Asbestos Information

Welcome to Asbestos Information

This site provides detailed inforation on asbestos and the UK regulations governing asbestos.

The extraordinary beneficial properties of asbestos have long been known and exploited by man, but with industrialisation of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and the demand for more high performance materials, asbestos was used more and more extensively in the manufacturing of products and the construction of buildings. Sadly this extensive use has produced a hazardous legacy to all those who come across asbestos containing materials in any form, which is likely to be found in any building in the UK built before 1999 when the last type of asbestos (white/chrysotile) was banned from use.

The ill effects of asbestos have been known about for some time and it has been identified that asbestos related diseases, such as Asbestosis, Mesothelioma and Asbestos related lung cancer, are the largest cause of industrial fatalities in the United Kingdom today. According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) there are approximately 3000 people a year dying from exposure to asbestos sometime in their work life, and the numbers are estimated to rise to 10500 by the year 2025

This site contains the following sections:

• Introduction to asbestos in the UK
• The history of asbestos
• The health effects of asbestos
• Where asbestos and asbestos containing materials (ACMs) can be found
• Who may be harmed by asbestos contamination
• An overview of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 (CAW) and the Asbestos (Licensing) Regulations 1983
• Other significant asbestos legislation
• The new duty to manage - regulation 4
• Asbestos management strategies
• Selection of asbestos surveyors
• Detailed interpretation of caw
• Managing asbestos contractors
• Selection of asbestos analytical laboratories
• Asbestos licenced waste
• Asbestos prosecution cases