Global Asbestos Awareness Week

Global Asbestos Awareness Week (1-7 April) is often seen as a reminder of past industrial risks. In reality, asbestos remains a very current governance issue. Asbestos is still present in many buildings worldwide, and exposure continues to arise during routine activities such as maintenance, refurbishment and change projects.

Harm often emerges decades after exposure, long after decisions were taken and responsibilities shifted. Increasingly, regulators are less interested in whether asbestos was historically present, and more focused on whether organisations today can demonstrate ongoing, informed and proactive management of the risk.

Legacy risks do not manage themselves. Effective asbestos management requires sustained attention, clear ownership and an appreciation that historic materials can give rise to very current legal, reputational and human consequences. For organisations willing to engage with that reality, asbestos becomes not just a hazard to be controlled, but a lens through which broader questions of governance, culture and responsibility come into focus.

What good looks like is not simply having an asbestos register on file, but knowing it is current, understood and actively used. It means clear ownership, informed decision making and confidence that asbestos risks are being managed as part of everyday operations, not only revisited after an incident.

DLA Piper is experienced in working with clients to develop policies and procedures to increase their organisational resilience and strengthen their overall approach. Please contact the authors or your regular DLA Piper contact for further advice.