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Deadline for commercical asbestos removal urgently needed, MPs say

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  • 21/04/2022
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Deadline for commercical asbestos removal urgently needed, MPs say
A report from the Work and Pensions Committee (WPC) has called on the government to commit to a strategy to remove all asbestos from public and commercial buildings by 2062.

Despite being banned more than 20 years ago, the WPC estimates that asbestos still exists in around 300,000 non-domestic buildings, including schools.

However, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is yet to provide a clear time frame and strategy for its total removal, nor does it provide evidence-based “safe and effective” removal techniques, according to the report.

Asbestos is still the greatest cause of work-related deaths in the UK, linked to more than 5,000 deaths in 2019 alone, including cancers and long-term injury from past exposure.

The committee cited a growing public health risk as buildings are adapted in line with the move to net zero and other energy efficiency targets, disturbing the toxic materials in the process.

 

More evidence, enforcement, funding and assessment needed

There is evidence that the extreme exposures of the 20th century are behind us, but the WPC feels that HSE is not doing enough to assess current levels and should adopt a more structured approach to collecting data on current exposure levels.

The committee is therefore calling for a cross-government approach with a “system-wide strategy for the long-term removal” is needed, stating that reliance on the current asbestos regulations “will not be good enough”, and for an increase in asbestos inspections and enforcement activity.

It repeated its June 2020 calls for more funding for the programme, stating: “HSE has been slow to invest in research into the costs and benefits of removal, and to evaluate options for its safe removal.”

According to the report, HSE issued 60 per cent fewer asbestos enforcement notices annually between 2011 to 2012 and 2018 to 2019, despite “no specific and compelling evidence that compliance with the asbestos regulations has improved during this time”.

While current evidence indicates that cumulative exposures are much lower now for younger age groups, but “more data is needed to understand the current picture”.

Stephen Timms MP, chair of the Work and Pensions Committee, said: “Asbestos is one of the great workplace tragedies of modern times and the risk remains real.

“Falling back on regulations which devolve responsibility to individual building owners and maintenance managers will not be sufficient to protect people’s health.

“Setting a clear deadline of 40 years will help to focus minds. The clock is ticking and this is no time for laissez-faire.”

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