LRD guides and handbook July 2017

Health and safety law 2017

Chapter 6

Controlling risks from asbestos



[ch 6: pages 112-113]

Anyone responsible for the maintenance of non-domestic premises has a duty to manage the asbestos in them, in order to protect anyone using or working in the premises from the risks to health caused by exposure to asbestos (see below: The duty to manage). If a duty-holder wants building or maintenance work done on the premises, or on plant or equipment that may contain asbestos, it must identify where it is, its type and condition, assess the risks and manage and control those risks.



The control limit for asbestos is 0.1 fibres per cubic centimetre (f/cm3) of air measured over four hours for all types of asbestos (Regulation 2). The HSE emphasises that the control limit is not a “safe” level, and that exposure from work activities involving asbestos must be reduced as far below the control limit as possible. Respiratory protective equipment must be ignored when assessing whether the control limit has been reached.



Training is mandatory for anyone liable to be exposed to asbestos fibres at work. This includes maintenance workers and others who may come into contact with or disturb asbestos, such as cable installers, as well as those involved in asbestos removal work.



HSE asbestos app


The HSE says that an average of 20 tradespeople die every week from asbestos-related diseases and that an HSE-commissioned survey found that tradespeople could come into contact with deadly asbestos on average more than 100 times a year. 



As part of a campaign warning tradespeople including carpenters, painters and decorators and construction workers about the dangers of coming into contact with asbestos, the safety watchdog created a web app for phones, tablets and laptops. This helps them easily identify where they could come into contact with asbestos as they go about their day-to-day work and gives them tailored help on how to deal with the risks. To download the web app see www.beware-asbestos.info/news