US EPA Announces Near Total Ban on Importing and Manufacturing of Asbestos

16 May 2019

In a major move this week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the United States has announced that with immediate effect, a near-total ban on the importing and manufacturing of asbestos is in place. According to the EPA’s assistant administrator, Alexandra Dunn, the changes have been made to address ‘dangerous loopholes’ that existed in legislation that allowed for its use in certain industries and in the manufacturing of certain products.

This is seen as a hugely positive step that the EPA has taken as it all but removes any addition being made to the asbestos-containing products that already exist, greatly reducing its presence the USA at the very least. Until the change was made to the law, certain heat control, fireproofing, gaskets and mechanical components still used asbestos in their manufacturing processes.

The sooner this move is replicated around the world, the sooner we can all look forward to an eventual scenario where asbestos no longer poses a risk to health in the workplace.

Established Expertise
Since 2001, we have been helping Irish businesses to stay safe in the workplace by offering high-quality asbestos abatement, asbestos removal and disposal management and asbestos training services. We like to highlight major news items relating to asbestos, like this one, as we are dedicated to spreading the word that this most dangerous of construction materials still represents a danger in the workplace despite being banned as a construction material in 1999.

If you’d like to know more about anything discussed here, you can find lots of information about the services we provide on our website www.ohss.ie. Alternatively, our expert team is available for advice and guidance on (01) 6905907 and are more than happy to help answer any queries you might have.

If you do suspect that asbestos is present in your premises, we highly recommend that you contact a suitably trained asbestos abatement professional before doing anything. Your life and those of your employees could literally be at stake.

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