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Asbestos: European Council agrees to improve protection of workers

Ministers of employment settled their position on a proposal to tighten EU legislation protecting workers from the risks of asbestos. The Council position – on the basis of which it will negotiate with the European Parliament – is that the current exposure levels should be lowered and that asbestos fibre-counting should be carried out on the basis of a more modern method.

Lower exposure level:
If agreed, the new rules would ensure that no worker is exposed to a concentration of more than 0.01 fibres of asbestos per cm³. This is a tenfold decrease compared to the limit value currently in force.

Improved measuring method:
Member states also decided to use a more modern and sensitive method for counting asbestos fibres, i.e. electron microscopy (EM). Member states would have 7 years to comply with the new methodology requirements, in order to allow enough time for a successful transition from the current measuring method, phase-contrast microscopy (PCM), to the new EM method.

The Commission would be tasked to support member states during this switch of measuring method. During the transition period the measuring methods currently in use may remain in place.

Work to date on implementation of Directive EU 2023/2668

The Department have held a public consultation on the Directive. The objective of this public consultation was to seek the initial views of relevant stakeholders on the key provisions of the agreed Directive. See Public Consultation on EU 2023/2668'.
The HSA are engaging with the Department on the transposition of the Directive. As this is a European Directive, we have engaged with other European Regulatory Agencies through the EU Knowledge Sharing Scheme (KSS). We have issued 1 KSS questionnaire and responded to 4 KSS questionnaires.
The HSA has engaged with stakeholders including the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment, Employer, Employee and Professional Organisations. These have included meetings, presentation and contact queries.

The European Commission’s DG Employment has contracted a consortium led by RPA Europe Prague s.r.o. (RPA Prague) and Risk & Policy Analysts Ltd (RPA Ltd) to support the development of an EU guidance document for the safe management of asbestos at work. The aim of the guidance document is to provide practical guidance on preventing and reducing occupational exposure to asbestos for employers, workers, occupational health and safety services and experts, and others concerned with advice on the safe management of asbestos at work. This study involves the collection of information from key stakeholders across 27 Member States and key third countries through direct requests, workshops, and pilots. See https://rpaltd.co.uk/asbestos-guide/

HSA plan on transposition of Directive EU 2023/2668

We are developing a new online Asbestos Notification System. There are additional notification requirements under the new Directive. The portal will assist in management of the new notification requirements in compliance with Article 15 of the Directive. The permit is issued by the Authority once the undertaking provides proof of compliance with Article 6 and Article 14 and these have been reviewed by the Authority. It will be an offence to undertake notifiable work in the absence of a valid permit which must available on site for the duration of the works.
Draft regulations are currently with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
Stakeholder engagement will continue. Some seminars on respiratory hazards (including asbestos) are also planned for Q4 2025.

Website updates with relevant information are ongoing.