The new Asbestos Directive
On 30 November and 1 December 2023, the European Asbestos Forum foundation’s 6th conference was held in Brussels. Attending were representatives of 26 countries across the globe, listening to dozens of renowned speakers. With the new EU Asbestos At Work Directive coming into effect as of 1 December 2023, it was no surprise that this Directive had a prominent place in the EAF conference programme.
Nikolaj Villumsen MEP spoke of the need for the new Directive, which is closely tied to the European Commission’s wish to make Europe healthier, safer and more energy effective. He pointed out three pertinent facts:
- that many older buildings build before their national asbestos bans contain a great deal of asbestos;
- that asbestos is occupational killer no. 1, leading by a very great margin;
- and if we wish to improve the quality of these buildings, the necessary disturbances will create a great risk of asbestos exposure to the inhabitants and removal workers.
An important realization: improving old buildings by removing asbestos applications throughout, but especially by replacing their old asbestos cement roofing with new roofs and solar panels, will require many workers to perform this dangerous work… For them, renovating or demolishing old buildings should not be a grave risk. Asbestos removers are our modern heroes: they work in the carcinogenic firing line and deserve the best possible protection.
In the run up to the new Directive, several scientific publications have therefor urged an Occupational Exposure Limit (OEL) that would be a hundred(!) times as strict as before.
During her excellent Keynote speech on the global relevance of the Directive, the jurist who advised the EU Commission on the Directive, Gordana Materljan LLM. (EU Commission DG EMPL), explained that such an OEL was – as yet – not achievable throughout the EU. She provided a very solid overview of the new Directive – and what a privilege to hear this from somebody who actually had a hand in the negotiations and finalization of the Directive.
As ever, there are forces and counterforces in the asbestos fight, weighing aspects such as risks, expenses and employment against health and science. As a compromise, the new OEL is therefore not a hundred, but only ten times stricter than before. Even so, this is still a big step towards the realization of healthier homes and workplaces. (I hope and trust that another factor 10 will come in the fullness of time.) The Directive is a showcase piece of asbestos legislation, demonstrating also to non-EU countries what occupational standards in the demolition sector can and should be. The bottom line: remove the asbestos, remove the unnecessary cancer deaths, which are a dreadful toll on society.
Last but not least, the Chair of the EU Committee on Employment & Social Affairs himself, Dragoş Pîslaru MEP, gave a rousing presentation on the great importance that the EU Commission attaches to the new Asbestos At Work Directive. He pointed out the necessity for high quality training and certification of survey and removal workers as well as the high target of an asbestos-free Europe, prioritizing asbestos removal over encapsulation. The European asbestos and demolition sectors may expect a great deal of work in the upcoming decades.
From a critical perspective, the Directive stops at the essential question: what to do with the mass of ‘removed’ asbestos? This too, was (as usual) discussed at the EAF conference. Interestingly, there are techniques being developed globally to destroy asbestos fibres in asbestos cement and make the resulting asbestos-free slurry recyclable. To which extend this can be done safely and how one should carefully define asbestos in that regard, are matters of which I may perhaps write in this publication in the future.
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