Regulator warning on future dangers of asbestos
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has launched a new campaign 'Asbestos: Your Duty' which aims to improve understanding of the legal duty to manage asbestos. It encourages anyone with responsibilities for buildings, such as schools, to do everything necessary to comply with the law and prevent exposure to the dangerous substance.
People who visit or work in these buildings should not be exposed if asbestos is properly contained, but it can become dangerous when disturbed or damaged. Organisations responsible for premises where there is a risk of asbestos being present should carry out the necessary checks and understand their legal responsibilities.
Updated information, new template documents (including an asbestos management plan template), and explanatory videos can be found on the HSE’s website to help anyone who is unsure of their legal duties or who just need to refresh themselves on what is legally required.
Following on from the campaign in September 2022, the HSE will continue to check how asbestos is managed in schools and require those responsible for managing the risks to ensure they have the right arrangements in place.
Asbestos exposure in Great Britain is still the single greatest cause of work-related illness and deaths due to exposures decades ago. Schools who have buildings which contain asbestos should remind themselves of their duties and refer to the HSE’s website for further information on how they can proactively manage their buildings and keep people safe from exposure.
Browne Jacobson can advise if you require any assistance with determining who is the responsible person, your legal and statutory duties under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 , or how you can best manage the presence of asbestos within your organisation.
You may be interested in...
Legal Update
ICO consultation on accessing care records: A legal perspective
On-Demand - Shared Insights
Shared Insights: Sexual safety in the workplace — how leaders can help to create a sexual safety culture
Opinion
Regulator warning on future dangers of asbestos
Press Release
Half of school leaders think Ofsted does not have the expertise for Multi-Academy Trust inspections, according to new survey
Legal Update
Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme update October 2023: More funding announced
Legal Update - RAAC
RAAC: the tip of the iceberg for school building safety
Legal Update
What does ‘RAAC’ mean for university campuses?
Legal Update
Covering the costs of RAAC – new guidance published
Legal Update
Introducing the Estates Competency Framework
Published Article - RAAC
RAAC: 5 questions to guide investigations
Legal Update - RAAC
Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete ('RAAC') implications for schools
Published Article - RAAC
Action needed: How RAAC became a critical issue
Legal Update - RAAC
Insurance considerations of RAAC failures - air bubbles belong in chocolate, not concrete!
Legal Update
100+ schools told to close immediately due to threat of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete
Legal Update - RAAC
The RAAC crisis: Is it really back-to-school this September?
Opinion
What’s lurking in your garden? The UK’s most dangerous and invasive plants
Opinion
Landowner fined £15,000 after public attacked by cows
Legal Update
School building safety is ‘a critical risk’
Legal Update
Assured shorthold tenancies for schools… let them have it!
Guide
FAQs – academy re-brokerage
Opinion
Implementation of the Fire Safety (England) Regs 2022
Guide
FAQs - converting to academy status
Press Release
Law firm picks up record breaking sixth Education Investor Award
Browne Jacobson’s education team has been named as winner of the ‘Legal Advisors to Education Institutions’ category at the Education Investor Awards 2022 for a record sixth time.
Press Release
Thousands take part in virtual careers event to help increase diversity in the legal profession
Over 3000 young people from across the UK and Ireland took part in a virtual legal careers insight event, aimed at making the legal profession more diverse.
Opinion
Directors fined for unsafe removal of asbestos
Two directors of a construction company were fined after failing to ensure the safe removal of asbestos from a plot of land. On 14 and 15 November 2021, Directors Anthony Sumner and Neil Brown, of Waterbarn Limited were involved in the uncontrolled removal of asbestos material from a plot of land in Grasscroft, Oldham.
Opinion
Don't look down
An engineering company in Tyne and Wear was fined £20,000 after a worker fractured his pelvis and suffered internal injuries after falling through a petrol station forecourt canopy, whilst he was replacing the guttering.
Opinion
NHS England – Assuring and supporting complex change
NHS England has issued an updated (publication 11 October 2022) suite of Complex Change guidance about how it will assure and support proposals for complex change that are reportable to it. New and (where it is still in force) existing Complex Change guidance are as follows.
Opinion
HSE inspection of asbestos in schools
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have announced they will be carrying out a programme of inspections to primary and secondary school establishments from September 2022. The inspections will assess how schools are managing the risks from asbestos and meeting the Duty to Manage requirements, set out in Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.
Legal Update
Browne Jacobson’s market leading Education expertise recognised again in latest Legal 500 rankings
The new set of Legal 500 directory rankings have been published and we are proud to once again be recognised as one of the country’s leading firms advising the Education sector.
Opinion
Is it hot in here, or is it just me?
Whilst the weather conditions are predicted to be cooling down this week, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is asking employers and businesses to consider adapting to recurrent warmer weather conditions for the safety and benefit of their staff. It asks employers to ensure that extreme heat becomes a firm part of longer term risk management. Climate change in any event is something all businesses will need to consider as the warmer weather becomes more frequent - extreme heat is something that will impact employers on a day to day basis.
Published Article
RAAC planks and its impact on local authorities
Recent reports of flat roofs constructed using RAAC planks collapsing without warning prompted the SCOSS alert.
Published Article - Building Safety Act
The Building Safety Act 2022: Navigating building liability orders
Legal Update
Construction: Gold Standard Framework – seven months on
We have created a summary of the recommendations and consistent themes which we are now starting to see becoming more embedded in public sector procurement practices.
On-Demand - Building Safety Act
Building Safety Bill – what’s coming and how will it affect you?
On-Demand - Shared Insights
Shared Insights: Medical Mediation in Health and Social Care
Press Release
Browne Jacobson’s C-suite exec level coaching team appoints two new education specialists
National law firm Browne Jacobson has grown its team behind its dedicated Space + Time executive coaching programme with the addition of two more qualified coaches who will work with clients in the education sector.
Legal Update
Integrated care systems: accountability for place based health and care
The Government’s White Paper Joining up care for people, places and population is its second within (just) under a year about health and care integration following its first one Integration and Innovation: working together to improve health and social care for all.
Legal Update
How will HSE’s focus on occupational health affect UK HE institutions?
What does the HSE's decision to prioritise occupational health inspection & enforcement activities mean for higher education institutions?
Published Article
Fire safety in the higher education sector: looking back and looking forward
Fire safety regulation is undergoing a period of evolution, with many new & far-reaching fire safety developments having significant implications for those responsible for educational premises.
Published Article
Care Quality Commission Strategy from 2021 – Ground for Optimism but Much Still to Learn
There is much still to learn about how the strategy will be implemented and those details will play a huge part in determining the final outcome. However, there are grounds for optimism.