Skip to main content
IOSH Magazine: Safety, Health and Wellbeing in the world of work - return to the homepage IOSH Magaazine logo
  • Visit IOSH Magazine on Facebook
  • Visit @ioshmagazine on Twitter
  • Visit IOSH Magazine on LinkedIn
Non-verbal communication
How to build trust
March/April 2023 issue

Main navigation

  • Home
    • Browse previous issues
    • Member accolades
    • Member tributes
  • Health
    • Mental health and wellbeing
      • Bullying
      • Drugs and alcohol
      • Mental health
      • Stress
      • Wellbeing
    • Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs)
      • Ergonomics
      • Manual handling
      • Vibration
    • Occupational cancer
      • Asbestos
      • Hazardous substances
      • Radiation
  • Safety
    • Incident management
      • Chemicals
      • Electricity
      • Fire
      • First aid
      • Slips and trips
    • Non-health related fatalities
      • Road safety
      • Work at height
    • Risk management
      • Confined spaces
      • Disability
      • Legionella
      • Lifting operations
      • Lone workers
      • Noise
      • Personal protective equipment
      • Violence at work
      • Work equipment
      • Workplace transport
  • Management
    • Human factors
      • Accident reduction
      • Behavioural safety
      • Control of contractors
      • Migrant workers
      • Older workers
      • Reporting
      • Safe systems of work
      • Sickness absence
      • Young workers
    • Leadership and management
      • Employee involvement
      • Management systems
    • Management standards
      • ISO 45001
      • ISO 45003
    • Planning
      • Assurance
      • Compliance
      • Emergency planning
      • Insurance
    • Rehabilitation
      • Personal injury
      • Return to work
    • Strategy
      • Corporate governance
      • Performance/results
      • Regulation/enforcement
      • Reputation
    • Sustainability
      • Human capital and Vision Zero
  • Skills
    • Communication
    • Personal performance
      • Achieving Fellowship
      • Career development
      • Competencies
      • Personal development
      • Professional skills
      • Qualifications
    • Stakeholder management
    • Working with others
      • Leadership
      • Future Leaders
  • Jobs
  • Covid-19
  • Knowledge Bank
    • Back to basics
    • Book club
    • Infographics
    • Podcast
    • Reports
    • Webinars
    • Videos
  • Products & Services
  • Management
    • Human factors
      • Sickness absence
      • Accident reduction
      • Behavioural safety
      • Control of contractors
      • Migrant workers
      • Older workers
      • Reporting
      • Safe systems of work
      • Young workers
    • Leadership and management
      • Employee involvement
      • Leadership
      • Management systems
    • Management standards
      • ISO 45001
      • ISO 45003
    • Planning
      • Assurance
      • Compliance
      • Emergency planning
      • Insurance
    • Strategy
      • Corporate governance
      • Performance/results
      • Regulation/enforcement
      • Reputation
    • Sustainability
      • Human capital and Vision Zero
  • Health
    • COVID-19
    • Mental health and wellbeing
      • Bullying
      • Drugs and alcohol
      • Mental health
      • Stress
      • Wellbeing
    • Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs)
      • Ergonomics
      • Manual handling
      • Vibration
    • Occupational cancer
      • Asbestos
      • Hazardous substances
      • Radiation
  • Safety
    • Incident management
      • Chemicals
      • Electricity
      • Fire
      • First aid
      • Slips and trips
    • Non-health related fatalities
      • Road safety
      • Work at height
    • Risk management
      • Confined spaces
      • Disability
      • Legionella
      • Lifting operations
      • Lone workers
      • Noise
      • Personal protective equipment
      • Violence at work
      • Work equipment
      • Workplace transport
  • Skills
    • Communication
    • Personal performance
      • Career development
      • Competencies
      • Personal development
      • Qualifications
      • Professional skills
      • Achieving Fellowship
    • Stakeholder management
    • Working with others
      • Leadership
      • Future Leaders
  • Transport and logistics
  • Third sector
  • Retail
  • Mining and quarrying
  • Rail
  • Rehabilitation
    • Personal injury
    • Return to work
  • Utilities
  • Manufacturing and engineering
  • Construction
  • Sector: IOSH Branch
    • Sector: Northern Ireland
    • Sector: Midland
    • Sector: Merseyside
    • Sector: Manchester and North West Districts
    • Sector: Ireland East
    • Sector: Ireland
    • Sector: Edinburgh
    • Sector: Desmond-South Munster
    • Sector: Qatar
    • Sector: Oman
    • Singapore
    • Sector: South Coast
    • Sector: South Wales
    • Sector: Thames Valley
    • Sector: Tyne and Wear
    • Sector: UAE
    • Sector: West of Scotland
    • Sector: Yorkshire
  • Healthcare
  • Sector: Fire
  • Sector: Financial/general services
  • Sector: Energy
  • Education
  • Sector: Communications and media
  • Chemicals
  • Sector: Central government
  • Catering and leisure
  • Agriculture and forestry
  • Sector: Local government
  • Sector: IOSH Group
    • Sector: Financial Services
    • Sector: Sports Grounds and Events
    • Rural industries
    • Sector: railway
    • Public Services
    • Sector: Offshore
    • Sector: Hazardous Industries
    • Sector: Food and Drink
    • Sector: Fire Risk Management
    • Education
    • Construction
    • Sector: Aviation and Aerospace
Quick links:
  • Home
  • Categories
  • News
Asbestos

