Recommendation for Tighter Asbestos Controls

3 October 2018

There is a new white paper available from Lucion Services written by Charles Pickles MSc, BSc, CPP (Asbestos). As we all know there is the 'duty to manage asbestos', this is the law. But how far have we come and, more importantly, how big is the current danger?

Asbestos was used in construction as it was, before we knew any better, the new wonder material that allowed us to build fire-proofing into our buildings and in other construction assets. It was particularly common during the post war period, especially in public buildings. However the fact we have used it so liberally has exposed people to it in many different areas. Charles raises concerns about the current asbestos situation in the UK and suggests it's time we revaluated, he goes on to say that European countries already have much tighter controls in place and recommends that we follow suit.

UK Issues Regards Asbestos:

Much of the asbestos installed remains in-situ, with no effective regime for measuring any resulting current exposure
Exposure is cumulative and there is little understanding of the level of the actual chronic exposure from asbestos left in-situ
Workers (e.g. teachers, caretakers, nurses) not associated with acute exposure (such as trades people and construction workers) are dying from previous asbestos exposure and shall die in the future as a result of current and future exposure
Generally, people are now living longer giving asbestos disease longer to manifest itself
Children in schools risk becoming exposed to asbestos at a younger age, again increasing the years available for asbestos disease to develop

If you are interested in reading more of the white paper it is available free to download from www.lucionservices.com/asbestosinschools