Mar 26th, 2025
3 mins
BFFF supports Asbestos Awareness Week is taking place next week 1-7 April. We remind our members occupying buildings built before 2000 have a legal duty to manage and monitor asbestos risks.
Older manufacturing facilities may house multiple asbestos containing materials (ACMs). Asbestos was widely used in buildings and in some equipment between 1950 and 1980; however, any building built or refurbished before 2000 could contain an ACM.
Asbestos can be found in: pipe lagging, insulation board, asbestos cement products such as profiled roof sheets and wall panels, floor coverings and asbestos sprayed coatings. ACMs such as gaskets and rope seals can also be found within old plant and equipment such as industrial ovens and pipework.
Asbestos exposures caused by poor planning and risk management can have substantial human costs for victims and their families. Asbestos-related diseases remain the highest cause of work-related deaths in Great Britain, these often fatal diseases, typically take decades for symptoms to occur following exposure.
There is a legal duty to manage asbestos and failing to do so can result in penalties ranging from fines to prison sentences. The implications of an asbestos incident can also be far reaching in terms of reputation, staff morale, attracting new staff and overall costs.
According to HSE data, there have been more than 100 asbestos-related prosecution cases brought in the past five years, relating to 150 breaches of the law.
For more information on managing asbestos, please contact simonbrentnall@bfff.co.uk
