This important
legislation tackles the biggest occupational health killer in the
UK – asbestos-related disease. Of the 3,500 people currently dying
each year from such diseases 25% have once worked in the building
and maintenance trades and often would have worked unknowingly on
or near to asbestos containing materials (ACMs). Whilst virtually
all other activities involving potential exposure to asbestos have
now ceased, our evidence suggests that this vulnerable group is
still at considerable risk from unknowing exposure to asbestos.
The requirements
of the new duty seek to prevent further unknowing exposure to asbestos
by building and maintenance workers with the aim of saving 5,000
lives over the next 100 years.
Duty requirements
The duty to manage
requires those in control of premises to:
- take reasonable
steps to determine the location and condition of materials likely
to contain asbestos;
- presume
materials contain asbestos unless there is strong evidence that
they do not;
- make and
keep an up to date record of the location and condition of the
ACMs or presumed ACMs in the premises;
- assess the
risk of the likelihood of anyone being exposed to fibres from
these materials;
- prepare
a plan setting out how the risks from the materials are to be
managed;
- take the
necessary steps to put the plan into action;
- review and
monitor the plan periodically; and
- provide information
on the location and condition of the materials to anyone who is
liable to work on or disturb them.
What premises are
affected?
The new regulation
covers all non-domestic premises , whatever
type of business is carried out in them. It also covers the common
areas of domestic premises, including halls, stair wells, lift shafts
and roof spaces.
Who will be the dutyholder?
All those who have
responsibility for the maintenance and/or repair of non-domestic
premises have duties under this regulation. The extent of the legal
duty is determined by the terms of any tenancy agreement or contract
that applies, and in the absence of any such agreement, on the degree
of control the party has over the premises.
The dutyholder may
well be the landlord, tenant or a managing agent, depending on the
circumstances of the case. In some situations, responsibility could
be shared between two or more parties.
The regulation
also includes a duty to cooperate, which applies widely. This will,
for example, require a tenant to allow a landlord to gain access
to a building to carry out a survey. Also a building surveyor or
architect who had plans which show information on the whereabouts
of asbestos would be expected to make these available to the dutyholder
at a reasonable cost.
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