{"id":81561,"date":"2026-02-16T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T09:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/?p=81561"},"modified":"2026-03-26T09:03:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T09:03:36","slug":"duty-to-manage-asbestos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/duty-to-manage-asbestos\/","title":{"rendered":"Guidance on the Duty to Manage Asbestos"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Asbestos is an incredibly dangerous substance that can cause serious harm. Far from being a problem of the past, asbestos is still present in many buildings built or refurbished before 2000. Asbestos fibres cannot be seen, smelt or felt however when inhaled these fibres can cause serious incurable diseases such as mesothelioma<\/a>. As such, the duty to manage asbestos and protect people from risk of exposure is not something that should be taken lightly.  In this article we will outline what the duty to manage asbestos is and offer guidance on how you can uphold this duty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What is the Duty to Manage Asbestos?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The duty to manage asbestos refers to the legal responsibility to manage asbestos in a building. The person who has this legal responsibility is known as the dutyholder and could be the building owner, a landlord for the premises or a person or organisation with clear responsibility for the building’s maintenance or repair. The dutyholder must protect people from the risks of exposure to asbestos. This includes people who work in the building or use the premises in other ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legal duty to manage asbestos is enshrined in the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012<\/a>. These regulations will be explored in more detail later in the article. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When was the Duty to Manage Asbestos First Introduced? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The duty to manage asbestos was first introduced in the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002<\/a> which became law in May 2004. Whilst the use of asbestos was already illegal by the time the regulations were introduced, legislation up to that point didn\u2019t necessarily address the issue of asbestos that was already present. As mentioned, asbestos can cause serious diseases such as mesothelioma, asbestosis and asbestos-related lung cancer. These diseases will not affect an individual immediately and often take a long time to develop. As such, asbestos that is still present from when its use was legal still poses significant risk. <\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Asbestos<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The damaging impact of asbestos is well documented and the first reported medical case of an asbestos related death occurred in 1924 when 33 year old Nellie Kershaw<\/a> died from asbestos exposure. The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 updated many preceding regulations intended to manage asbestos and introduced an explicit <\/strong>duty to manage asbestos in all non domestic premises. The 2002 regulations can be seen as the culmination of years of advocacy with the goal to protect workers from the harm of exposure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It should be noted that although the regulations refer to non-domestic premises, if a contractor is undertaking work in a domestic setting the same regulations apply.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The main regulation pertaining to managing asbestos is the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. The regulations set out a business\u2019 legal duties to manage asbestos as well as the minimum standards for protecting employees from the risk of asbestos exposure. Regulation 4 mandates the duty to manage asbestos in non domestic premises and requires dutyholders to: <\/p>\n\n\n\n