Evaluation of the Duty to Manage Asbestos
This research evaluates the impact of the Duty to Manage asbestos in non-domestic premises. It aims to: establish levels of compliance with the Duty; establish the extent to which compliance by dutyholders has brought about improved work practices among maintenance workers; re-assess the assumptions made in the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) which accompanied the introduction of the Regulations about costs/benefits of the duty; identify/investigate factors influencing dutyholders' compliance with the Duty and examine any barriers to compliance; and determine the proportion of non-domestic and domestic rented premises which contain asbestos and the rate at which this is being removed.
Exposure to asbestos is one of the major causes of occupationally related death from ill-health. To help protect workers from future exposure, the HSE has introduced an explicit Duty to Manage asbestos in non-domestic premises, by including this in the control of Asbestos Regulations (2002).
This research evaluates the impact of this duty so far. Specifically, the research aims to:
- establish levels of compliance with the Duty
- establish the extent to which compliance by dutyholders has brought about improved work practices among maintenance workers
- re-assess the assumptions made in the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) which accompanied the introduction of the Regulations about costs/benefits of the duty
- identify/investigate factors influencing dutyholders’ compliance with the Duty and examine any barriers to compliance
- determine the proportion of non-domestic and domestic rented premises which contain asbestos and the rate at which this is being removed.
The findings are based on a survey of 1,000 dutyholders, a survey of 500 maintenance workers, face-to-face interviews with dutyholders and maintenance workers, and 20 site visits.