Flemish government takes risk-based approach to become ‘asbestos-safe’

Open-access content Tuesday 21st December 2021
From the archive:  Just so you know, this article is more than 1 year old.
Authors
Nick Warburton
20190513_125712

Image courtesy of OVAM

The Flemish government in Belgium has taken a risk-based approach to tackling the region’s huge asbestos legacy with an ambitious plan to become ‘asbestos-safe’ by 2040. 

The decision was taken after the Public Waste Agency of Flanders (OVAM) compared national and international studies, undertook sector enquiries and ran pilot projects, and emphasised the need for a more immediate and proactive approach.

‘A second wave of asbestos victims is imminent and this time it is ordinary citizens who did not work in the former asbestos industry or in the construction sector,’ says Sven de Mulder, Project Leader, OVAM, Antwerp Metropolitan Area.

‘The main reason for this is the life-long exposure risk at home, at school and in the office due to the presence of asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) and the poor condition of these materials.’

De Mulder notes that Belgium had one of the biggest asbestos consumption levels per capita in the world during the 1960s. The Flemish government estimates that about 2.3 million tonnes of ACMs can still be found across the region’s building stock. Across the whole of Belgium, it is around 5.5 million tonnes.  

On 29 March 2019, the Flemish government adopted a decree that contains an obligation for the Flemish public authorities to remove asbestos from all public buildings that were constructed before 2001, as this building stock has been identified as being the most high-risk when it comes to ACMs. OVAM estimates that asbestos is likely to be present in 70-90% of buildings constructed in 2000 or earlier. 

‘The realisation of an asbestos-safe Flanders is ambitious but it includes the already accelerated phasing out of the most risky asbestos indications by 2034 and all other asbestos material in poor condition by 2040,’ says de Mulder. 

As de Mulder explains, the intention is not to become ‘asbestos-free’. Asbestos will remain in some of the building stock but any asbestos that is left over must be in a good condition and has to be documented so that Flemish Public Authorities know where the asbestos is. Even so, de Mulder estimates that more than 90% of the asbestos still present in the region’s building stock will need to be removed by 2040.

'The Flemish and wider Belgian problem is not unique; it’s a problem faced by many countries in Europe and throughout the world'

Another significant development under the decree is a compulsory requirement for an asbestos inventory, which, at present, is only mandatory for places of employment. 

Until now, there has been no requirement for an owner of a private property to record the asbestos present in their home. The decision to introduce an inventory for home-owners was influenced by research that OVAM carried out.

‘There was a 35-year-old woman who was diagnosed with mesothelioma and it appears that she was a baby crawling around in the house where her parents were renovating the property and there was dust all over the floor,’ explains de Mulder. ‘At a very young age, she inhaled asbestos fibres and developed mesothelioma.’

