Asbestos is a fibrous material whose sound absorption and heat insulation properties made it ideal for new construction and renovations in the 19th and 20th century throughout the world. Over time the asbestos material broke down with wear and destructive forces of weather, flood, or fire causing the release of high concentrations of asbestos fibres into the environment. Exposure to the fibres causes serious health problems, in particularly lung cancer, mesothelioma, and asbestosis. The European Union, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and United Kingdom authorities have created regulations and actions to ban and phase out the use of asbestos, known as asbestos risk assessment.
Asbestos risk assessment is an ongoing project in the United Kingdom, locating asbestos likely to contain cultures which pose a health threat to the public. In the UK, the Health and Safety Executive creates and enforces risk assessment procedures. Rather than prescriptive laws, the Health and Safety Executive promotes the establishment of standards on occupational health and safety, including requirements of assessment of workplace risks and preventative measures. Asbestos risk assessment includes the recognition of asbestos materials, the removal of asbestos materials in the workplace, protective clothing for employees, and medical testing and care.
Ongoing legal action involving the lack of asbestos risk assessment is the norm, not the exception in the UK. Recently in London, a UK property management company was fined £30000 by the Health and Safety Executive for failing to protect workers from asbestos fibres. The company had removed asbestos without proper licensor, had not conducted an asbestos risk assessment and did not train its workers or provide protective clothing. The harmful effects of exposure to asbestos takes decades to manifest as lung cancer, mesothelioma, and asbestosis, but the effect of monetary fines causes immediate attention to the necessity of asbestos risk assessment, making it a priority not an elective.
The insurance companies of the UK are bound to provide protection for asbestos related claims in the future and promote compliance by private, public, commercial, and industrial employers and building owners and managers to take asbestos risk assessment seriously. New regulations for asbestos risk assessment, Control of Asbestos Regulations, require organisations to take responsibility for asbestos management. The Control of Asbestos Regulations requires an individual must be named and held responsible for the identification of materials that may contain asbestos within their properties. If asbestos is found, the organisation must mount an asbestos management plan immediately. The asbestos management plan must be reviewed, documented, and all personnel trained in asbestos awareness.