Asbestos

By Dr Eamonn Butler   from 'Regulation'

A primary school in my area was looking forward to some much-needed roof repairs. However, when the workmen knocked down the old ceiling, they discovered asbestos - and promptly downed tools. Government regulations demand that asbestos in public buildings must be dealt with professionally. That meant spending tens of thousands of pounds for specialist crews, in protective suits and breathing apparatus, to remove and dispose of this supposedly lethal mineral.

I say 'supposedly' because most asbestos is actually harmless. It comes in three varieties. Crocidolite ('blue asbestos'), was used in specialist applications like steam engines. Amosite ('brown asbestos') is found in old lagging and insulation. These forms contain long fibres which, if inhaled, may trigger cancer and respiratory disease up to 60 years later.

Both blue and brown asbestos were banned in 1985. But some 90% of what we call 'asbestos' is crysotile ('white asbestos'). Its short round fibres disappear quickly if inhaled. It is commonly bonded in cement, where the fibres cannot escape into the air anyway. Everyday exposure to the asbestos on your garage roof, your ironing board, or the lagging round your water tank, is effectively harmless. Nobody born after 1940 seems to have developed disease triggered by crysotile fibres.

Thus a sensible householder might best deal with asbestos by spraying a coat of paint over it, or leaving it alone (as the Health and Safety Executive itself advises). So why is everyone petrified by the stuff?

The answer is that inept government regulations lumped all asbestos together. So now it all has to be treated as if it were as toxic as blue or brown. That's a nice earner for the contractors in their protective suits and gas-masks, but a pointless expense on taxpayers and worried householders.

Asbestos Watchdog claims to have saved companies up to £480,000 by saving them from the unnecessary specialist removal of asbestos. Unfortunately, though, there are still plenty of firms, householders, and government bodies being taken for huge sums without justification - thanks to our regulators and the 'zero risk' mentality that drives our regulatory system. Time for a re-think?