Like the UK, asbestos-related diseases are the biggest cause of occupational deaths. De Mulder says 300-400 people die every year from mesothelioma but this is an underestimate of the real figure.

However, it wasn’t only personal stories that influenced the Flemish government’s decision to be more proactive in tackling the region’s asbestos legacy. De Mulder says that a cost-benefit analysis was carried out and the government concluded that introducing an asbestos removal plan and creating a goal of becoming ‘asbestos-safe’ was the best case scenario. 

As a policy regulator, OVAM has a pivotal role in the delivery of the Flemish government’s asbestos action plan. 

One of its main responsibilities is the management of a new central database which will document current and future asbestos inventories that are collected from the region’s building stock. 

The Flemish government’s decree makes it a legal requirement for all home and building owners to have an asbestos inventory by 2032. Next year, it will also be mandatory for all home owners to have an asbestos inventory before they can sell their property. 

As part of this process, OVAM has initiated a new sectoral certification system for asbestos experts whose responsibility it will be to compile the inventories. The experts will first have to pass a compulsory training programme after which they will receive certification to carry out the works. They will also be audited and inspected regularly to check their competence. 

A large part of OVAM’s work, however, is supporting all building owners to compile an asbestos inventory and then organising for approved contractors to come in and remove the ACMs. 

OVAM has also launched a number of new tools aimed at key target sectors such as schools, care facilities, social housing and agriculture. 

Schools are one of the high-risk sectors as asbestos has been found in every one of the 1,600 schools that OVAM has produced an inventory for over the past three years. Of these, asbestos has been removed for 500 schools to date.  

According to The Brussels Times, the Flemish government provided 3.85 million euros in August to remove asbestos from 200 schools. At the same time, the Flemish public authorities plan to carry out an extra 780 asbestos inventories over the next four years.

OVAM has also set up a subsidised system that enables every Flanders resident to register to have their asbestos waste management collected from a specified location. De Mulder says ACMs have already been collected from around 50,000 locations across the region. 

In October this year, OVAM also started to collect asbestos cement waste from farmers and received over 1,000 registrations during an eight-week period.   

‘The Flemish and wider Belgian problem is not unique; it’s a problem faced by many countries in Europe and throughout the world,’ says de Mulder. ‘We hope to contribute to a world-wide dynamic for a sustainable and ambitious asbestos policy. First, we have to tackle our own problems and see that we achieve our goals.’

You may also be interested in...

Web-iStock-932304010

 Prosecutions shine spotlight on importance of volunteer safety

Tuesday 21st December 2021
More than 19 million people in the UK formally volunteer at least once in a 12-month period through a group, club or organisation. In the majority of cases, the work activities these volunteers undertake are low risk.
Open-access content
web_woman-working-at-home-tired_credit_iStock-1249628154

 UK workers score highly on attendance but ranking could mask rising presenteeism, studies find

Tuesday 14th December 2021
UK workers took 5.8 sick days on average in 2020, according to new research.
Open-access content
web_prefered-work-model_credit_Celia-Ong-shutterstock_2044892774

 More than half of staff could leave their company if hybrid working removed, survey finds

Friday 7th January 2022
Businesses that are considering removing a hybrid working option and bringing workers back to the office full time risk losing more than half of their staff, according to a YouGov survey commissioned by Microsoft UK.
Open-access content
web_graphs-concept_credit_iStock-655332504

 Employers should review OSH measures after HSE publishes latest ill-health stats

Friday 7th January 2022
IOSH has urged employers to continually review their OSH measures and ensure they are ‘proportionate and fit for purpose’ after Great Britain's Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) annual figures for work-related ill-health, injury and enforcement highlighted the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on British workers’ health.
Open-access content
web_london-tower-and-crane_credit_iStock-1213560293

 Designers of high-rise buildings urged to start preparations for new Building Safety regime

Tuesday 11th January 2022
Everyone involved in the design of high-rise buildings should take a proactive approach to managing building safety by planning ahead and preparing for the biggest overhaul of the regulatory framework in 40 years.
Open-access content
web_Locked-gate-around-farmland_credit_iStock-1338937260

