It can be difficult to identify asbestos, as it is often mixed with other materials.
The UKATA Asbestos Gallery shows a number of common materials that contain asbestos.
There are over 4,000 products that contain asbestos and therefore, the only way to identify asbestos is for a sample to be taken by a competent person and analysed by a UKAS Laboratory.
If you are unsure that a material contains asbestos, you must presume it does.
You should stop work immediately, confirm what it is or assume it is asbestos and carry out a risk assessment. This will help determine if the work requires a licensed contractor. You should only carry out non-licensed work on asbestos if you have had the appropriate information, instruction and training.
Yes, if an employee is liable to be exposed to asbestos, then employers should provide that employee with adequate personal protective clothing appropriate for the work that they will be doing. The HSE Asbestos essentials sheet on PPE provides further information.
There are a number of publications available for free download on the UKATA website.
Yes, a risk assessment must be carried out before any work on asbestos begins. You must also ensure you have received the appropriate level of training.
Most work on asbestos cement can be carried out without a licence providing workers have had appropriate information, instruction and training.
Firstly you should check which enforcing authority you need to contact. If the enforcing authority is HSE you can report your concern using this online form or by calling the HSE Concerns team: 0300 003 1647 during office hours 8.30am - 5.00pm Monday - Friday, Thursday 10.00am to 5.00pm.
Refresher training for licensable and non-licensable work should be given every year. This should be based on a training needs analysis.
For asbestos awareness training, there is no need to repeat a full training course every year, however some suitable refresher should be given based on training needs analysis.
UKATA recommend a training programme for asbestos awareness of;
Year 1: Full course (classroom),
Year 2: Refresher course (classroom or e-learning),
Year 3: Full course (classroom),
Year 4: Refresher course (classroom or e-learning),
and so on...
You can apply to renew your licence via the Licence application pages on the HSE website.
Short duration within these regulations means any one person working for less than one hour, or more than one person working for a total of less than two hours in any 7 consecutive days.
All analysts for asbestos related work must be accredited by UKAS and you can search their Accredited Organisations directory online.
The duty to manage asbestos is a legal requirement under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 (Regulation 4).
It applies to the owners and occupiers of commercial premises (such as shops, offices, industrial units etc) who have responsibility for maintenance and repair activities. In addition to these responsibilities, they also have a duty to assess the presence and condition of any asbestos-containing materials. If asbestos is present, or is presumed to be present, then it must be managed appropriately. The duty also applies to the shared parts of some domestic premises.
Asbestos is responsible for over 5000 deaths every year.
Younger people, if routinely exposed to asbestos fibres over time, are at greater risk of developing asbestos-related disease than older workers. This is due to the time it takes for the body to develop symptoms after exposure to asbestos (latency). Exposure to asbestos can cause four main diseases:
- Mesothelioma (a cancer of the lining of the lungs; it is always fatal and is almost exclusively caused by exposure to asbestos)
- Asbestos-related lung cancer (which is almost always fatal)
- Asbestosis (a scarring of the lungs which is not always fatal but can be a very debilitating disease, greatly affecting quality of life)
- Diffuse pleural thickening (a thickening of the membrane surrounding the lungs which can restrict lung expansion leading to breathlessness.)
It can take anywhere between 15-60 years for any symptoms to develop after exposure, so these diseases will not affect you immediately but may do later in life. You need to start protecting yourself against any exposure to asbestos now because the effect is cumulative.
Asbestos was a widely used material within commercial buildings, homes and machinery until 1999, when it was banned. This means that asbestos is common in the general environment. However, working directly with asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) can give personal exposures to airborne asbestos that are much higher than normal environmental levels. Repeated occupational exposures can give rise to a substantial cumulative exposure over time. This will increase the risk of developing an asbestos-related disease in the future.
The majority of the current fatal cases from asbestos exposure (approximately 4000 deaths per year) are associated with very high exposures from past industrial processes and installation of asbestos products.
An asbestos survey is an effective way to help you manage asbestos in your premises by providing accurate information about the location, amount and type of any asbestos-containing materials (ACMs).
