Asbestos safety tips: practical dos and don'ts for building owners and occupants

Asbestos-containing materials in good condition release very few fibers. The fiber count in an undisturbed room containing bonded asbestos insulation board is typically measured in tens of fibers per cubic metre — far below the UK control limit of 100,000 fibers per cubic metre (f/m³) or the French and Spanish regulatory values. The same room, after a wall panel is sanded or a ceiling tile is drilled, can reach millions of fibers per cubic metre within seconds.

The activities most likely to generate dangerous fiber concentrations from asbestos-containing materials are: power drilling, dry sanding, power sawing, high-pressure washing, breaking or crushing, scraping, grinding and any operation that generates dust from the material. The activities that are safe around intact, well-conditioned asbestos materials include: walking past them, painting over them with appropriate sealant paint, and careful visual inspection without touching.

Regulatory frameworks across Europe are aligned on a key principle: where asbestos-containing material is in good condition, not in a position where it is likely to be disturbed, and not releasing fibers, it is often safer to leave it in place and manage it than to remove it. Removal itself is an intrusive activity that creates risk. This approach is called 'asbestos in place management' or 'managed retention'.

Keeping asbestos in place safely requires three things: maintaining it in good condition (no damage, no deterioration, no water ingress), monitoring it regularly for any change in condition, and communicating its location clearly to anyone who might later work in the building. A small crack in a ceiling tile, bowing in a wall panel, or flaking at the edges of pipe lagging are all signs that the material's condition has deteriorated and that re-assessment by a competent person is needed.

If you discover damaged, friable or visibly deteriorating asbestos-containing material — crumbling pipe lagging, broken ceiling tiles, torn asbestos paper, flaking spray coatings — the immediate priority is to limit access to the affected area and prevent the spread of contamination. Do not attempt to clean up loose asbestos debris yourself.

The correct sequence is: restrict access by closing off the room or area with barrier tape and signage; do not use a domestic vacuum cleaner on the debris; do not sweep dry debris with a brush; contact a licensed asbestos removal contractor to assess the situation and carry out any necessary remediation; request air monitoring from an accredited analyst before allowing re-occupation.

In the UK, the duty to manage asbestos in non-domestic premises (Regulation 4 of CAR 2012) includes an explicit requirement to keep an up-to-date written record of the location and condition of known or presumed asbestos-containing materials. This record is called the asbestos register. Equivalent documentation requirements exist under French Decree 96-97 (the dossier technique amiante) and Spanish Royal Decree 108/1991 and subsequent amendments.

The asbestos register is not a one-time document filed and forgotten. It should be reviewed and updated every time work is done in the building, every time a new survey reveals additional materials, every time a material's condition changes, and every time a portion of asbestos is removed. Critically, the register must be available to every contractor before they begin any work on the premises. Handing a contractor a copy of the relevant register pages before they start is not just good practice — in the UK it is a legal duty on the dutyholder.

Tradespeople and maintenance contractors are among the groups at highest risk of asbestos exposure, precisely because they work in older buildings without always knowing what materials are present. Many cases of mesothelioma in electricians, plumbers, joiners and decorators are the result of short, intermittent exposures accumulated over years of working in buildings with undisclosed or unrecorded asbestos.

As a building owner or manager, you have a legal and ethical duty to share asbestos information with anyone coming to work on your premises. This includes: providing the relevant section of the asbestos register; briefing them verbally on any suspected but unconfirmed materials; ensuring that any planned work that might disturb an ACM is halted until a licensed contractor has assessed or completed the work; and insisting that any contractor who discovers suspected asbestos stops work and reports to you immediately.

Some types of asbestos work can legally be carried out by trained, competent workers who are not licensed asbestos contractors, provided the exposure is sporadic and of low intensity. In the UK, this category is called 'non-licensed work'. Examples include: removal of a small number of asbestos cement (AC) sheets that are not broken; minor repairs using encapsulants; removal of textured coating from small areas (less than 0.5 m²) using wet methods.

Even for non-licensed work, minimum controls are mandatory: the material must be wetted before and during work to suppress dust; only hand tools should be used (no power tools); workers must wear a minimum of an FFP3 disposable half-mask respirator and disposable coveralls; waste must be double-bagged in labeled asbestos waste bags and disposed of at a licensed facility. Non-licensed work that is notifiable (NNLW) additionally requires employer notification to the relevant health and safety authority before work begins.

An uncontrolled release of asbestos from a highly friable material — collapsed pipe lagging, a ceiling fall that exposes spray-applied asbestos, or a fire that damages asbestos-containing structural panels — is an asbestos emergency. In such situations, the appropriate response is immediate evacuation of the affected area, not attempted clean-up by occupants.

Relevant emergency and regulatory contacts by country include: in the UK, the HSE Asbestos Licensing Unit can be reached through the HSE website at hse.gov.uk/asbestos and the HSE infoline on 0300 003 1747; in France, the INRS provides guidance and the relevant inspection du travail (labour inspectorate) for the region must be notified of incidents involving worker exposure at inrs.fr/risques/amiante; in Spain, the INSST provides technical guidance and the relevant Inspección de Trabajo must be notified of occupational incidents at insst.es/amianto.

After any uncontrolled release of asbestos, or after any asbestos removal work, the area must not be re-occupied until clearance air monitoring has been carried out by an accredited analyst who is independent of the removal contractor. In the UK, accreditation is through UKAS-accredited bodies and the clearance indicator is 0.01 fibers per millilitre (f/ml) measured by phase contrast microscopy (PCM). In France, the dégroupage (clearance) standard is also 5 fibers per litre (equivalent) measured by MOCP (phase contrast optical microscopy). In Spain, clearance values are set under the technical guidance of INSST.

Clearance testing typically involves a visual inspection of the cleaned area, a background air sample, and a series of air samples taken while the area is agitated with a leaf blower or similar device to simulate re-occupancy conditions. If any sample exceeds the clearance indicator, the area must be re-cleaned and re-tested. Only when all samples are below the clearance indicator should the area be handed back for normal use.