Regulations

The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 require asbestos to be identified and assessed. The regulations place an explicit duty on the person with maintenance responsibilities for the property to manage the risk from asbestos in their premises.

The asbestos industry is one of the most highly regulated in the UK. The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 came into force on 13th November 2006 replacing the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002. These regulations have been introduced with the primary aim to reduce the exposure to asbestos by those working with and around asbestos products.

The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 can be viewed by clicking here.

Asbestos is regulated because it is the highest industrial killer in the country. Currently there are over 4,000 asbestos related deaths each year – a figure that is expected to rise sharply over the next few years. The regulations deal with all aspects of working with asbestos containing materials including licensing, standards, removal, analysis, identification and assessment. Two of the key regulations of special interest to our clients with regards to The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 are Regulation 4, Duty to manage asbestos in non-domestic premises and Regulation 10, Information, Instruction and Training.

Regulation 4 – Duty to manage asbestos in non-domestic premises
This places an explicit responsibility on owners and occupiers of non domestic properties, who have maintenance and repair responsibilities for those premises to have a duty to assess them for the presence of asbestos and the condition of that asbestos. Where asbestos is present the dutyholder must ensure that the risk from the asbestos is assessed, that a written plan identifying where that asbestos located is prepared and that measures to manage the risk from the asbestos are set out in that plan and are implemented. Other parties have a legal duty to co-operate with the dutyholder.

Regulation 10 – Information, instruction and training
This regulation classifies three different types of training requirements. These are Asbestos awareness training, Training for non-licensable asbestos works and Training for licensable work with asbestos. Asbestos Awareness Training is required to be given to employees whose work could foreseeably expose them to asbestos. In particular, it should be given to all demolition workers and those workers in the refurbishment, maintenance and allied trades where it is foreseeable that their work will disturb the fabric of the building because ACM’s may become exposed during their work. Training for non-licensable asbestos work is required by those whose works will knowingly disturb ACM’s, such as maintenance workers and their supervisors; and those who carry out asbestos sampling and analysis. It should be given in addition to the asbestos awareness training outlined in paragraph 127 of The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006. Training for licensable asbestos work should be carried out by all operatives, supervisors, managers, directors, supervisory licence holders and licensed scaffolders that are involved in licensable works.

Who regulates the asbestos Industry?
UKAS (The United Kingdom Accreditation Service) is the sole national accreditation body recognised by government to assess (against internationally agreed standards) organisations that provide certification, testing, inspection and calibration services. Accreditation by UKAS demonstrates the competence, integrity, impartiality and performance capability of these organisations. Redhill Analysts Managing Director, Robert Blackburn sits on the UKAS Asbestos Technical Advisory Committee, the HSE Asbestos Liaison Group(ALG) and is Chair of ATAC’s Quality and Technical Sub Committee.

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