The person responsible for maintenance of non-domestic premises must either arrange a survey if it is suspected there could be ACMs in your premises or, the duty-holder may instead choose to presume the worst case of widespread asbestos in the premises and would then need to take all appropriate full stringent precautions for any work that takes place. However, it is often less troublesome and more proportionate to have an asbestos survey carried out so it is absolutely clear whether asbestos is present or not and what its condition is. You need to find out if you are responsible for maintenance and are the duty holder for the asbestos.
The asbestos survey can help to provide enough information so that an asbestos register, a risk assessment and a management plan can then be prepared. The survey will usually involve sampling and analysis to determine the presence of asbestos so asbestos surveys should only be carried out by competent surveyors who can clearly demonstrate they have the necessary skills, experience and qualifications.
An asbestos survey will identify:
- the location of any asbestos-containing materials in the building
- the type of asbestos they contain
- the condition these materials are in
Following a survey, the surveyor should produce a survey report which details the findings. This information can help you prepare an asbestos risk register.
The asbestos risk register is a key component of the required plan on how you will manage any asbestos found, or presumed to be, in your buildings. This management plan must contain current information about the presence and condition of any asbestos in the building. The asbestos risk register will therefore need to be updated on a regular basis (at least once a year). To do this you should make:
- regular inspections to check the current condition of asbestos materials
- deletions to the register when any asbestos is removed
- additions to the register when new areas are surveyed and asbestos is located
- changes to the register (at any time asbestos-containing materials are found to have deteriorated)
The risk register can be kept as a paper or electronic record and it is very important that this is kept up to date and easily accessible. Paper copies may be easier to pass on to visiting maintenance workers, who will need them to know the location and condition of any asbestos before they start work. Electronic copies are easier to update and are probably better suited for people responsible for large numbers of properties or bigger premises.
The control limit refers to the concentration of asbestos fibres in any localised atmosphere, measured and averaged over a continuous period of four hours, in accordance with the 1997 World Health Organisation's recommended method. At the moment, the control limit is 0.1 asbestos fibres per cubic centimetre of air (0.1 f/cm3). The control limit is not a 'safe' level and work activities involving asbestos should be designed to be as far below the control limit as possible. HSE has progressively tightened the control limit since 1987.
Work involving some lower risk asbestos-containing materials (eg asbestos cement products and textured decorative coatings, among others) can be carried out if a risk assessment demonstrates that the control limit will not be exceeded and that any exposure to asbestos is expected to be 'sporadic and of low intensity'. The control limit for this type of non-licensed work is 0.6 asbestos fibres per cubic centimetre of air (0.6 f/cm3), measured over a ten-minute period. Any work which is likely to result in exposures at or above this level cannot be considered to be sporadic and of low intensity and should therefore only be carried out by a licensed contractor.
Work with particular asbestos-containing materials can only be carried out by somebody who holds a licence issued by HSE. Licences are granted for a limited period of time (usually one or three years), enabling HSE to review licences and the performance of licence holders at regular intervals.
Not all work with asbestos materials requires a licence. However, all work with sprayed asbestos coatings, asbestos insulation or asbestos lagging and most work with asbestos insulating board (AIB) requires a licence because of the hazardous nature of these higher risk materials.
For those doing licensed work, the current Regulations require that employers must keep a health record for employees and they must also be kept under regular medical surveillance. The health record must be kept for 40 years after the date of the last entry in it. If an employee has been exposed to asbestos, the health record must note the following:
- the date, time and how long the exposure to asbestos was for
- the type of asbestos (if known)
- the levels of asbestos exposed to (if known)
The removal of higher risk asbestos-containing materials (sprayed asbestos coatings, asbestos insulation, asbestos lagging and most work involving asbestos insulating board (AIB) should only be carried out by a licensed contractor.
Licensed asbestos removal work is a significantly hazardous job because it involves higher risk asbestos-containing materials (ACMs). These materials are more likely to release larger quantities of asbestos fibres when being removed than lower risk materials (such as asbestos cement). As a result, workers who are employed in removing higher risk ACMs require specific training and should follow specific working practices. Workers should also use sophisticated respiratory protective equipment (RPE) and are legally required to be under regular medical surveillance. It is because of the hazardous nature of this work that a licence to do it is required from HSE.
There are some asbestos removal tasks, involving lower risk asbestos-containing materials that do not require a licence. This is because any exposure to asbestos fibres from this type of work is not expected to present a significant risk, provided that the correct precautions are taken. However, under the asbestos regulations that came into force in April 2012, there are now two categories of 'non-licensed' work, one of which, 'notifiable non-licensed work (NNLW)', has additional requirements for employers.
