPs and peers have said.
An all-party group is calling for a scheme to remove the material after studying estimates which suggest it was present in more than 75% of schools.
More than 140 teachers have died from the rare asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma in the past 10 years.
Education chiefs say it is unacceptable for schools to ignore guidance but that undamaged asbestos should be left.
Last year, the Department for Education (DfE) revealed that its “best estimate” was that more than three-quarters of schools contain asbestos.
The Parliamentary Group on Occupational Safety and Health’s chairman, Jim Sheridan, said: “This is a national scandal.
“Urgent action is needed to prevent more pupils, teachers and other staff being exposed to this deadly killer dust.
“We need both far greater awareness of the risks that this material poses and a programme for its phased removal.”
Dangerous fibres
The group’s other recommendations include annually updating parents, teachers and staff about asbestos in their schools, and reinstating inspections into asbestos management.
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If asbestos is not disturbed or damaged, then it is safer to leave it in situ, with strong systems in place to contain and monitor it”
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Department for Education
Asbestos was used extensively as a building material from the 1950s until the mid-1980s, often in fireproofing and insulation.
But it becomes dangerous when disturbed. If inhaled, its fibres cause lung complaints such as the fatal mesothelioma and debilitating asbestosis.
Researchers in the US found that for every death of a teacher from asbestos-related diseases, nine children will die.
Children are more vulnerable because they have longer than adults to develop diseases related to the material.
According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), inhaling asbestos is the single greatest cause of work-related deaths in the UK – accounting for 4,000 deaths per year.
A DfE spokesman said the welfare of pupils and staff was paramount.
“It is unacceptable for any school not to comply with the strict statutory asbestos guidance – no ifs or buts,” he said.
But he added: “HSE’s expert advice is based on the best current evidence.
“It is absolutely clear that if asbestos is not disturbed or damaged, then it is safer to leave it in situ, with strong systems in place to contain and monitor it.”
Source – BBC News 2 Feb
‘Canada’s once-mighty asbestos sector has ground to a halt for the first time in 130 years, as production of the controversial fibre has stalled in both of the country’s mines’ as reported in Canadian Buisiness online on 25 November 2011. The suspension marked an historic milestone for the Canadian asbestos industry, which at one time dominated world production.
Asbestos saga proves our feeble press watchdog has no bark and no bite http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/the-lay-scientist/2010/sep/27/asbestos-press-watchdog-pcc
Asbestos awareness training is a legal requirement for any individual who may come into contact with asbestos containing materials (ACMs) through their line of work. These individuals include building services managers, engineers, all tradesmen and many more. Regulation 10 of HSE legislation CAR2006 states there is a legal duty for employers to ensure all their staff have had sufficient training to ensure that they do not become exposed to asbestos fibres.
Awareness training can be found at www.artisansurveyors.co.uk/services.php?serviceID=23&catID=19&title=RSPH_Level_1_Asbestos_Awareness_Course
Further training providers can also be found at www.iatp.org.uk/find_a_training_provider.php
Retailers are being sent a quick reference factsheet to help them understand their legal responsibilities on asbestos to ensure their workers, customers or any contractors are protected from exposure.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has teamed up with the BHF-BSSA Group – an independent retail trade body representing more than 7500 small retailers, after it was found that compliance with ‘duty to manage’ regulations was particularly low in this sector.
Any person or organisation responsible for the maintenance or repair of non domestic premises will almost certainly be responsible for managing any asbestos present, under Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006.
The Fact Sheet outlines:
- Who has the duty to manage;
- What the duty to manage means;
- Three essential steps to comply with the duty; and
- Advice on asbestos surveys.
Steve Coldrick, HSE’s Asbestos Programme Director, said:
“Around 4000 people die each year from past exposure to asbestos. It may be present in any building built before the year 2000, and so it is essential that retailers are aware of the risk it still poses and their responsibilities in managing it.
“Working with the BHF-BSSA to put in simple terms what businesses should be doing will help remove any mystery or uncertainty around the regulations.”
Michael Weedon, BHF-BSSA Group Communications Manager, said:
“Contractors never know what they are walking into when they start work on a job but retailers walk into the same premises day after day after day, so they really need to know what is lurking in their environment.
“Our factsheet sets out to make the subject clear and easy to understand, both for those who own their own premises and those who rent them from others.”
