Latest Asbestos Legislation.

Changes to asbestos regulations confirmed.

The Health and Safety Commission has confirmed most of the proposals for revised asbestos regulations will go ahead.

The amendments, which were the subject of a consultation that finished in January, will strengthen overall worker protection by reducing exposure limits, simplify the regulatory regime and implement revisions to the EU Asbestos Worker Protection Directive.

There were 504 responses to the consultation and the HSE says that there was considerable support for the majority of the proposals to tighten protection for those working with asbestos.

The Commission will look at the complete package of draft regulations, Approved Code of Practice, guidance, training and enforcement at its meeting in July.

The Commission agreed:

• To the HSE’s proposals on “sporadic and low intensity exposure”.
• That there should be a risk-based approach to the licensing of asbestos, with licensing reserved for high risk products and processes.
• That the HSE will produce a paper for the Commission meeting in July on a wider range of issues around asbestos licensing and relative areas of risk which will inform the Commission’s final decision on textured coatings containing asbestos (TCs). In the meantime HSE officials have been asked to draft the regulations on the working assumption that work with TCs will be delicensed.

The concept of "sporadic and low intensity exposure" is taken from the EU Directive, which requires Member States to lay down practical guidelines for its determination.

The Commission agreed that if a peak exposure level of 0.6 fibres per cm 3 of air measured over a ten minute period could be exceeded then such work could not be considered to give rise to "sporadic and low intensity exposure".

If a risk assessment demonstrates that this could be exceeded in a working day, then the work would have to be carried out under licensed conditions. This approach should remove any doubt over the meaning of the term but the HSE will also set out the type of work that cannot be considered to give rise to sporadic and low intensity exposure in the Approved Code of Practice.

The new regulations will repeal - and replace with a single set of regulations - The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002, The Asbestos (Licensing) Regulations 1983, as amended and The Asbestos (Prohibitions) Regulations 1992 (Prohibitions Regulations), as amended.

The proposed regulations suggest a single, lower ‘Control Limit’ of 0.1 fibres per cm 3 of air for all types of asbestos, measured over four hours and the Approved Code of Practice recommends a maximum peak level exposure of 0.6f/cm 3 over ten minutes. This tightens the current limits.

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