An up-to-date list of licensed contractors including the type of licence held is available on the HSE website - Asbestos License Holders.
People who believe they may have been exposed to asbestos are understandably anxious and concerned about the possible effects on their health. Many cases of inadvertent, short-term exposure to asbestos will most likely have led to minimal exposure to fibres, with little likelihood of any long-term ill health effects.
Although the type of asbestos involved and duration of exposure may be known, there may be little reliable information about the level of exposure. These are all important factors in determining the level of risk - the more fibres that are released by an asbestos-containing material, and the longer the work activity lasts, the greater the cumulative exposure to asbestos fibres and, therefore, an increased risk of ill health effects.
Some work activities are more likely to create a significant concentration of asbestos fibres in the air, and therefore, add to the risk if suitable precautions are not in place; for example:
- use of power tools (to drill, cut etc) on most ACMs
- work that leads to physical disturbance (knocking, breaking, smashing) of an ACM that should only be handled by a licensed contractor eg sprayed coating, lagging, asbestos insulating board (AIB)
- manually cutting or drilling AIB
- work involving aggressive physical disturbance of asbestos cement eg breaking or smashing
Some asbestos-containing materials release fibres more easily than others.
If you are concerned about possible exposure to asbestos from work activities, you are advised to consult your GP and ask for a note to be made in your personal record about possible exposure, including date(s), duration, type of asbestos and likely exposure levels (if known). In some circumstances, your GP may refer you to a specialist in respiratory medicine. HSE does not advocate routine X-rays for people who have had an inadvertent exposure to asbestos. Asbestos-related damage to the lungs takes years to develop and become visible on chest X-rays. X-ray examinations cannot indicate whether or not asbestos fibres have been inhaled.
The current Regulations place a legal duty on employers to provide information, instruction and training to any of their employees who are likely to be exposed to asbestos as part of their work.
The three main types of information, instruction and training are:
- asbestos awareness training
- training for non-licensable asbestos work – ie the type of work described in HSE's Asbestos essentials
- training for licensable asbestos work
To locate a training provider, click here.
The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) places duties on employers, the self-employed and people in control of work premises (the responsible person) to report certain serious workplace accidents, occupational diseases and specified dangerous occurrences (near misses).
Exposure to asbestos is reportable under RIDDOR when a work activity causes the accidental release or escape of asbestos fibres into the air in a quantity sufficient to cause damage to the health of any person. Such situations are likely to arise when work is carried out without suitable controls, or where those controls fail – they often involve:
- use of power tools (to drill, cut etc) on most ACMs
- work that leads to physical disturbance (knocking, breaking, smashing) of an ACM that should only be handled by a licensed contractor eg sprayed coating, lagging, asbestos insulating board (AIB)
- manually cutting or drilling AIB
- work involving aggressive physical disturbance of asbestos cement eg breaking or smashing
If these activities are carried out without suitable controls, or the precautions fail to control exposure, these would be classed as a 'dangerous occurrence' under RIDDOR and should be reported on the HSE website - how to make a RIDDOR report.
Remember, if you need to report a dangerous occurrence relating to asbestos, you should review your asbestos management plan or your working practices.
Asbestos waste describes any asbestos products or materials that are ready to be disposed. This includes any contaminated building materials, dust, rubble, used tools that cannot be decontaminated, disposable PPE (personal protective equipment) and damp rags that have been used for cleaning. Asbestos waste must be placed in suitable packaging to prevent any fibres being released. This should be double wrapped and appropriately labelled. Standard practice is to use a red inner bag – marked up with asbestos warning labels – and a clear outer bag with appropriate hazard markings. Intact asbestos cement sheets and textured coatings that are firmly attached to a board should not be broken up into smaller pieces. These should instead be carefully double wrapped in suitable polythene sheeting (1000 gauge) and labelled.
Asbestos waste should only be handled by a licensed disposal site. Your local authority can provide details of these for you . It also needs to be transported to these sites in suitable containers that prevent the release of any asbestos fibres while in transit. Detailed information on the disposal of asbestos waste can be found in: Disposal of asbestos waste . For advice on fly-tipped asbestos, see: How to deal with fly-tipped asbestos waste .
