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As a facilities manager, you’re well aware of the importance of a safe and compliant working environment. Your role is instrumental in keeping spaces and buildings safe from risks such as fire, legionella and asbestos every single day.
While the legal responsibility of keeping spaces safe from silent killer, asbestos, lies with your organisation’s dutyholder, your role as facilities manager means you have invaluable, boots-on-the-ground knowledge of the spaces you manage, and any ACMs that need to be monitored.
But as the scale of the UK’s asbestos problem begins to emerge, how will you adapt your approach to managing the risk? This article outlines 4 facts that every facilities manager should be aware of, and how you can use this information to stay on top of your obligations.
Of the 5,000 people who die from asbestos-related diseases, 50% of these are caused by incurable mesothelioma (cancer of mesothelial tissue found in the lungs). Other diseases that contribute to this statistic include lung cancer and asbestosis–chronic lung disease that is caused by inhaling tiny asbestos fibres.
Even though asbestos was banned in 1999, the UK is still grappling with the devastating effects of asbestos. The private and public sectors continue to try and adequately manage degrading buildings built before 2000 that pose a very real health to all who work and live in them.
A July 2025 report by the Health and Safety Executive found that over 70% of mesothelioma deaths occurred in people aged 75+, suggesting that exposure 40-50 years earlier would likely contribute to these deaths. The report showed that men were affected in greater number than women, but that male mesothelioma deaths in recent years are declining. The number of female deaths is not declining and remains consistent.
Why could this be?
As females tended not to work in construction at this time, exposure would have likely have been environmental, working in buildings where asbestos fibres were damaged and released into the air.
What does this mean for you?
With many post-war buildings still standing and in operation for thousands of organisations across the country, the threat of asbestos in the workplace is ever-present. As the mainstream media reveals the stories of nurses receiving mesothelioma diagnoses after working in hospital buildings, one thing remains clear; management and control of buildings containing asbestos needs to improve significantly. And your role will be instrumental in helping to achieve this.
Where there was a need to protect against the risk of fire, to eliminate noise, or to insulate, asbestos will likely have been used. Guidance from the Health and Safety Executive even goes as far as to say ‘if the building was built or refurbished before 2000, assume there is asbestos in it’.
To this day, asbestos is commonly found in or on:
Asbestos Insulating Board (AIB) is a common ACM found frequently in non-domestic buildings, and was the go-to solution for protecting spaces against fire. Take a look at ACMs commonly found in non-domestic buildings.
What does this mean for you?
For facilities managers working in buildings constructed before 2000, the task is identifying areas that contain asbestos and to regularly monitor it for degradation or damage. You’ll likely work with your dutyholder to arrange an asbestos survey, create an asbestos register and maintain it regularly. Your effective communication with staff and licensed contractors can be the difference between a safe and an unsafe space.
An asbestos register is a living document that contains logs of all action taken to keep a space safe from asbestos, and includes information such as:
What does this mean for you?
Your asbestos register is one of the most important tools available to a facilities manager when managing the everyday risk of asbestos. It plays a crucial role in proactively managing risk and keeping on top of work completed by licensed contractors. By updating it frequently or when work is carried out, you’ll be well-equipped to take swift, effective action where necessary, and ensure the day-to-day compliance of buildings you’re responsible for.
In 2021-2022, a survey conducted by community interest company Asbestos Information CIC found that 78% of 128,000 buildings surveyed in the UK were found to contain asbestos, and 71% of the ACMs found in these buildings had some level of damage.
What does this mean for you?
While the survey illustrates that a new approach to managing asbestos nationwide needs to be adopted, the key findings once again emphasise the importance of facilities managers—and dutyholders—staying one step ahead by keeping a very close eye on the ACMs that reside in their buildings and spaces. Damaged asbestos poses a significant risk to public health. By taking the necessary steps outlined by the Healthy and Safety Executive, and by complying with the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 (CAR2012), you’ll keep the spaces you’re responsible for safe and compliant.
Working as asbestos specialists for over 30 years, our suite of services will give you the peace of mind you need to stay compliant with CAR2012.
Need to understand if your site is at risk from the dangers of asbestos? Learn about our UKAS-accredited survey and inspection services
Worried that asbestos has been released into the atmosphere? Learn more about our emergency air-monitoring services
Time to remove asbestos? Understand more about our asbestos removal project management services
Environtec Ltd is a UKAS accredited testing laboratory (No. 0197) and inspection body (No. 2030).
Environtec is only UKAS accredited for Asbestos Inspection and Testing (excluding Soil Testing & Analysis)
