Revised Asbestos Regulations Approved
On 27th July, the Health and Safety Commission (HSC) recommended approval of revised asbestos regulations. The draft Control of Asbestos Regulations have been the subject of extensive consultation and will strengthen overall worker protection by reducing exposure limits and introducing detailed mandatory training for work with asbestos. They will also simplify the regulatory regime and implement revisions to the EU Asbestos Worker Protection Directive.
The Regulations will implement the 2003/18/EC amendment to the Asbestos Worker Protection Directive 83/477/EEC in Great Britain. They will also 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 new Regulations introduce a lower single control limit of 0.1 fibres per cm3 of air for work with all types of asbestos and replace three existing sets of Regulations. They also include practical guidelines for the determination of “sporadic and low intensity exposure”, as required by the EU Directive. The Commission also approved two Approved Codes of Practice which provide guidance on compliance with the Regulations.
Under the new Regulations, work with textured decorative coatings containing asbestos (TCs) will be removed from the licensing regime as research shows that the levels of exposure to asbestos fibres from such work are low. The Commission had previously considered new research on TCs and, at its meeting on 4 July 2006, evidence of the relative risks of exposure from different asbestos materials.
Source: www.hse.gov.uk (accessed 04/08/06)