UK regulator backs an asbestos ban for the first time
A February 1997 statement from the UK Health and Safety Commission backed calls for a ban on asbestos. In what was described by Hazards magazine as “a shock departure from previous policy”, the statement recommended to the environment secretary “that the government continue to work in the European Union to extend the EU’s existing ban on asbestos to cover all uses of chrysotile (‘white’) asbestos – except for a limited number of essential uses where there are no satisfactory alternatives.” HSC said a consultation document would be issued, ahead of a ban coming into force in 1999. A ban in the UK took effect in November 1999.

HSC backs asbestos ban! Hazards, number 57, January-March 1997 [not online].