The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 came into force on 6 April 2012, updating previous asbestos regulations to take account of the European Commission’s view that the UK had not fully implemented the EU Directive on exposure to asbestos (Directive 2009/148/EC).
In practice the changes are fairly limited. They mean that some types of non-licensed work with asbestos now have additional requirements – notification of work, medical surveillance and record keeping. All other requirements remain unchanged.
Notifiable non-licensed work (NNLW) is a particular category of non-licensed work that imposes extra requirements on employers.
For NNLW, employers also have additional requirements to:
- notify work with asbestos to the relevant enforcing authority
- designate (identify) areas where the work is being done
- ensure medical examinations are carried out
- maintain registers of work (health records)
More information on what constitutes NNLW and how to comply with the requirements.
All AIB work that is not short duration work requires a licence. Short duration work is when work with these materials will take no more than two hours in any seven day period, and no one person works for more than one hour in that two hour period. Work with AIB that is short duration but is still likely to release a high level of asbestos fibres is also licensed.
Assessing the risks from work with AIB will often require a degree of judgement. AIB sits in the mid-range of the spectrum of friability on disturbance so it is reasonably likely to release asbestos fibres when it is worked on (high friability means very likely to release many fibres, low friability means less likely to release significant numbers of fibres).
Therefore, you need to decide what form and condition the AIB is in and how well it is bonded within a matrix, eg how well the AIB is coated, covered or contained within another material, such as paint or other covering, and the nature and extent of the work you need to do, as this will affect the level of controls you need in place to do the work.
Licensed work with AIB:
- work on AIB in poor condition, eg exposed and crumbling or with loose dust/fibres; de-laminated, unsealed or damaged in some other way
- maintenance work with AIB that is not short and non-continuous
- major removal of AIB
Notifiable non-licensed work with AIB:
- minor removal work involving AIB, when short duration and as part of a refurbishment project, eg removing AIB panels fixed with screws following water damage
- entry into the roof space above an AIB tiled ceiling, when no decontamination or cleaning has taken place
The removal of nailed AIB panels poses a problem in that breakage of AIB due to a bent or difficult nail is more likely and may lead to substantial local fibre release and breakage. Sheet A4 of Asbestos Essentials describes unlicensed removal of a single AIB board (less than 1m2 in area) but this requires an enclosure if the panel is nailed. Therefore in this situation, where a panel is nailed and so an enclosure is necessary, this must be treated as notifiable non licensed work. If several panels need removing, eg more than 2 small panels a week; this would need a licensed contractor. If an AIB panel is very heavily nailed, a competent person's judgement, using Asbestos Essentials work sheet A4 as a guide, should decide that a licensed contractor is needed to do the work.
AIB ceiling tiles that are unfixed and loose laid in a false ceiling (where the ceiling's upper surface has not yet been competently cleaned of loose fibre - normally by a licensed contractor) can be lifted for inspection purposes without needing a licence or notification. However, full body entry to an uncleaned space above AIB tiles is notifiable non licensed work as a minimum.
To determine whether the work you are doing is classified as notifiable non-licensed work (NNLW), check the NNLW information.
Once you have confirmed the work is NNLW, you need to notify it to the relevant enforcing authority. Do this online, via a computer or Smartphone, at the online notifications form. All three possible enforcing authorities can be notified via this route. This is the only method of notification - you can't notify by phone or post;
Notice should be given before the work starts - there is no minimum notice period. You do not need to wait for permission to permission from the enforcing authority - the database will provide a PDF copy of your notification. If you are a licensed asbestos contractor carrying out NNLW work, you will still need to notify.
There are potentially large numbers of workers, including self employed trades people, involved in notifiable non-licensed work (NNLW) with asbestos, who will now be required to have medical surveillance for the first time. At present, however, there is only a small and limited network of Doctors, who are familiar with asbestos and asbestos-related medicals. The transition period is designed to allow the development of a larger network.
After April 2015, if a job is NNLW, it must be done by persons who have had a medical examination inline with the requirements in the law. This consists of a chest examination and a test to check lung performance. These medical examinations may be offered privately for a fee by GPs and by other medical professionals including Drs appointed by HSE for the licensed worker's medical examinations.
