POLICING OF COMPLIANCE WITH ASBESTOS REGULATIONS COULD GET HARSHER FOLLOWING PARLIAMENTARY INQUIRY With less than one per cent of all asbestos training being for the Duty to Manage course, the UK Asbestos Training Association (UKATA) has raised serious concerns that businesses and individuals are not taking their health and safety responsibilities seriously. UKATA-approved training providers delivered asbestos training to 202,540 delegates between 2019 – 2020. Of that figure just 1,567 undertook the Duty to Manage course. Craig Evans, Chief Operating Officer of UKATA, said: “These figures have not been skewed by the pandemic, they are reflective of the wider picture, particularly in the public sector. As a leading authority on asbestos, we flagged our concerns in 2018 that the training numbers are just not stacking up. It is clear that there is a lack of compliance by dutyholders and we need to educate from the top down.” Regulations require the dutyholder to ‘be aware of any asbestos containing materials (ACMs) on the premises, to review and keep up-to-date records of said materials, assess and manage the risks of the materials and provide the necessary information regarding the materials to those liable to work on or disturb them.’ The policing of the regulations could now get harsher following a recent Parliamentary Inquiry to examine the current risks posed by asbestos in the workplace, the actions taken by HSE to mitigate them and how its approach compares to those taken in other countries. The UK death rate from asbestos-related diseases is the highest in the world with more than 5,000 people in the UK continuing to die each year.
Regulations require the dutyholder to ‘be aware of any asbestos containing materials (ACMs) on the premises, to review and keep up-to-date records of said materials, assess and manage the risks of the materials and provide the necessary information regarding the materials to those liable to work on or disturb them.’
Despite the legislation, compelling evidence and all we know about the danger of asbestos, even today, too many people are exposing themselves to asbestos unknowingly because of a lack of awareness of the material. More than 20 years on from the asbestos ban, this simply isn’t good enough. There needs to be substantially more people accessing approved asbestos training. Because of its resistance to heat, corrosion and electricity, asbestos was used widely in construction for 100 years prior to its ban in 2000. It is estimated that there are six million tonnes of the highly toxic material in around 1.5 million buildings in the UK today. The Committee for Work and Pensions raised concerns last year with the Government about the UK’s policy on managing asbestos in buildings, following the publication of a report by think tank Respublica. The report argued for the reform of the Health and Safety regime around the management of in-situ asbestos to accurately reflect the risk it poses to the people who work in and attend public buildings. It showed that the UK’s current asbestos monitoring standards fall significantly short of other European nations and called for parity with these standards to better protect teachers, nurses and other members of the UK public. The concerns prompted the Parliamentary Inquiry by the Committee of Work and Pensions to review the effectiveness of the regulations for managing asbestos. Taking place on 15 December 2021, the inquiry heard from asbestos industry experts, including Graham O’Mahony, Chair of UKATA.
Mr O’Mahony told the Inquiry: ”What we must do is better police the legal responsibility of the safe management of asbestos in buildings by dutyholders.” He added: “There is often the mistaken belief that the dutyholder is the chief executive. This is not always the case. The responsibility could be passed down in the chain of command.” The ‘duty to manage’ asbestos is contained in regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR) 2012 and is directed at those who manage non-domestic premises. The dutyholder’s legal responsibilities cannot be delegated, but dutyholders can nominate others to do all or part of the work to assist in complying with the duties. Highlighting the need for increased training, Mr O’Mahony added: “Our experience is that when dutyholders attend an asbestos training centre, they have some idea of what they need to know but don’t fully understand what they need to put in place. Dutyholders need to use asbestos registers and plans and the information contained in them to protect the people using the building.” Inhalation of asbestos fibres can cause a number of serious diseases most of which affect the lungs or pleura (the external lining of the lung). These include a number of forms of cancer and chronic conditions such as asbestosis and pleural thickening. All the diseases have a long latency, meaning it takes a long time – typically decades – for symptoms to occur following exposure to asbestos. However, for cancers such as mesothelioma and lung cancer, cases are often rapidly fatal following disease onset, while conditions such as asbestosis may progress over time to seriously affect normal daily activity and lead to complications which can be fatal. Craig Evans added: “Despite the legislation, compelling evidence and all we know about the danger of asbestos, even today, too many people are exposing themselves to asbestos unknowingly because of a lack of awareness of the material. More than 20 years on from the asbestos ban, this simply isn’t good enough. There needs to be substantially more people accessing approved asbestos training.”
UKATA is a leading authority on asbestos training. To find a UKATA approved asbestos training provider near you, visit www.ukata.org.uk or for free advice call the UKATA team on 01246 824437.
44 Construction UK Magazine - January 2022