 Irish Farm Safe Schools Programme launched to reduce fatal and serious injuries

Friday 14th January 2022
A new educational programme that raises awareness of farming risks among children at primary schools in the Republic of Ireland has been launched by the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine.
Open-access content

Latest from News

web-morrison-shutterstock_1205515750.png

  Morrisons’ £3.5m fine is ‘a warning to all employers’, says council

Friday 24th March 2023
Morrisons supermarket has been fined £3.5 million for failing to ensure the health and safety of an epileptic employee who died after falling from a shop stairway.
Open-access content
jfc

 IOSH launches new five-year strategy

Tuesday 21st March 2023
IOSH launches its new five-year strategy this spring. It will build and act on the reshaped purpose and ambition gained during WORK 2022, which ran from 2017 to 2022.
Open-access content
web_Cranes-on-construction-site_credit_iStock-1352083784.jpg

 Risk & Compliance software provider collaborates with HSE and Costain to improve risk management on worksites

Friday 17th March 2023
A Belfast-based Risk & Compliance software provider has been collaborating with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and construction giant Costain as part of an ongoing project to unlock artificial intelligence’s (AI) potential in improving the management of risks on worksites.
Open-access content

Latest from Asbestos

yg

 Negligence claim over mesothelioma death dismissed

Thursday 2nd March 2023
Defendant found not to have breached duty of care over asbestos exposure in the 1950s.
Open-access content
web_Eddie-stobard-lorry_credit_iStock-668832174.png

 Logistics giant Eddie Stobart’s £133k fine for exposing port staff to asbestos

Friday 2nd December 2022
Eddie Stobart has been fined £133,000 for a number of failures that resulted in staff at its rail and container freight port in Widnes, Cheshire being exposed to asbestos.
Open-access content
web_asbestos-chrysotile-fibers_credit_Wirestock Creators_shutterstock_1871676343.png

 Regulator launches asbestos inspection campaign in schools

Monday 5th September 2022
More than three quarters of Britain’s schools contain asbestos – and the HSE is clamping down on them this month.
Open-access content

Latest from Nick Warburton

web_Cranes-on-construction-site_credit_iStock-1352083784.jpg

 Risk & Compliance software provider collaborates with HSE and Costain to improve risk management on worksites

Friday 17th March 2023
A Belfast-based Risk & Compliance software provider has been collaborating with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and construction giant Costain as part of an ongoing project to unlock artificial intelligence’s (AI) potential in improving the management of risks on worksites.
Open-access content
yig

 How to mitigate the risks of complex supply chains

Thursday 2nd March 2023
Businesses are often reliant on complex supply chains, which can make them vulnerable to crises. Here’s how OSH professionals can support business continuity.
Open-access content
6r

 World Risk Poll indicates extent of workplace violence and harassment

Monday 6th February 2023
A global poll has given a sense of the magnitude of workplace violence and harassment, with a fifth of respondents (21%) admitting they have experienced at least one form of it during their working lives.
Open-access content
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked in
  • Mail
  • Print

Latest Jobs

Senior Health and Safety Manager

Reading
Up to £65000.00 per annum + Great Car Allowance & Benefits
Reference
5452983

Regional Health and Safety Advisor

Northampton
Up to £53000 per annum + Travel & Excellent Benefits
Reference
5452982

Global Health, Safety and Environment Director

Up to £150000 per annum + Excellent Benefits
Reference
5452980
See all jobs »

Sign up for regular e-alerts

Receive the latest news and features, free to your inbox

Sign up

Subscribe to IOSH magazine

Receive the print edition straight to your door

Subscribe
IOSH Covers
​
FOLLOW US
Twitter
LinkedIn
YouTube
CONTACT US
Contact us
Tel +44 (0)20 7880 6200
​

IOSH

About IOSH
Become a member
IOSH Events
MyIOSH

Information

Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Cookie Policy

Get in touch

Contact us
Advertise with us
Subscribe to IOSH magazine
Write for IOSH magazine

IOSH Magazine

Health
Safety
Management
Skills
IOSH Jobs

© 2023 IOSH • IOSH is not responsible for the content of external sites

ioshmagazine.com and IOSH Magazine are published by Redactive Media Group. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part is not allowed without written permission.

Redactive Media Group Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