The existing requirements for workers involved in licensed work with asbestos to have medicals, conducted by Doctors appointed by HSE, remain the same.
A licensed worker medical will be acceptable for NNLW, but not the other way round. Certificates of examination should be retained in case requested. MS34 gives more details.
HSE would expect employers to take a commonsense approach, so if the work was genuinely a one-off, or a very rare occurrence, then it would be disproportionate to require a medical. However, the worker would still need to take all the appropriate precautions and the employer should also be able to provide some evidence that it was a one-off.
Employers are required to keep a health record for each worker involved in notifiable non-licensed work with asbestos. These records can be brief - it may be as simple as writing down the names of workers on the job on your copy of the notification form, or keeping copies of the notification form for each person carrying out NNLW work as these will document the nature of the job and type of asbestos from which likely exposure can be estimated. A record could look something like this:
These records should be kept for 40 years (and offered to HSE or the individuals concerned should the business cease trading). You can also use copies of the notifications you submit as the basis for the records, perhaps adding the names of the workers on that job and typical exposures expected or measured (if an unusual job).
The general duties in Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSW Act) apply to protect householders from any risks from work activities being carried out in their homes. Where work being done involves asbestos-containing materials then the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 will also apply, in particular:
- regulation 11 (Prevention or reduction of exposure to asbestos)
- regulation 15 (Arrangements to deal with accidents, incidents and emergencies)
- regulation 16 (Duty to prevent or reduce the spread of asbestos
In owner-occupied domestic properties, the owners are not legally responsible for risks to contractors from asbestos, as the owners themselves are not engaged in any work activity.
Asbestos may be part of any commercial or domestic building which was built or refurbished before the year 2000. Asbestos can typically still be found in any of the following:
- asbestos cement products (pipes, flues, roofs etc)
- lagging (on pipes and boilers etc)
- water tanks and toilet cisterns
- asbestos insulating board (AIB – which closely resembles typical plasterboard)
- loose asbestos in ceiling and wall cavities
- sprayed coatings on ceilings, walls and beams / columns
- textured decorative coatings (commonly referred to as Artex)
- floor tiles
- textiles and composites
For more information on where asbestos may be found, see Where is asbestos found?
Do not try to repair or remove any asbestos materials yourself if you have not had any training for non-licensed asbestos work. You can seek advice from an environmental health officer at your local authority/council (see the Directgov website).
If you are sure (or strongly suspect) that your home contains asbestos materials then it is often best to leave them where they are – especially if they are in good condition and unlikely to get damaged. You should check the condition of the materials from time to time to make sure they haven't been damaged or started to deteriorate.
Slightly damaged asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) can sometimes be repaired by sealing or enclosing them. However, you should only attempt to do this if you have had the necessary training. Any badly-damaged asbestos material that is likely to become further damaged should be removed if it cannot be protected. Some materials (sprayed asbestos coatings, asbestos lagging / insulation or asbestos insulating board) should only be removed by a contractor licensed by HSE. Your local environmental health officer can provide advice on this.
If you are planning any DIY home improvements, repairs or maintenance – and intend to bring in any additional builders, maintenance workers or contractors – you should inform them of any asbestos materials in your home before they start work. This will help reduce the risks of any ACMs being disturbed. UKATA strongly encourages the use of trained professionals to repair or remove ACMs.
Do not attempt to remove these yourself. Contact your local authority for further advice .
The presence of asbestos alone should not be a cause for concern. Asbestos only becomes a risk to human health when it is released into the air and breathed in.
Duty holders – those who are responsible for maintaining or repairing non-domestic premises – are required to actively manage any asbestos in buildings. This provides a practical way to identify, prioritise and properly plan the actions that need to be taken to manage the risks.
Where asbestos containing materials are assessed as being in good condition and not in a position where they are likely to be damaged they should be left in place and monitored.
However, where asbestos is in poor condition or is likely to be damaged during the normal use of the building, it should be sealed, enclosed or removed, as appropriate.
Those considered most at risk of exposure to asbestos fibres are tradesmen and maintenance workers who disturb the fabric of buildings during the course of their work. Precautions must be taken to ensure that tradespeople don't put themselves or others at risk by disturbing asbestos.
No. It is illegal to supply any article containing asbestos, whether for money, or free of charge.