The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012

Provision and cleaning of protective clothing

14.—(1) Every employer must provide adequate and suitable protective clothing for any employee employed by that employer who is exposed or is liable to be exposed to asbestos, unless no significant quantity of asbestos is liable to be deposited on the clothes of an employee while at work.

(2) The employer must ensure that protective clothing provided in pursuance of paragraph (1) is either disposed of as asbestos waste or adequately cleaned at suitable intervals.

(3) The cleaning required by paragraph (2) must be carried out either on the premises where the exposure to asbestos has occurred, where those premises are suitably equipped for such cleaning, or in a suitably equipped laundry.

(4) The employer must ensure that protective clothing which has been used and is to be removed from the premises referred to in paragraph (3) (whether for cleaning, further use or disposal) is packed, before being removed, in a suitable receptacle which must be labelled in accordance with the provisions of Schedule 2, as if it were a product containing asbestos or, in the case of protective clothing intended for disposal as waste, in accordance with regulation 24(3).

(5) Where, as a result of the failure or improper use of the protective clothing provided in pursuance of paragraph (1), a significant quantity of asbestos is deposited on the personal clothing of an employee, then for the purposes of paragraphs (2), (3) and (4) that personal clothing must be treated as if it were protective clothing provided in pursuance of paragraph (1).