Those people who are responsible for a building and have the power to authorise work upon the fabric of the building, have duties under Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006.

Poor quality asbestos insulation in roof void.

To summarise those duties:

• Ensure that the people that work there or visit there are not exposed to asbestos.
• Ensure that workmen who work on the building are informed where the asbestos is to be found.

Although there is a lot of guidance as to how this might be achieved; how it is actually achieved does not matter.

If asbestos is present in the building, its condition obviously has to be monitored. It may have looked alright a year ago, but what state is it in today? Is it exposing people that work near it to airborne asbestos fibre?

This is as basic a health and safety principle as a worn carpet creating a trip hazard or a pile of boxes blocking a fire exit. We all know that there are organisations where the worn carpet and the pile of boxes are ignored and the likelihood of asbestos being managed is nil.

On the other hand, organisations with otherwise good health and safety procedures may have had an asbestos survey but have done nothing with it. They have started on the road to asbestos compliance but have not completed the journey. Read More