Asbestos Law

The UK goverment has introduced a number of laws to protect people from the dangers associated with the inhalation of asbestos fibres. The most significant of these was the Asbestos (Prohibition) Regulations which (in its various amendments) banned the import and use of all types of asbestos by 1999. 

In 1983 the Asbestos (Licensing) Regulations were introduced to ensure that high-risk ACMs could only be handled by licensed asbestos removal contractors and the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations were introduced in 1987 to protect operatives from exposure to asbestos at work.  These regulations were combined on November 13 2006 to form the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006.

We have provided a summary of the original legislations below;

• Asbestos (Prohibition) Laws (1999) 
• Asbestos (Licensing) Regulations (1983)
• Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations (2002)
• Control of Asbestos Regulations (2006)

Asbestos (Prohibition) Laws

HISTORY

• Original form (1985) banned import and use of Blue and Brown (Crocidolite and Amosite) asbestos
• Replaced in 1992 and included ban of some uses of White (Chysotile) asbestos
• Amended in 1999 to ban import and use of Chrysotile
• Replaced by Control of Asbestos Regulations in 2006

SUMMARY
Bans the import and use of all raw asbestos and asbestos containing materials.

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Asbestos (Licensing) Laws

HISTORY

• Original form (1983) all contractors working with asbestos insulation or coating were required to get a license from the HSE.
• Amended in 1998 to include asbestos insulation board.
• Amended in 2003 to reduce mandatory notification period to 14 days.
• Replaced by Control of Asbestos Regulations in 2006

SUMMARY

• Nearly all work on asbestos insulation products to be carried out by licensed contractors.
• Terms of license include working in accordance with approved code of practice that outlines procedures that prevent contamination and include working in enclosures, airflow control, wearing RPE, decontamination procedures, waste disposal and independant clearance tests.
• Method statements to be submitted to the HSE for approval at least 14 days before commencement of works.

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Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations

HISTORY

• Original form Asbestos Regulations 1969 which aimed to control levels of exposure to asbestos in some workplaces.
• Replaced in 1987 by the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations which introduced statutory control procedures to prevent workers from exposure to asbestos in the workplace.
• Amended in 1993 to make it mandatory to substitute asbestos containing materials wherever possible.
• Amended in 2002 to introduce a duty to identify and managed all asbestos containing materials in the work place.
• Replaced by Control of Asbestos Regulations in 2006

SUMMARY

• Maximum exposure limits.
• Works to be carried out under controlled conditions.
• All asbestos materials in the workplace to be identified.
• Risk assessments to be prepared for all identified asbestos materials.
• Plans to be prepared detailing actions to be carried out to reduce risk of expsoure to acceptable levels.
• A register of materials and their condition to be maintained and made available to operatives at risk of exposure.
• All operatives at risk of exposure to be trained
• All ACMs to be clearly labelled.
• All remaining materials to be checked regularly to make sure that they have not become dangerous.

Control of Asbestos Regulations

In November 2006 all of the legislation above was combined to form the Control of Asbestos Regulations (2006). AMS have developed a number of online tools to help dutyholders to comply with the Control  of Asbestos Regulations 2006 and you can find them here.

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