Archived

Benchmarking: What asbestos remains in the built environment, at what rate is this
currently being disturbed and how will industry trends impact on this?

Background

To enable strategic and transformative advances in health and safety across the diverse construction sector through technology and innovation and the new opportunities and risks arising from it. To underpin construction and building safety regulatory regimes with evidence-based approaches and enable effective oversight across the whole built environment. To inform standards and guidance development to improve the safety and standard of buildings and develop effective strategies to measure and build competence across the construction and building safety sectors. To ensure that our approach to regulating chemicals and microbial control agents: is effective, efficient and agile, reflecting current and developing scientific understanding and technical knowledge; reinforces our position as an internationally influential regulator; and enables society to derive the benefits of access to safe and sustainable use of chemicals; and ensure there is no harm to workers, bystanders and consumers or unacceptable effects on the environment.

Next steps

Get in touch with hsecsa@hse.gov.uk

Source

This question was published as part of the set of ARIs in this document:

HS Es Areas of Research Interest ARI 2023

Related UKRI funded projects


  • Rapid Asbestos Detection Device

    Asbestos is a naturally occurring fibrous mineral with extraordinary tensile strength & excellent resistance to heat & chemicals, making it an attractive building material. It was used extensively up to 1999 befo...

    Funded by: Innovate UK

    Why might this be relevant?

    The project focuses on rapid asbestos detection in the built environment, addressing the question directly with expertise in the field.

  • University of Portsmouth Higher Education Corporation and Artisan Environmental Limited

    To develop an innovative Artificial Intelligence tool for asbestos management in buildings. Clients will benefit from reduced cost, increased accuracy and compliance, and reduced ongoing risk....

    Funded by: Innovate UK

    Why might this be relevant?

    The project aims to develop an AI tool for asbestos management, which partially addresses the question by focusing on accuracy and compliance.

  • Commercial applications for treated material following denaturing of chrysotile asbestos

    Asbestos is a hazardous material the use of which was banned across Europe in 1999\. Asbestos still accounts for about 5,000 deaths a year in the UK. Currently all asbestos that is removed from buildings around the world...

    Funded by: Innovate UK

    Why might this be relevant?

    The project deals with commercial applications for treated asbestos material, partially addressing the question by focusing on disposal and reuse of asbestos.

  • Asbestos Testing Optimisation – a progression from manual to automated material assessment

    Despite EU (2005) and UK (1999) usage bans, it is estimated that \\\>220 million public buildings in Europe and \>1.5 million in the UK still contain asbestos, with presence in the latter estimated at 6 million ton...

    Funded by: Innovate UK

    Lead research organisation: GREENWALL ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION CONTROL LTD

  • Integrated automated asbestos fibre-counting and digital certification technology

    Asbestos presents a major occupational and public health risk, both in developed regions (where the material can be disturbed in buildings), and in developing regions where extraction, processing and use shows no sign of...

    Funded by: Innovate UK

  • ACME: Asbestos Containing Materials evaluation

    Viridian is an innovation company supplying nuclear sites with radiometric characterisation tools in support of decommissioning. It has developed a novel laser sampling tool, ViridiScope(r) for use in nuclear characteris...

    Funded by: Innovate UK