The Health and Safety Executive has reviewed the latest international scientific, technical and workplace evidence on Great Britain’s asbestos control limit.

The review followed HSE’s published workplace exposure level setting process and concluded that the asbestos control limit, will remain at 0.1 fibres per millilitre (f/ml), measured as a four-hour time-weighted average.

Undertaken in response to the European Union’s decision to reduce its occupational exposure limit for asbestos, and the 2022 Work and Pensions Committee report on ‘HSE’s approach to asbestos management’, the review concluded that, currently, there is no clear evidence that lowering the control limit in law would reduce current or future exposures and improve health outcomes.

Professor Andrew Curran, HSE’s chief scientific advisor, said: “Our decision is based on rigorous scientific evidence and reflects our commitment to protecting workers through the most effective means possible. The current regulatory framework, which requires exposures to be reduced as low as reasonably practicable, already provides robust protection for workers handling asbestos.

“We have thoroughly examined the available science and consulted extensively with experts across the sector, and our conclusion is that the current framework provides the most effective protection for workers.

“In addition, we found that lowering the Great Britain control limit would in practice bring most asbestos-related work into the scope of licensable activity, imposing significant costs on businesses without a corresponding reduction in exposure risk.”

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