Around 3000 people a year in Great Britain die from diseases caused by past exposure to asbestos and according to the Health and Safety Executive; the figure is expected to rise to nearer 10,000 by 2010.
Any people who work with asbestos are at risk, particularly those who are involved in the refurbishment, repair or maintenance of buildings like electricians, plumbers and carpenters. Research undertaken in 1995 by Professor Peto and HSE epidemiologists showed that 25% of those 3000 people who die each year from asbestos-related diseases worked in the building industry at some point in their working lives.

Asbestos is still a killer and therefore correct management of it is essential to ensure uncontrolled exposure does not occur.

Asbestos was used extensively as a building material in the UK from the 1950s through to the mid 1980's, although its use was continued by many in the form of cement products up until its eventual prohibition in 1999. Although some of this material has been removed over the years, standards of removal were of a poor standard compared to current legislative requirements. Even though much asbestos has been removed, there are many thousands of tonnes of asbestos still present in buildings. It is estimated that over half a million non-domestic premises currently have some form of asbestos in them. There is extensive repair and removal work, which will continue for the foreseeable future.

In order to comply with Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos at Work (CAW) 2002, a manager responsible for maintenance of a property MUST manage any asbestos present. This may be done by presuming all materials in their building are asbestos, or they can have an asbestos survey carried out. Please note that contrary to many peoples' belief, by having an asbestos survey carried out alone does not mean that there is automatic compliance with CAW 2002.

The survey is only a step in the order of events. The manager must then proceed to manage the asbestos. Anchem offer the facility to prepare asbestos management plans to ensure compliance with Regulation 4, and also has a computerised system called Anchem Asbestos Management Application (AAMA), which will enable the responsible manager to monitor asbestos materials and ensure no accidental exposure does not occur through lack of knowledge as to the materials position. The Help document can be found at the foot of the page if you click AAMA, or further details can be sought by contacting our consultancy for your requirements.