HSE published its latest mesothelioma figures in July 2026. 2,146 people died from the disease in Great Britain in 2024, down 109 on the year before and well below the average of 2,508 a year between 2011 and 2020. Mesothelioma is a cancer caused by breathing in asbestos fibres, and most of today's deaths come from exposure decades ago, often before the 1980s.
The fall is real. It is also a reminder that the asbestos is still there. It was fully banned in the UK in 1999, and HSE's working assumption is that any building built or refurbished before 2000 may contain it.
Why this is a winter problem
Autumn and winter are when buildings get opened up. Boilers are replaced, heating pipework is rerouted, risers are opened for new cabling, damp ceilings come down and void flats are stripped out before the next tenancy. Every one of those jobs can disturb ceiling tiles, pipe lagging, boxing, textured coatings, floor tiles or the old cement sheet in a plant room.
The contractor on that job is usually not the person who knows the building. If nobody hands them the right information before they drill, the first they hear of asbestos is the dust.
Where the duty sits
Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 is the duty to manage. It applies to non-domestic premises and to the common parts of blocks of flats: the halls, stairs, lift shafts, plant rooms, roof spaces and service risers. The dutyholder has to find out whether asbestos is present, assume it is if they cannot be sure, record where it is and what condition it is in, assess the risk, and put a written plan in place to manage it. That plan has to be kept up to date and the information given to anyone who might disturb it.
A management survey supports that normal day to day duty. It is not enough on its own for building work. Before any refurbishment or demolition, HSE's guidance (HSG264) expects a refurbishment and demolition survey of the area being worked on, which is intrusive and goes behind the surfaces the job will break into.
What to do this month
List the work planned in each building between now and March: heating, electrical, roofing, kitchens and bathrooms in empty flats, anything that cuts, drills or lifts. For each job, check the asbestos register covers that area, that it is recent enough to trust, and whether the job needs a refurbishment and demolition survey before it starts.
Then check what the contractor will actually see. The register, the plan and the survey results should go to them before they arrive, not sit in a folder in the office. Ask for their asbestos awareness training records, and put the asbestos check on the permit for the job.
Finally, look at the condition notes. Material that was sound three years ago may have been damaged since, by a leak, a knock or an earlier repair. Re-inspect anything that is due.
Where SAMRISK puts it
SAMRISK holds the building and the land it sits on across thirty connected systems, twenty for the building and ten for the land.
The asbestos register, the management plan and every survey report are filed in the building's documents, with locations marked on the building plans. Re-inspections and plan reviews sit on the compliance calendar with a named owner. Each winter job is raised as maintenance, and the contractors and permits record carries the survey, the contractor's training and the sign-off before work starts. Asbestos sits in the building's risk assessments, and anything found damaged or disturbed is logged as an incident.
Sources: Health and Safety Executive, mesothelioma statistics for Great Britain, July 2026; Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, regulation 4; HSE, Managing and working with asbestos (L143); HSE, Asbestos: The survey guide (HSG264).
General information as at October 2026. Not legal advice; check the regulation or ask a competent person.