We’ve written extensively in the past about the issue of asbestos in public buildings, namely in thousands of schools and hospitals across the country. Evidence and common sense both suggest that this issue is a ticking time bomb, and not a legacy problem. The presence of asbestos in public buildings can be directly tied to hundreds of deaths, and may cause hundreds more in the future.
After decades of inaction, it seems like the message about lingering asbestos may finally have gotten through to the government. A committee of MPs is currently investigating the issue, and receiving testimony from experts and pressure groups. The result could be a radical rethink of British asbestos laws and policies – setting us on the path to being completely asbestos free.
Committing to change
The cross-party group of MPs is gathering evidence for an official report, due to be published next year. Coming just over 20 years after the use and production of asbestos was completely banned in the UK, the investigation is a welcome sit-rep on the state of asbestos and asbestos law in the UK, which still lags behind many other western nations in keeping people safe.
Various pressure groups have already given evidence to the committee, highlighting two key areas for reform. The first is the lack of safeguarding, particularly for asbestos in public buildings. Unlike most other countries with a legacy of asbestos use, there is no central register of asbestos in public buildings in the UK. Instead, the HSE appoints a ‘duty holder’ for public buildings whose responsibility it is to catalogue and monitor asbestos.
The second area is the general awareness of the dangers of asbestos, and the onus on public authorities to ensure that asbestos is removed from buildings as a priority. According to the pressure groups, the HSE should inspect buildings itself to ensure that asbestos is being managed properly, and not assume that this is the case until told otherwise. This is particularly critical at a time when asbestos is increasingly vulnerable to damage, having been in place for at least 20 and as long as 70 years.
Highlighting the issue
The problem that has held back serious action on asbestos over the past 20 years is the latency between mild exposure and illness. The worst forms of asbestos which drove it to be banned caused people to become ill and die within a few years, or even months, making the link much clearer. Yet while there is no safe level of asbestos exposure, the fact that asbestos-related diseases can take up to 50 years to manifest means that exposure may not be noticed in a timely manner.
As the pressure groups suggest, there is also not a widespread awareness of asbestos exposure as a risk factor in schools or hospitals. Exposure is much more serious for children, and statistics show that teachers are five times as likely to die from asbestos-related diseases as people in other professions. Yet the opaque nature of asbestos registers in public buildings makes it difficult to ascribe them as a cause, or take protective action.
The lack of appreciation for how rife many public buildings are with asbestos also makes accidental exposure more likely. There are numerous examples of builders and contractors accidentally disturbing asbestos in schools, sometimes while children and teachers were present. While the builders should have the presence of mind and processes in place to check for asbestos, it speaks to the lack of awareness and publicity of the issue that they wouldn’t even think to do so.
The need for asbestos awareness
What should be apparent to the committee is that asbestos has not gone away, and is if anything becoming more dangerous. While the ban on new uses of asbestos has limited direct exposure through manufacturing and installation, much of the asbestos fitted in past years is now starting to degrade. Moreover, as the visibility of asbestos has fallen, a complacency and lack of awareness has set in amongst the population at large, leading to a disconnect between the risks and the appreciation of those risks.
This is further compounded by the HSE’s approach to health & safety. Rather than imposing rules and regularly inspecting businesses, the HSE puts the onus on businesses to apply its safety regulations and advice in order to keep people safe, and thus fall within broad safety laws. While this soft touch generally works, it’s largely because the punitive action for breaches of the law is highly visible. Because asbestos-related diseases take a long time to manifest, similar punishments for asbestos exposure are much rarer.
While incidents of asbestos exposure and fly-tipping by rogue contractors receive heavy fines, the damage is already done by this point, as there is no safe level of asbestos exposure. This strategy of only punishing people who are caught breaking the law has created a climate of complacency around asbestos, where many people would rather risk exposure (and often get away with doing so) than take proper measures to locate and control asbestos, which some builders may not have the licence for. It’s likely that in many cases, asbestos exposure occurs without anyone even realising, or telling the authorities if they do notice it.
A brighter future
The opening of a committee and the prospect of a report on asbestos is extremely welcome, and may bring issues to light beyond the obvious problems in public buildings. Asbestos still litters the UK in both the public and private sector, not to mention a large proportion of drinking water pipes. There is similarly no requirement in law to track asbestos in private housing, meaning that many people may have Artex ceilings or even asbestos insulation that they are completely unaware of.
While the committee should shed light on the extent of the asbestos issue, this shouldn’t be cause for the rest of us to rest on our laurels. The law moves slowly, and it’s possible that no substantial change comes out of this. Asbestos is unfortunately a politicised issue, and one rooted in the powers of landlords and landowners, who make up a large proportion of MPs. The Grenfell Tower fire shows the perils of inaction on critical housing and infrastructure issues, particularly when fixing them costs huge amounts of money.
In the meantime, the responsibility falls on all of us to increase our awareness of asbestos, and do what we can to fill the void left by safety legislation. A simple and low-cost asbestos awareness course can provide the knowledge that workers across the country need to stay safe around asbestos, and identify it where it may not be properly catalogued. By increasing our general awareness and knowledge of asbestos, we can help to keep ourselves and colleagues safe – and pile extra pressure on Parliament to enact lasting change.