Asbestos

Asbestos

Asbestos is the biggest workplace killer in the UK. It is a particular risk for workers in the construction, maintenance and refurbishment trades—surveyors, plumbers, joiners, electricians, phone engineers, alarm installers, painters and decorators.

Asbestos may be present in any building constructed or refurbished before the year 2000.

The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 (CAR 2012), SI 2012/632 came into force on 6 April 2012. They place various duties on employers to protect employees from risks related to exposure to asbestos and make it clear that these duties, so far as is reasonably practicable, are also owed to any other person, whether at work or not, who may be affected by the work activity undertaken by the employer. CAR 2012 also introduced new licensing and notification requirements for those that work with asbestos.

These ‘employer’ duties include:

•
protecting employees from exposure to asbestos (regs 5 and 11)
•
preventing or reducing the spread of asbestos (reg 16)
•
maintaining health records and providing medical surveillance for employees exposed to asbestos (reg 22)

CAR 2012, SI 2012/632, reg 4 imposes a separate ‘duty to manage’ obligation on ‘dutyholders’ with maintenance

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