The dangers of asbestos are well documented, prolonged exposure to it’s barely visible fibres can lead to long term health problems and latent forms of cancer such as mesothelioma. For these reasons the use of asbestos containing materials in the construction industry was banned in 2000, but there are still an estimated 500,000 non-domestic buildings that contain asbestos.

Your building Manager should know if there's asbestos in your work environment

With no country-wide register of asbestos contaminated buildings, it’s almost impossible to know if your work environment contains asbestos. If it was built prior to 2000 then the building manage should be able to tell you whether asbestos is present in the fabric of the structure. But often, unless construction work is carried out it may not be known whether there is asbestos in the building.

It’s important to remember that asbestos containing materials are completely safe unless damaged or in a state of disrepair, but it’s always good to know more about a silent and long-term health risk. Now, thanks to The Health and Safety Executive and tradespeople across wales and the South East a new campaign has been launched aimed at delivering asbestos awareness training. In total 1,064.5 hours were pledged by local trades people.