Employers’ Legal Responsibilities Regarding Asbestosis in the Workplace

Employers’ Legal Responsibilities Concerning Asbestosis

Employers have a legal duty to protect the health and safety of their workforce, and this includes minimising the risk of any employee developing any work-related injury or illness, including asbestosis.

Historically the dangers of asbestos were not known, or in some later cases suspected, but not taken as seriously as they are today. As a result of this many people are alive today who worked in industries rife with asbestos, before its dangers were realised. In most cases it takes a long time for the damage to make itself known; in the UK we have been left with a legacy of asbestosis from years gone by when control measures were not in place. In 1978 there were 109 cases where asbestosis was a likely cause of death, whereas in 2013 there were 516.

There are a lot of people who are now at an age where they are no longer working, and so it is important to look at what steps employers should take currently, knowing the potential dangers.

The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012

In April 2012 a new set of regulations came in to force regarding the handling and management of asbestos. These include previous rules and also some new developments that mirror the EU Directive regarding the handling of asbestos. These rules include ensuring health monitoring for anyone who regularly comes into contact with asbestos, along with making sure that any work including the removal or handling of asbestos is done so with the consent of the relevant enforcing authority.

Other key areas include:

Training – making sure that anyone who has dealings with asbestos is suitably trained and sufficiently knowledgeable about the dangers it can cause

Licensing – any company which deals with asbestos must hold a license to do so; in order to get this the company must be able to show proper working practices

Effective Controls – measures that must be put in place even if carrying out unlicensed asbestos work (i.e. in situations where risk is very low)

Duty to manage – the HSE gives the following guidelines regarding dealing with asbestos:

• Take reasonable steps to find out if there are materials containing asbestos in non-domestic premises, and if so, its amount, where it is and what condition it is in
• Presume materials contain asbestos unless there is strong evidence that they do not
• Make, and keep up-to-date, a record of the location and the condition of asbestos-containing materials – or materials which are presumed to contain asbestos
• Assess the risk of anyone being exposed to fibres from the materials identified
• Prepare a plan that sets out in detail how the risks from these materials will be managed
• Take the necessary steps to put the plan into action
• Periodically review and monitor the plan and the arrangements to act on it so that the plan remains relevant and up-to-date
• Provide information on the location and materials to anyone who is likely to work with or disturb them.