New Control of Asbestos regulations come into force in two weeks

Published on Tue 31 Oct 2006

The new Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 have been published, and the majority of the new regulations will be coming into force on 13 November 2006.

The Regulations will:

• replace three existing sets of regulations (The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002, The Asbestos (Licensing Regulations 1983, as amended, and The Asbestos (Prohibitions) Regulations 1992, as amended);
• introduce a lower single control limit of 0.1 fibres per cm3 of air for work with all types of asbestos;
• include practical guidelines for the determination of "sporadic and low intensity exposure", as required by the EU directive;
• mean work with textured decorative coatings containing asbestos will be removed from the licensing regime as research shows that the level of exposure to asbestos fibres from such work are low;
• mean all organisations or individuals carrying out the 4-Stage Asbestos Clearance and Certificate of Re-Occupation after asbestos removal works are to be accredited for that process by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (currently the only UK accreditation body for the 4-Stage Clearance); and
• require mandatory training for work with asbestos.

Though most of the new regulations come into force on 13 November the regulation that requires accreditation for 4 stage clearance will not come into force until 6 April 2007.

The full Regulations can be found at: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2006/20062739.htm

The draft Code of Practice for the Regulations can be viewed at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/hsc/meetings/2006/250706/c56b.pdf