Page 13 - A National Asbestos Strategy

DEVELOPMENT
During the parliamentary review of HSE’s management of asbestos, it became apparent
that no precise figures were available to quantify the extent of the asbestos issue in the UK.
The aforementioned November 2022 report,
highlighted several issues with collecting
and recording asbestos data. The report
has encouraged further research and
development exploring machine learning and
artificial intelligence to improve asbestos data
collection.
UKAS-accredited asbestos surveying and
inspection organisations founded Asbestos
Information CIC to explore how to develop a
National Asbestos Register and a long-term
asbestos strategy using their asbestos survey
data.
Data was reviewed for two years, from May
2022 to April 2024, as part of the research.
The data collected represents an estimated
20% of the accredited inspections undertaken
during this period. The dataset contains nearly
400,000 properties and has processed over
7 million data lines, identifying almost 3
million asbestos items. This is the largest
dataset of asbestos ever produced in the
UK and potentially the world. Information on
how this data has been processed and the
technology and methodology used will be
available on the AIC website.
The figures underscore the magnitude of the challenge in addressing asbestos and
highlight the need for a solid foundation of knowledge for any decision-making or
future strategy.
This dataset and a review of the current approach have led to the proposal to introduce
the ‘Asbestos Information Certificate’.
Extrapolating from this data suggests that up to 15 million asbestos items may have been identified
over two years by UKAS-accredited asbestos companies, representing only a limited percentage of
organisations undertaking asbestos inspections.
It is impossible to determine the number of asbestos items that may have been identified over the
past two years, as there is no central register of those conducting asbestos surveys. However, the
number of unaccredited organisations performing these surveys is significantly higher than those
that are accredited. This is despite the HSE strongly recommending the use of accredited surveyors.
www.asbestosinformation.org.uk
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