Asbestos 2026 – FAAM Conference
The end of April saw two days of technical and scientific updates for leading asbestos professionals, taking the form of the British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS) and the Faculty for Asbestos Assessment and Management’s (FAAM) Asbestos 2026 conference. This year’s event was hugely insightful, and was particularly pertinent for Casa Environmental Services; our Business Development Manager, Callum Skene, was invited to speak on the second day. More on that later – but first, some insights that we took away from the conference.
Day 1 – Science and Technical Updates
Wednesday at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Birmingham kicked off with keynote speaker Andrew Curran (Director of Science and Chief Scientific Adviser, Health and Safety Executive) describing the history of the HSE, and reminding us of the unique trifecta that the organisation provides in terms of Policy, Research, and Operations. Andrew introduced two research projects that the HSE will be undertaking in the near future, which were explained in more detail by his colleague James Staff later in the day.
Professor Daniel Murphy (Glasgow University) followed, with an update on his ongoing research into asbestos and cancer relationships. He theorises that exposure to chrysotile (white) asbestos is underestimated by current scientific and medical procedures, and provides evidence that mesothelioma and lung cancer are strongly correlated in studied parts of Scotland – with smoking not being a viable explanation for the prevalence. His research indicates that chrysotile presence in the mesothelial membrane of the lungs causes the same shortening of life as amosite (brown) asbestos in animals.
Editor’s Note: We largely treat chrysotile the same as the other five regulated fibre types in the UK when it comes to assessment and management – exposure to it should be avoided, and where this is not possible then exposure should be controlled as far as reasonably practicable. However, anecdotally we often hear the misconception that “white asbestos isn’t harmful” from members of the public or tradespeople. Although historic science has determined that exposure to chrysotile is less likely to lead to an asbestos-related disease, this new research challenges that understanding.
Professor Jukka Takala (Tampere University) concurred with the message that asbestos-related deaths are being underreported, stating that his research indicates that 17,864 deaths in the UK could be attributed to asbestos exposure – compared to the HSE’s figure of ~5,000. He believes this is due to how respiratory diseases are initially diagnosed, where occupational exposure to asbestos may not be being investigated thoroughly enough. He also agrees that female mesothelioma deaths remain trending upwards worldwide, even if male statistics are levelling out or dropping. He states, “cancer is a disease; occupational cancer is an administrative decision”.
Next up, James Staff (Health and Safety Laboratory) elaborated on the upcoming HSE research projects, colloquially named the ‘Non-licensed Work Project’ and the ‘Degradation Project’. The former looks to provide data on current practices, involving high volume background and post-removal static air monitoring as well as personal and static monitoring during the removal/ remediation process. The latter intends to investigate degradation of typical ACMs in non-domestic premises (ideally constructed before 1985). The HSL will be looking for volunteers for both of these projects, so if you wish to be considered, please get in touch and we can pass on contact information.
All the way from Australia, Brian Eva (FAMANZ Chair) then spoke about asbestos in play sand – an issue that we have investigated and written about ourselves. The issue was first brought to international attention when asbestos-contaminated play sand was identified in Australia and New Zealand, so Brian described the involvement of FAMANZ in aiding authorities with managing the risk. He alluded to exposure monitoring research that is currently being undertaken into contaminated play sands, with results to be published in the near future. He also spoke on Day 2 in a context of competency and career progression amongst asbestos professionals.
Subsequently, Julian Branch (Prevent Cancer Now) presented his findings following investigative journalism around asbestos cement mains water pipes. His work revolves largely around his hometown of Regina, Saskatchewan, where he discovered they have 600 miles of asbestos cement pipework servicing the mains water supply, and they experience an average of 210 breaches of said pipe per year. The breaches were described as ‘catastrophic’ and could lead to asbestos fibres being made available in the mains water supply to residences. Although the World Health Organisation states there is “no consistent, convincing evidence for adverse health effects from the ingestion of asbestos fibres in drinking-water”, Julian refers to a paper published in 2005 by Kjærheim et al., in which Norwegian lighthouse keepers were studied for gastrointestinal cancer following ingestion of asbestos fibres in their drinking water which was collected from degraded asbestos cement roofs; the paper concludes that the association between ingested asbestos and gastrointestinal/ stomach cancer risk is supported.
From the University of Torino, Professor Francesco Turci and Dr Jasmine Petriglieri discussed micro and nanoparticle toxicity, and evaluating the hazard from Naturally-Occurring Asbestos (NOA) respectively. Prof. Turci discussed factors that make inorganic dust toxic, such as dimensions, biopersistence, surface reactivity, and fibrous habit, explaining that there is a newly emerging risk from NOA. This paved the way for Dr Petriglieri to explain how NOA hazards can be assessed based on the ‘fibrosity parameter’ – proposing four categories for classification of NOAs: Asbestos + Asbestos-like, Asbestos-like Fibre, Non-asbestos, and Non-asbestos-like Fibre.
The day concluded with Richard Blunt, an ambassador for Mesothelioma UK, recounting his personal experience of the loss of his mother following a diagnosis of Mesothelioma. As well as providing a reminder of the newly-formed National Asbestos Taskforce, he discussed various asbestos statistics, but also pointed out that the word ‘asbestos’ is not mentioned in various government-issued strategies for the future of the UK, including Protecting People and Places: HSE Strategy 2022 to 2032, UK Infrastructure: A 10 Year Strategy, and the Education Estates Strategy, giving cause for concern that not enough consideration is being given to tackling our legacy asbestos usage in the built environment, especially considering that strategies have been implemented for reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) and unsafe cladding on high-risk buildings. He also encourages a move away the HSE’s asbestos-related death statistics in favour of newer research that suggests asbestos may be responsible for far more than ~5,000 deaths per year in the UK.
