Six of the eighteen private inspection companies sometimes incorrectly declare barns, homes and stables asbestos-free. The Labor Inspectorate reported this on Monday.
The Labor Inspectorate has not yet informed these six companies, but is already sounding the alarm. “Human lives are at stake. If private inspectors wrongly release a building, government inspectors, local residents and construction workers are exposed to carcinogenic fibers,” emphasizes Marcel de Haan of the Labor Inspectorate. “In the worst case, this can lead to death.”
Last year, 513 people were diagnosed with mesothelioma (asbestos cancer), according to cancer.nl. On average, only 9 out of 100 people are still alive five years after diagnosis.
The inspection system for asbestos removal is as follows: an asbestos remover is inspected by a private inspector. That private inspector is in turn checked by the municipality or environmental agency. And the municipality is again checked by the Labor Inspectorate
For example, one of the private final assessors about which the Labor Inspectorate is raising the alarm is tampering with the air pump that measures the concentration of asbestos in a room, says De Haan. Anyone who works according to the rules runs such a pump on location for two hours. “But someone appears to have already turned on the pump on the way to the address,” he says. The air is only measured on site for half an hour, after which the final assessor clears everything away for the next job. “Then you are of course frustrating the system.”
The inspectorate also has a “strong suspicion” that some final assessors conduct ‘research’ remotely. The company that needs to be investigated then provides photos of a location itself. “Then, of course, that person only sees what is in the photo,” says De Haan.
Many final assessors are paid per measurement or inspection, which means: the more jobs per day, the better for the wallet. “An unpleasant stimulus,” says De Haan. The remediation contractor may also choose a final assessor himself. The final assessor therefore benefits from maintaining good relations.
Red-handed
De Haan does not know how big the control problem actually is. The Labor Inspectorate can inspect ‘only’ 500 of the 80,000 asbestos reports annually, but nevertheless finds asbestos “almost every week” in places declared clean.
Sometimes inspectors who have only been inside for half an hour are caught: “a red-handed act,” De Haan calls it. Then the inspection is stationed and she sees that a private inspector is leaving half an hour after arriving. In other cases, sample testing is first required before a judgment can be made. In the meantime, the location has become further contaminated with asbestos. For example, there is a case where the contamination area had increased three times in the meantime, according to research by the Labor Inspectorate.
How can it be better? For example, by involving a third party in a project, in addition to the remediation contractor and the final assessor, says De Haan. Or by having the eighteen inspection companies inspect each other. Or else appoint other government agencies, such as the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, to take the measurements from now on.
A few years ago, the Labor Inspectorate already emphasized that the asbestos inspectors sector is vulnerable. “We hoped that things would get better, but it is actually getting worse. Because it concerns multiple domains, we will have to act jointly with various ministries.”
Snapshot
“We recognize the signals that something is going wrong,” says Edwin Zoontjes of trade association Fenelab, which represents the majority of the final assessors.
Naturally, he finds the negative publicity annoying. “Most inspection companies are doing well. They are bothered by this kind of reporting.”
But Zoontjes also knows that there are “poor companies in the industry.” That is why he does not understand why a pilot was stopped in 2023, after two years. Inspectors from the Accreditation Council (RVA) then came by unexpectedly and watched how the final assessors came to their decision, he explains. However, the RVA did not find it. Sons: “The plug went out.” The Council could not be reached for comment on Monday afternoon.
The Labor Inspectorate is also “not eager” to take over control. In 2023, the European Union revised the asbestos directive: the permitted concentration of asbestos was reduced and the precautionary and protective measures were tightened. The government is still busy implementing the necessary changes in the law. De Haan: “Let us immediately arrange something for the control problems.”
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