HSE launches guidance on new legislation on managing asbestos

HSE Press Release E239:02 - 16 December 2002

Today the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) published important guidance to support the new duty to manage asbestos, as part of its strategy to prevent people dying from asbestos-related diseases.

The new duty, part of the Control of Asbestos At Work Regulations 2002 (CAWR), will require those with responsibilities for the repair and maintenance of non-domestic premises to find out if there are, or may be, asbestos-containing materials within them. It also requires them to record the location and condition of such materials, and then assess and manage any risk from them, including passing on information about their location and condition to anyone liable to disturb them.

There could be as many as 500,000 non-domestic premises in the UK that contain asbestos materials. Assessing the risks from those materials and putting in place systems to manage that risk will therefore take time, so there is an eighteen-month lead in period for the duty. However, HSE want people to start work on this important task now.

Nick Brown, the Minister with responsibility for health and safety, said:

"Asbestos is the most serious occupational health problem, in terms of fatal disease, that the country faces. In the 30 years between 1968 and 1998, 50,000 people died in the UK from asbestos related diseases. The human suffering and misery behind those terrible figures continue today. There is no medical intervention for those already exposed. But we can certainly do much to prevent exposures today and prevent painful and prolonged illness and death in the future.

"If current levels of exposure are allowed to continue over the next 50 years, nearly 5,000 people will die from asbestos related diseases. These regulations should go a long way towards preventing this human suffering and misery."

To raise awareness of the duty to manage, and to promote effective compliance, HSE has published the following guidance material:

A new Approved Code of Practice (ACoP) has been produced to support regulation 4 of CAWR. The management of asbestos in non-domestic premises L127 gives advice on how to comply with the new legal requirements and explains the duties of building owners, tenants and anyone else with legal responsibilities for non-domestic premises. It highlights the flexibility of the new regulations to cover a range of situations and to allow a proportionate approach to be taken to managing the risks from asbestos. For example, it stresses that asbestos in good condition, which is unlikely to be disturbed, should be left in place and managed.

The free leaflet Managing asbestos in premises INDG223 has been updated and re-titled A short guide to managing asbestos in premises. Aimed at those with smaller, less complex premises, it provides background information on why asbestos can be a risk to health, and where it is found, and gives basic, practical advice on managing the risks from asbestos in premises.

The new guidance booklet A comprehensive guide to managing asbestos HSG227 is aimed at those dutyholders in more complex organisations and expands on the guidance given in the free leaflet. The guidance helps dutyholders decide what immediate steps they need to take to manage asbestos on their premises as well as giving advice on developing a management strategy to ensure full compliance with the new duty. The guidance is illustrated by the use of case studies and worked examples.

HSE's head of asbestos policy, Bill MacDonald said:

"The guidance will ensure that every dutyholder can access information about what the new duty to manage will mean to them - and what they must do to comply. This advance notice will give them sufficient time to do so. I would urge all those affected to make sure they fulfil their legal and moral responsibilities."

Notes to Editors

1. Asbestos has been identified as the largest occupational health killer in the second half of the twentieth century. Asbestos-related diseases account for an estimated 3,000 deaths a year in the UK and it is estimated that 50,000 people have died from mesothelioma and other conditions since 1968. Around one quarter of those currently dying once worked in the building and maintenance trades - where people can inadvertently be exposed to asbestos when working in buildings.

2. The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) was concerned that information on whether buildings have asbestos in them was not always passed to those at risk. HSC therefore proposed a new statutory duty - the duty to manage asbestos - on those responsible for non-domestic premises to determine the presence of asbestos in their buildings, and assess and control the risk from the material. This would be enacted by a new provision, Regulation 4 of CAWR. HSC consulted widely on its proposal and CAWR was laid before parliament on 31 October 2002 and came into force on 21 November 2002, with an eighteen-month lead in period for the duty to manage.

3. The duty will provide a new level of protection for those working in the building-related trades and others at risk from asbestos in buildings and will contribute to the saving of almost 5,000 lives through eliminating risks from asbestos in the non-domestic sector.

4. In autumn 2001 HSE embarked on a five-year national campaign to raise awareness of the risks from asbestos in buildings. The introduction of the guidance material is an important part of this campaign and will underpin the new regulations, and specifically the duty to manage.

5. The two approved codes of practice (ACoPs) that supported the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations have been revised. In particular they introduce improved requirements for the provision of training and for clearance procedures following asbestos work. As well as being updated to reflect current good practice, some minor changes were necessary to implement the health requirements of the Chemical Agents Directive (CAD) (insofar as they relate to asbestos). The ACoP providing general advice on the Regulations formerly titled The control of asbestos at work L27 has been revised and re-titled Work with asbestos which does not normally require a licence. The ACoP covering work on high-risk materials has been revised but retains the title Work with asbestos insulation, asbestos coating and asbestos insulating board L28.

6. CAD was adopted by the European Council of Ministers on 7 April 1998 and sets minimum requirements for the health and safety of workers who deal with hazardous chemical agents, including asbestos.

Copies of The management of asbestos in non-domestic premises Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 L127, ISBN 0 7176 2382 3, price £9.50; A short guide to managing asbestos in premises, INDG223, free of charge; A comprehensive guide to managing asbestos in premises HSG227, ISBN 0 7176 2381 5, price £12.50; Work with asbestos insulation, asbestos coating and asbestos insulating board (fourth edition) L28, ISBN 0 7176 2563 X, price £9.50; Work with asbestos which does not normally require a licence (fourth edition) L27, ISBN 0 7176 2562 1, price £9.50; are available from HSE Books.

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