Workplace asbestos survey set for 2004
After months of delay and two consultation exercises, the Government has finally made explicit the duty of anyone with maintenance and repair responsibilities for a workplace to manage any asbestos that might be present.
Regulation 4 of the new Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 20021 (CAW) will take effect on 21 May 2004 and is intended to prevent building and maintenance workers being accidentally exposed to asbestos fibres in their day-to-day work. Research shows that this is the largest group of workers now at risk from asbestos-related diseases. They are particularly vulnerable to exposure because often they unknowingly work on asbestos-containing materials; CAW 2002 specifies the actions that must be taken by employers and others to prevent this exposure.
The duty holder under reg. 4 is every person who, by virtue of a contract or tenancy, has an obligation to maintain or repair non-domestic premises or their means of access or egress. Where there is no contract or tenancy, the duty holder is every person who has any control of part of the premises or its means of access or egress.
In practice, the duty holder will usually be the employer occupying premises where people work, but other duty holders will include owners of buildings, managing agents, surveyors and architects. The duty also covers common parts of premises, whether they are in commercial buildings, housing developments or blocks of flats.
Regulation 4 requires the duty holder to:
Announcing the Regulations, Nick Brown, the Minister for Work, who is also responsible for health and safety, said: "Asbestos is the most serious occupational health problem - in terms of fatal disease - that the country faces, and results in much human suffering and misery. These Regulations will do much to prevent exposure today and prolonged illness and death in the future."
The HSE estimates that, over 50 years, between 5,500 and 6,900 lives will be saved at a cost of £5.4 billion. Nearly 2 million properties in the non-domestic sector are estimated to contain asbestos - in cement cladding, gutters and pipes, fireproof sprays on structural steel joists, insulating boards in service ducts and wall partitions, ceiling and floor tiles and pipe and boiler lagging.
Although duty holders have 18 months to comply with reg. 4 of CAW 2002, other provisions took effect on 21 November 2002 when the Regulations came into force. The 2002 Regulations replace the 1987 CAW Regulations, as amended, which imposed requirements for the protection of employees who might be exposed to asbestos at work and of others who might be affected by such work. They also imposed duties on employees concerning their own protection from exposure.
The 1987 Regulations had to be replaced to implement the requirements of the chemical agents Directive (98/24/EC) (CAD) and several other Directives in relation to asbestos (see New COSHH and lead Regs implemented). Most of the changes made to implement CAD simply make explicit what was implicit in the 1987 Regulations and Approved Codes of Practice.
1"Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002", SI 2002 No.2675, Stationery Office, ISBN 0 11 042918 4, £3.50 or www.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2002/20022675.htm, free.
