Amy: 0:00

Hello and welcome again to The Bench Report. You're listening to Amy and Ivan. Today we're taking a critical look at, well, the persistent danger of asbestos in UK non-domestic buildings. We're going to unpack the sheer scale of this issue, its profound personal impact, and explore what the government is doing now alongside future proposals aimed at, well, tackling the silent killer. It really is It just boggles my mind that asbestos was banned in the UK way back in 1999. Yet it remains the leading cause of work-related deaths in the country. I mean, over 5,000 lives claimed annually. Areas like South Shields, for instance, they're seeing alarmingly high death rates from mesothelioma. That's that rare cancer directly caused by asbestos exposure. How is it even possible that something banned for so long is still claiming so many lives? What are we missing here? Why is it such a persistent threat?

Ivan: 0:53

Well, the shocking truth and the core reason asbestos remains such a silent killer, even after the ban, is its incredibly long latency period. It's quite something.

Amy: 1:03

Latency period. How long are we talking?

Ivan: 1:04

We're talking 30, 40, sometimes even 50 years between the actual exposure and a diagnosis.

Amy: 1:09

50 years. Goodness.

Ivan: 1:13

So this means we're not just dealing with a historical problem from heavy industries like shipbuilding. It's impacting current workers, too. Think teachers, nurses, military personnel.

Amy: 1:24

People in everyday jobs now.

Ivan: 1:26

Exactly. Consider the stories we've heard. Emma Llewell's father seeing asbestos actually floating in shipyards back in the 1990s. And she herself was exposed as a child. It was found in their home walls.

Amy: 1:38

Unbelievable.

Ivan: 1:39

Then there's the story of Mavis Nye, diagnosed 50 years after simply laundering her husband's work overalls.

Amy: 1:44

Just from washing clothes.

Ivan: 1:45

Just from the dust on the clothes. These examples really show how widespread the exposure has been, often without anyone realizing the danger at the time. And here's where it gets really concerning now. Even if it's left undisturbed, aging asbestos can just break down over time. It starts to release these deadly fibers into the air.

Amy: 2:03

So it doesn't even need to be actively disturbed.

Ivan: 2:05

Not necessarily, which makes it a sort of ticking time bomb in, well, potentially thousands of buildings today. Supermarkets, offices, even the Houses of Parliament, apparently.

Amy: 2:15

Hearing about that ticking time bomb in our buildings, it really brings home the urgency doesn't it? So what's actually being done right now? What are the current measures to address this clear and present danger? I know the control of asbestos regulations 2012 require building owners, duty holders, I think they call them, to manage the risk. But if that's the case, why don't we have a clear, comprehensive picture of where it all is? It sounds like we're still flying a bit blind in some areas.

Ivan: 2:42

That's a crucial gap. You're right. The Health and Safety Executive, the HSE, has certainly stepped up its efforts. They've increased inspections, particularly in schools and commercial sectors, they visited over 1,000 schools since September 2022.

Amy: 2:55

And what did they find?

Ivan: 2:56

Well, many showed good compliance, which is positive, but about 8% still required some form of enforcement action. And in the commercial sector, it was more concerning. 40% of buildings found to contain asbestos needed written advice or even an enforcement notice.

Amy: 3:12

40%. That seems incredibly high. Is compliance just that difficult?

Ivan: 3:16

It suggests a significant challenge. Yes. The core issue, as you pointed out, is there's no single national register detailing where asbestos is located. Duty holders are legally required to maintain their own records, absolutely. But these are scattered. held individually.

Amy: 3:33

So no central overview.

Ivan: 3:35

Exactly. The minister is actively exploring ways to get better information, perhaps starting with a phased approach or maybe a one-off census. There's even been talk of trialing something, maybe in an area like South Shields, to see if they can build a reliable data set that way.

Amy: 3:50

That brings us to the future, then. What's the ultimate goal here? And what further steps are really necessary to protect people from this hidden danger, especially if we don't even have a full map of where it is yet?

Ivan: 4:00

The long-term vision is essentially for an asbestos-free Great Britain. But achieving this requires really strategic removal. It needs careful planning, especially as the country pushes towards net zero goals and starts retrofitting lots of existing buildings. You have to manage the asbestos during that process.

Amy: 4:18

So removal has to be part of those green initiatives.

Ivan: 4:21

It absolutely has to be integrated. And it includes specialized waste disposal, too. You can't just rip it out. That prevents further exposure during the removal itself. On a positive note, there was a significant asbestos research summit recently. It brought together world-leading experts to shape future efforts and figure out the research priorities. That's a good step towards understanding the full scope of the risk. And maybe here's something to reflect on. If that latency period for asbestos diseases can be up to 50 years, and we know children were definitely exposed in schools in the past, what does this actually mean for the future health of those individuals, potentially decades down the line? And how can we ensure that current and future generations are truly protected from this, well, this enduring threat?

Amy: 5:05

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