January 2024
The Health and Safety Executive’s new campaign ‘Asbestos – Your Duty’ aims to raise awareness of the risk and legal duty around management and removal of asbestos in buildings.
Asbestos was completely banned in 1999, however buildings built or refurbished within the UK before 2000 could contain asbestos.
To prevent Asbestos becoming dangerous when disturbed or damaged, people who work in or visit buildings containing asbestos need to understand how to properly manage the risk to avoid exposure.
HSE’s ‘Asbestos – Your Duty’ campaign is aimed at ‘dutyholders’ responsible for managing asbestos in buildings.
Dutyholders are likely to be building owners, landlords, business owner, or the person or organisation with clear responsibility for the building’s maintenance or repair.
The duty to manage asbestos ensures workers and building users are protected from the risks of exposure to asbestos. It applies to a range of non-domestic buildings, including premises like factories, warehouses, offices and shops; and public buildings like hospitals, schools, premises used for religious worship, museums and libraries.
A few simple questions can help identify if you have a legal duty to manage asbestos.
The duty to manage asbestos in buildings
To support dutyholders, HSE recently updated their web pages for the duty to manage asbestos in buildings, these include guidance on:
• what the legal duty is and the steps required to comply with the law
• who the dutyholder is, depending on the type of building etc, and what they must do
• new templates of an asbestos management plan and an asbestos register with site plan
• examples of how asbestos can be managed
Further information and resources
The campaign also provides dutyholders with a range of resources:
- Asbestos management plan template
- Asbestos register template for your buildings
- HSE campaign press release
- Campaign assets to share on your channels
- HSE video – steps to the duty to manage asbestos in buildings
For more guidance about managing and working safely with asbestos, visit the HSE website
Or read our article about the HSE’s campaign – Asbestos & You.
