Factories The Asbestos Regulations

Our plain-English summary of Factories The Asbestos Regulations (1969).

The study

• Published: 1969
• Type of article: Government report
• Our copy: from Johns-Manville's own medical library.

In plain English

This is not a research study and reports no data or findings. It is British government asbestos regulations made under the Factories Act 1961, dated 1968 in the citation. Asbestos was defined as crocidolite, amosite, chrysotile, fibrous anthophyllite, or any mixture containing them. The regulations applied to every process involving asbestos or asbestos articles that could give off asbestos dust, in factories, ships, construction sites and certain other premises. A person already carrying on a crocidolite process in a factory when the regulations took effect had to notify the district inspector in writing within 28 days. Anyone starting such a process later had to give advance notice. Cleaning was to be dust-free, such as by vacuum, where practicable. Otherwise protective clothing and approved respirators were required. Loose asbestos not in use, and stored asbestos waste, were to be kept in closed containers, marked "Blue asbestos—do not inhale dust" when holding crocidolite. Employment of young persons was restricted. The Chief Inspector could grant conditional, revocable exemptions if satisfied that requirements were unnecessary to protect employed persons or impracticable. The supplied text is badly corrupted and incomplete.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Government regulations (statutory instrument made under the Factories Act 1961); not a research study
• Who was studied: Factories and other premises covered by the Factories Act 1961 where asbestos processes were carried on. These include electrical stations, institutions, certain warehouses, ships, and building operations and works of engineering construction.
• Exposure: Any process involving asbestos or articles made wholly or partly of asbestos. Asbestos is defined as crocidolite, amosite, chrysotile, fibrous anthophyllite, or any mixture containing them. Processes in which asbestos dust cannot be given off are excluded.
• Main results:
  • Provision (not a study finding): a person undertaking a process involving crocidolite in a factory at the date the regulations came into operation had to give written notice to the district inspector within 28 days of that date
  • Provision: a person first beginning such a crocidolite process after the regulations came into operation had to give advance written notice to the district inspector. The length of notice is garbled in the text.
  • Provision: cleaning of plant and premises was to be done, so far as practicable, by vacuum cleaning equipment or another suitable method so that asbestos dust did not escape into the air
  • Provision: where dustless cleaning was impracticable, protective clothing and approved respiratory protective equipment had to be provided for and used by everyone present
  • Provision: loose asbestos when not in use, and asbestos waste when stored, had to be kept in suitable closed receptacles that prevent the escape of asbestos dust
  • Provision: receptacles containing crocidolite had to be marked with a warning
  • Provision: protective clothing was to be cleaned within the factory unless sent out packed in suitable containers marked as asbestos-contaminated clothing
  • Provision: special building construction and a fixed vacuum cleaning system were required for scheduled processes, except where such processes ran no more than eight hours in any week
  • Provision: the Chief Inspector could exempt factories, processes or persons by certificate, subject to conditions and revocable. This was where the requirements were not necessary for the protection of persons employed or were impracticable.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Crocidolite, Amosite, Chrysotile, Anthophyllite, Notice, Respirator.

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