A brief look at the impact of the 2020 Asbestos Abatement Regulations
"Asbestos" refers to six minerals that occur in the environment as bundles of fibres that can be separated into thin threads. These fibres are heat-, fire- and chemical-resistant and do not conduct electricity. For these reasons, asbestos was widely used in many industries. The building and construction industry used asbestos for strengthening cement, insulation, roofing, fireproofing and sound absorption. However, in recent years it became apparent that asbestos poses significant health risks to persons exposed to breathing in these fibres at their workplace, in their homes or in their communities and it is thus labelled as a silent killer.
To safeguard against the risks of asbestos, the Occupational Health and Safety Act prescribes certain measures to protect employees at their place of work. In May 2022, the 2020 Asbestos Regulations were gazetted, replacing the previous set of regulations promulgated in 2001.
The question we aim to briefly address is how these new regulations will impact you as property owner, employer or self-employed person.
The regulations are essentially aimed at property owners where the owner is aware of the presence of asbestos on the premises, the property concerned is used as a place of employment and there is a possibility that employees can be exposed to asbestos.
Should property owners fall within the scope of application, there will be an obligation on them to identify asbestos on their properties and compile a written inventory that details the asbestos as identified on the property. A "competent person" as defined in the regulations, is required by the regulations to identify the asbestos on the property and any subsequent work including to clean, paint, remove, stockpile, transport or dispose of asbestos.
Although the amended regulations do not require property owners to have a specific certificate of compliance, the above-mentioned inventory must be provided to the new owner of the premises when there is a transfer of ownership. It should also be noted that the presence of asbestos on a property can have a significant impact on the selling price, even though its presence alone is not in itself a defect.
At this stage the Garden Route District does not have a disposal site for asbestos. The nearest disposal sites are situated in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, which means that the process to remove asbestos from your property can become costly.
The impact of the new regulations is not reason to be alarmed and property owners are not obliged to suddenly replace their roofs within the next few months. However, it can be reasonably expected that regulations and requirements around the issue of asbestos will be tightened rather than relaxed in the near future. It is advised that the process to replace asbestos structures should be embarked on sooner rather than later to avoid unnecessary costs, limited time frames, reduction of the property value and, of course, negative health impacts.
Source: Anelmari Truter, Candidate Attorney, Litigation, Millers