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Anyone who may have asbestos in their buildings has been urged to urgently review their management plans by the British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS) and the Faculty of Asbestos Assessment and Management (FAAM).
The warning comes after recent research published jointly by the National Organisation of Asbestos Consultants (NORAC) and the Asbestos Testing and Consultancy (ATAC) was highlighted at a Parliamentary event.
The study highlights that asbestos which may have been left in place in many public buildings and homes, including social housing, is not being managed effectively and may not be safe.
NORAC Chairman, Jonathan Grant, said: “We weren’t looking for this, but when we looked at the data, the figures leapt out at us. Almost two-thirds of UK sites, based on a million samples taken over six months, showed that the asbestos left in the buildings as ‘safe’ was actually now in a damaged state.”
Asbestos in building materials was banned in 1999 but was previously widely installed in buildings for a range of uses, including, insulation and fireproofing. Earlier this year, MPs called for asbestos to be removed from all UK buildings within a 40-year timeframe, a target rejected by the Government.
The European Commission recently proposed a package of EU-wide measures to increase protection for the public and workers from asbestos exposure, with some parts of Europe moving ahead with a plan to remove all asbestos (see EU plans to strengthen protection against asbestos).
