New Asbestos Regulations

The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006. These Regulations bring together the three previous sets of regulations covering the prohibition of asbestos, the control of asbestos at work and asbestos licensing.

The Regulations prohibit the importation, supply and use of all forms of asbestos. They also continue the ban on the  second-hand use of asbestos products such as asbestos cement sheets and asbestos boards and tiles; including panels which have been covered with paint or textured plaster containing asbestos.

The ban applies to the new use of asbestos. If existing asbestos containing materials are in good condition, they may be left in place, their condition monitored and managed to ensure they are not disturbed.

The Asbestos Regulations also include the 'duty to manage asbestos' in non-domestic premises.

The Regulations also require mandatory training for anyone liable to be exposed to asbestos fibres at work. This includes maintenance workers and others who may come into contact with or who may disturb asbestos (e.g. cable installers) as well as those involved in asbestos removal work.

When work with asbestos or work which may disturb asbestos is being carried out, the Asbestos Regulations require employers and the self-employed to prevent exposure to asbestos fibres. Where this is not reasonably practicable, they must make sure that exposure is kept as low as reasonably practicable by measures other than the use of respiratory  protective equipment. The spread of asbestos must be prevented. The Regulations specify the work methods and  controls that should be used to prevent exposure and spread.

Most asbestos removal work must be undertaken by a licensed contractor but any decision on whether particular work is licensable is based on the risk. Work is only exempt from licensing if:

The exposure of employees to asbestos fibres is sporadic and of low intensity (but exposure cannot be considered to be sporadic and of low intensity if the concentration of asbestos in the air is liable to exceed 0.6 fibres per cm3 measured over 10 minutes); and it is clear from the risk assessment that the exposure of any employee to asbestos will not exceed the control limit; and the work involves:

Short, non-continuous maintenance activities. Work can only be considered as short, non-continuous maintenance activities if any one person carries out work with these materials for less than one hour in a seven-day period. The total time spent by all workers on the work should not exceed a total of two hours.

Removal of materials in which the asbestos fibres are firmly linked in a matrix. Such materials include: asbestos cement; textured decorative coatings and paints which contain asbestos; articles of bitumen, plastic, resin or rubber which  contain asbestos where their thermal or acoustic properties are incidental to their main purpose (e.g. vinyl floor tiles, electric cables, roofing felt) and other insulation products which may be used at high temperatures but have no  insulation purposes, for example gaskets, washers, ropes and seals.

Encapsulation or sealing of asbestos-containing materials which are in good condition, or air monitoring and control, and the collection and analysis of samples to find out if a specific material contains asbestos. Under the Asbestos  Regulations, anyone carrying out work on asbestos insulation, asbestos coating or asbestos insulating board (AIB)  needs a license issued by HSE unless they meet one of the exemptions above.