Personal injury news
19/10/2006
New regulations to affect asbestos claims

News concerning asbestos claims and the latest asbestos rulings is regularly in the headlines. However, the publishing of the new UK Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 are of major concern for those that work with or close to asbestos as well as the personal injury claim industry.

The revised guidelines, which will come into force on the 13th November, will help to prevent workplace injuries resulting from exposure to dangerous asbestos fibres by increasing worker protection. They will also give our personal injury solicitors more specific guidelines with which to work to when representing clients in asbestos compensation claim cases.

Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006
These new regulations propose to do the following:

• Replace three existing sets of regulations: The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002, The Asbestos Licensing regulations 1983, as amended, and The Asbestos (Prohibitions) Regulations 1992, as amended.
• Make special training mandatory for anyone working with, or who is likely to be exposed to, asbestos.
• Introduce a reduced single control limit of 0.1 fibres per cm3 of air for work with all types of asbestos.
• Introduce a requirement to analyse the concentration of asbestos in the air with measurements in accordance with the 1997 World Health Organisation recommended method.
• Include practical guidelines for the determination of "sporadic and low intensity exposure", as required by the EU directive.
• Remove work with textured decorative coatings containing asbestos from the licensing regime because research has revealed that the exposure level to asbestos fibres from this type of work is low.
• Make sure all organisations or individuals carrying out the 4-stage Asbestos Clearance and Certificate of Re-Occupation after asbestos removal works are accredited for the process by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service.

The new guidelines are due to come into force in just under three weeks with the exception of the regulation that necessitates accreditation for stage 4 clearance which will come into force on 6th April 2007.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, minister for health and safety, had the following to say about the 2006 regulations: "These new provisions will prevent around 6,500 occupational deaths from exposure to asbestos over the next 50 years. There is no doubt these regulations are a step forward in the protection of workers and that they will further strengthen controls to reduce future potential deaths from asbestos disease."

If you wish to view the complete regulations please visit www.opsi.gov.uk.