The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is intensifying its inspections of asbestos management across Great Britain, coinciding with Global Asbestos Awareness Week (1–7 April). The regulator is highlighting the severe consequences of non-compliance, following a recent prosecution where a site manager received a suspended prison sentence and two companies were collectively fined £88,300 for failing to manage asbestos risks.
Regulator warns dutyholders to improve compliance or face legal action.
Throughout Global Asbestos Awareness Week, and beyond, HSE inspectors are visiting premises and construction sites to ensure that asbestos is being managed in strict compliance with the law, thereby safeguarding workers and the public. The campaign underscores the critical importance of proactive asbestos management and the availability of free guidance and training resources for dutyholders.
HSE inspections frequently uncover common failings in asbestos management. These include the absence of robust asbestos management plans to routinely monitor the condition of asbestos-containing materials (ACMs), inadequate information, instruction, and training provided to those responsible for managing asbestos, and insufficient procedures for managing work that could disturb known or presumed ACMs.
Nicholas James from HSE’s engagement and policy division emphasised the legal imperative for continuous management. He stated, “The law mandates the proactive and ongoing management and monitoring of asbestos in buildings, not merely a one-off check. Accurate identification and assessment of ACMs, robust procedures for risk management, active condition monitoring, effective communication, and relevant training are clear priorities. Dutyholders must ensure their management arrangements are sound to avoid enforcement action.”
The legal duty to manage asbestos applies broadly to a wide range of non-domestic and multi-occupancy premises, encompassing offices, factories, shops, schools, hospitals, and places of worship. This responsibility falls upon building owners, landlords, and those tasked with maintenance and repair.
To ensure compliance, the HSE outlines four essential steps every dutyholder must take: arranging an asbestos survey or reviewing existing ones, creating a comprehensive register and assessing the associated risks, writing a detailed asbestos management plan, and crucially, putting that plan into action while keeping it under regular review. When managed correctly and maintained in good condition, the risk posed by asbestos is significantly low.
Workers in construction and other building trades face a particular risk of disturbing asbestos during their daily activities. It is critical that these workers receive appropriate asbestos awareness training to prevent them from undertaking tasks that could disturb ACMs.
Furthermore, any materials suspected of containing asbestos must be properly identified through a suitably intrusive refurbishment or demolition survey before any work commences. All work involving asbestos-containing materials requires specific training and adherence to stringent controls; carrying out such work without the correct training and controls is illegal.
The severe repercussions of failing to manage asbestos properly were recently highlighted in a prosecution. A site manager received a 12-month suspended prison sentence, a five-year director disqualification, and a three-month electronically monitored curfew. His conviction stemmed from a failure to engage a licensed contractor for the safe clearance of asbestos from a demolition site.
In the same case, the two companies involved were collectively fined £88,300 and ordered to pay over £9,000 in costs and surcharges. This outcome serves as a stark reminder of the significant financial penalties and personal consequences, including criminal records, that can arise from non-compliance with asbestos regulations.
HSE Inspector Rob Gidman underscored the gravity of the risk, stating, “Asbestos is a Class 1 carcinogen, and its improper management poses a profound health risk. The HSE will not hesitate to take robust enforcement action against those who fail in their duty to protect workers and the public from this deadly material.”
The HSE provides a wealth of free guidance and advice for dutyholders on its website at www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos. Inspectors can visit premises without warning, and where management deficiencies are identified, enforcement action will be taken to ensure appropriate asbestos risk management measures are promptly implemented.
This story was originally published by the Health and Safety Executive.
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