The Fact Sheet is available to BHF-BSSA members at www.bssa.co.uk 
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Asbestos Containing Materials (ACMs) can be found in many places within a house or commercial property. Click on the following link to view some of these locations:
The press release below highlights the importance of dutyholders ensuring that they have an up to date asbestos register in place for their building and that all parts of the CAR 2006 legislation is complied with at all times.
- Date:
- 27 January 2010
- Release No:
- WW681
A Bristol-based company has been fined for putting its workers at risk of asbestos-related diseases while working on a property in the city.
Frank Bruce and Company Ltd, of St George, Bristol pleaded guilty at Bristol Magistrates in relation to refurbishment work at Lawrence Hill Industrial Park in the city during February and March 2009.
The court heard Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspectors visited industrial units where the defendant had organised refurbishment work involving the removal of a large quantity of asbestos insulation board without taking statutory safety precautions.
This led to exposure of the workers to the asbestos and also the contamination of the units being renovated.
The court heard the company plead guilty to breaches under Regulation 14 of the Construction (Design and Management) [CDM] Regulations 2007 by failing to appoint a CDM-coordinator or principal contractor for notifiable construction work and Regulation 4 (10) of the Control of Asbestos Regulations by failing to review or implement a plan to manage materials containing asbestos.
Frank Bruce and Co was today (WED) fined £18,000 for breaching the regulations and ordered to pay £6,679 costs.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Sue Adsett said: “The decision not to have large quantities of asbestos insulation board removed by licensed contractors before the general refurbishment work began, put the workers at risk and contaminated the site.
“The work was stopped and the defendant paid to make the site safe, but this doesn’t change the fact that seven construction workers were exposed to asbestos, which we know can cause fatal diseases.
“Landlords and property developers need to be very wary of organising construction work themselves if they haven’t got appropriate experience of managing health and safety in building projects.”
Around 500,000 buildings built before 2000 could contain asbestos, according to HSE estimates. If managed properly and kept in good condition, asbestos need not pose safety concerns.
Landlords need to arrange for ‘Type 3′ surveys to be done before refurbishment or demolition and pass this information on to builders before asking them to start work. Some asbestos products – such as Asbestos Insulation Boards or Asbestos Insulation – can only be removed by specially licensed contractors.
The press release below from IBAS (International Ban Asbestos Secretariat) released this month calls for asbestos to be banned worldwide. Please feel free to leave comments on your views on worldwide use of the material.
Repeat Call to Ban Asbestos by Laurie Kazan-Allen ’In March 2010, the Collegium Ramazzini, an international academic society specializing in occupational and environmental medicine, issued its second call for asbestos to be banned worldwide. The Collegium’s Asbestos is Still with Us: Repeat Call for a Universal Ban, states:
“All forms of asbestos are proven human carcinogens. All forms of asbestos cause malignant mesothelioma, lung, laryngeal, and ovarian cancers, and may cause gastrointestinal and other cancers. No exposure to asbestos is without risk, and there is no safe threshold of exposure to asbestos. Asbestos cancer victims die painful lingering deaths. These deaths are almost entirely preventable… Early suggestions that chrysotile might be less dangerous than other forms of asbestos have not been substantiated…” 1
This document is a follow-up to one issued a decade ago by the Collegium: Call for an International Ban on Asbestos which stated:“To eliminate the burden of disease and death that is caused worldwide by exposure to asbestos, the Collegium Ramazzini calls for an immediate ban on all mining and use of asbestos. To be effective, the ban must be international in scope and must be enforced in every country in the world.”2The 2010 document provides news of recent developments including scientific research and global action; it highlights the adoption of asbestos policies by the World Health Organization and the International Labor Organization which support a phasing out of asbestos use. The authors urge: “All countries of the world … to join the international endeavor to ban all forms of asbestos.”3 ‘March 8, 2010; Revised March 20, 2010_______1 Asbestos is Still with Us: Repeat Call for a Universal Ban. Collegium Ramazzin. (2010).
(Received by email March 18, 2010.)2 Sixth Collegium Ramazzini Statement (1999). Call for an International Ban on Asbestos
http://www.collegiumramazzini.org/download/6_SixthCRStatement%281999%29.pdf3 See also: Eleventh Collegium Ramazzini Statement: Call for an International Ban on Asbestos: Statement Update. http://www.collegiumramazzini.org/download/11_EleventhCRStatement(2004).pdf