Day 2 – Competency, Ignite Sessions, and HSE Updates
To open the ‘Competency’ segment of the day, Marcus Hill (Asbestos Risk Control) discussed the importance of feedback loops and having time to think and make sound judgement calls in improving the competency of asbestos professionals. A ‘carrot and stick’ analogy was presented, as well as promoting the improvement of asbestos removal standards before advocating for mass removal from public properties.
This was followed by Greg Byrne (RB Asbestos Consultants) looking at competency from a practical angle. He encouraged certification, ongoing training, auditing and mentoring to demonstrate improving competency, as well as reminding asbestos consultancies of the importance of robust and explicit scopes of work for Refurbishment and Demolition Surveys. He concluded with support for a system whereby individual asbestos surveyors are registered and their competencies checked.
Richard Bennion (iON Consultants) delved further into the subject matter with a thought piece on ‘behavioural competency’. Rich drew comparisons to the lessons learned during the Grenfell enquiry about Skills, Knowledge, Experience and Behaviours (SKEB) and how that can be implemented across the asbestos industry, as well as discussing personal responsibility and accountability, consulting and communicating effectively, and acting with courage and integrity. He posed a question to the audience of their teams: “Do you measure the quality of their judgements?”
An update from Kevin Bampton (CEO, British Occupational Hygiene Society) followed, focused largely on the recently announced national register of qualified asbestos surveyors, a strategy designed to both tackle around 100 fraudulent asbestos surveying companies and to drive competency improvements amongst the legitimate organisations. He also announced positive progress in terms of integration with other asbestos trade bodies and professional organisations, in a move he described would deliver “a single voice” for the industry.
The ‘Competency’ session wrapped up with a panel Q&A composed of the above members and Brian Eva of FAMANZ. Topics discussed included advanced asbestos surveying courses (beyond those currently available), benefits of a centralised register of training for individuals, end of lease/ dilapidations surveys and Asbestos Management Plans, the question of Chartership as an option for asbestos professionals, and what large Dutyholders can do to promote competency in the industry.
After lunch came the Ignite sessions; quickfire 5-minute presentations where the slides automatically advance every 15 seconds. The presentations covered a broad range of topics, and were kicked off by our BDM, Callum Skene (Casa Environmental Services), giving a brief rundown of non-traditional housing in the UK, and some unusual asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) that can be found within them. This was followed by Alex Wilson (Johnson Matthey) emphasising the importance of understanding generational differences amongst the workforce, and Ross Campbell (Matila Services) talking through important considerations ahead of licensed asbestos removal work, including good specifications, effective planning and other considerations such as temporary works and building occupancy. Elizabeth Angood (Pragma and Associates) summarised a case study of bringing asbestos inspections in-house, overcoming teething problems to build a more compliant system with the benefits of ease of actioning remedial actions. Then, Kieron Dillon (Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust) walked through a 4-year project involving licensed removal of asbestos insulation in ducts, describing various challenges including working temperatures with ducts adjacent live steam pipes, ensuring temporary hoarding was compliant with infection control, and altering electrical systems to allow the asbestos removal contractor to manage their own electrics. Next up, Martin Saunders (AHT Insights) discussed asbestos in the supply chain, both as an accidental and intentional addition to imported products, citing the need for better training of border agents. Marvin Sexton (ABP Associates) rounded out the session with a discussion of Artificial Intelligence in the industry, drawing attention to risks of using Large Language Models, specialist tools like Retrieval-Augmented Generation and computer vision, as well as potential implementation of AI for air monitoring fibre counting using technology.
Following the Ignite sessions, we had insightful updates from Sam Lord and Heather Campbell (Health and Safety Executive) on plans for the Operations side of the HSE, including upcoming inspections of 3rd party service providers. Also covered were refreshers on the Fee for Intervention, Improvement Notice, and Prohibition Notice procedures, as well as case studies including a Prohibition Notice that was served for using an Infrared Spectrometer to analyse suspect ACMs despite the device not being capable of doing so. We also received notice of upcoming guidance from working groups as follows: Leak air monitoring from the Technical Working Group, dutyholder audits and commissioning surveys from the Duty to Manage Working Group, and a client guide to analyst’s work from the Surveyor’s Working Group.
Penultimately, Laurie Davies and Eve Taylor (HSE Fibres and Minerals Team) delivered an eye-opening report into recent performance of UKAS accredited laboratories analysing bulk asbestos samples.
The conference concluded with the FAAM scientific research update from Garry Burdett and Munaver Wagstaff (Defence Infrastructure Organisation); the former covered AI Phased Contrast Microscopy (PCM) research, PCM vs TEM (Transmission Electron Microscopy) fibre counts, HSE mesothelioma and lung cancer statistics, and research into improving PCM counting graticule technology, while the latter described a case study whereby several years of air monitoring data associated with degraded asbestos cement removal has been collated and is undergoing work to interrogate the data and draw scientific conclusions – the results of which are yet to be published.
Final Thoughts
The two-day conference conveyed a wealth of knowledge across scientific and technical elements, challenging preconceptions and pushing for consistent operational improvements throughout the industry.
Casa are very grateful to have been invited to contribute and hear from other industry experts first hand. We look forward to the possibility of contributing again in the future, as well as keeping up to date with the various projects that were described over the course of the event.
To become a BOHS or FAAM member, and to stay up to date with events like these, head over to the BOHS website.
