Asbestos: your duty

The Health and Safety Executive has launched a campaign to help people understand if they have a duty to manage the risks of asbestos in buildings.  It includes a simple online questionnaire which can be found here.

The questions are straightforward:

Are you:
– a building owner?
– a landlord for the premises?
– a person or organisation with clear responsibility for the building’s maintenance or repair?

Are you responsible for maintenance or repair of any of the following?
– Any non-domestic premises
– The ‘common’ areas of a domestic premises (flats) e.g. the boiler room, lift shaft, out-house
– Any equipment that may contain asbestos e.g. ovens, insulating mats, fire blankets, thermal insulation, brakes

Were any of your buildings built before 2000?

If you answer yes to all three, then it is likely that you are the dutyholder for your building and that you do have a duty to protect people from the risks of exposure to asbestos, including people who work in the building, work on the building, or just visit.