Building owners and occupiers who manage or control a “workplace” have until 4 April 2018 to be fully compliant with the Health and Safety at Work (Asbestos) Regulations 2016 (Regulations).
The Regulations use the definition of “workplace” provided in section 20 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015:
a workplace—
- means a place where work is being carried out, or is customarily carried out, for a business or undertaking; and
- includes any place where a worker goes, or is likely to be, while at work.
Currently, the requirement is that building owners and occupiers who control a workplace and know, or reasonably ought to know that there is a risk of exposure to asbestos, must, so far as reasonably practicable, identify and minimise that risk.
The Regulations have further specified those obligations. As at 4 April 2018, building owners and occupiers who control a workplace, and who have identified the presence of asbestos, must prepare and review an asbestos management plan.
Asbestos management plans generally will require building owners and occupiers to:
- identify the risk of any exposed asbestos;
- identify and implement decisions to manage that risk;
- implement procedures and management practices for dealing with incidents or emergencies involving asbestos; and
- provide training, information, and health monitoring for workers who carry out work involving asbestos.