Mesothelioma is a deadly cancer caused by breathing in asbestos dust. Asbestos is banned in the UK but you can still find it in homes, schools and offices.

In 2017, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have reported 2,523 mesothelioma deaths due to past asbestos exposures.

Asbestos can be found in any building built before the year 2000 (houses, factories, offices, schools, hospitals etc) and causes thousands of deaths every year.

Why is Asbestos Dangerous?

When materials that contain asbestos are disturbed or damaged, fibres are released into the air. When these fibres are inhaled they can cause serious diseases. These diseases will not affect you immediately; they often take a long time to develop, years or decades in fact, but once diagnosed, it is often too late to do anything.

This is why it is important that you protect yourself now.

What do you need to do?

The importation, supply and use of all forms of asbestos have been banned since the year 2000. However, many buildings, and some plant and equipment, still contain asbestos-containing materials (ACMs).

Before you start any work in a building that might contain asbestos (e.g. built or refurbished before the year 2000), you need to do the following:

Identify whether asbestos is present and determine its type and condition

People responsible for maintenance of non-domestic premises, have a ‘duty to manage’ the asbestos in them, and should provide you with information on where any asbestos is in the building and what condition it is in.

• If no information is available or it is limited and you suspect asbestos may be present you should have the area surveyed and representative samples of the material you are going to work on analysed
• Alternatively, you can assume that any material you need to disturb does contain asbestos and take the appropriate precautions for the highest risk situation.

What must premises owners do…

Carry out an Asbestos (Management) Survey, to identify the following:

• Record the amount of Asbestos containing materials (ACMs), where it is & what condition it is in
• Record the location and condition of the ACMs
• Assess the risk of anyone being exposed
• Prepare an asbestos management plan to manage the materials
• Review and monitor the asbestos management plan
• The landlord may have responsibility for the maintenance or repair of the premises
• If no Asbestos containing materials (ACM) are present, the landlord must provide a written statement to this effect.

Those in control of premises or operating premises must… 

• Put the asbestos management plan into action
• Review and monitor the asbestos management plan
• Provide information on the location and condition of the materials to anyone who is liable to work on or disturb them
• Provide copies of the Asbestos Survey / Register to Contractors
• Ensure any contractor intending to work on any fabric of the premise to check, by reference to Asbestos Register, that their work will not disturb an area of sealed asbestos
• Contractual arrangements may specify responsibility for the internal maintenance or repair of the premises, which is under their management control.

You may need to decide if the work needs to be carried out by a licensed contractor

 Most asbestos removal work will require a contractor holding a licence from HSE. All work with sprayed asbestos coatings and asbestos lagging and most work with asbestos insulation and asbestos insulating board (AIB) will require a licence.

Identify if your work needs a licensed contractor.  To find a licensed contractor, click on the link here.

If the work is not licensable, decide if the work needs to be notified

If it doesn’t need a licence, you can do maintenance work on or around ACMs with the appropriate controls in place.  Some non-licensed work also has additional requirements, e.g notification of work, medical surveillance and record keeping.

And finally…ensure those carrying out the work are suitably trained

Any worker who is liable to disturb asbestos during their day-to-day work needs to receive appropriate training to enable them to protect themselves and others.