From Prohibition to Protection: A Governance Framework for Asbestos Remediation in Vulnerable Settlements

Abstract

Legacy asbestos in low-income housing remains a persistent environmental health risk that regulatory prohibitions and occupational standards alone cannot effectively address. Despite established hazards, comprehensive governance frameworks for large-scale asbestos remediation in vulnerable settlements remain underexplored. Here, we analyze an asbestos remediation implementation framework developed for state-funded housing and embedded within South Africa’s Programme on Rectification of Pre-1994 Residential Properties, using policy design analysis and literature synthesis, and derive an analytically abstracted Risk-Governed Housing Remediation Framework. This framework integrates risk appraisal, multi-level institutional coordination, engineering standards, occupational health safeguards, procurement design, fiscal oversight, and community participation into a coherent implementation model. The analysis shows that effective remediation is fundamentally a governance challenge requiring deliberate orchestration across regulatory, financial, professional, and social domains. This approach demonstrates how environmental rights can be operationalized and offers lessons transferable to the management of legacy environmental risks in vulnerable settlements worldwide.

Keywords

Asbestos remediation / Disaster risk governance / Environmental justice / Low-income housing / Risk governance

References

[1] Aryal A, Morley C. Mitigation of contamination and health risk: Asbestos management and regulatory practices. Sustainability, 2024, 1622Article9740.

[2] Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency. 2023. Evaluation of asbestos management and removal options. Canberra: Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency, Australian Government. https://www.asbestossafety.gov.au/evaluation-asbestos-management-and-removal-options-nov-2023. Accessed 12 Nov 2025.

[3] Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency. 2024. Phase three ANSP 2024–30. Canberra: Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency, Australian Government. https://www.asbestossafety.gov.au/asbestos-national-strategic-plan-phase-3-2024-2030. Accessed 12 Nov 2025.

[4] Berti Suman A. The concepts of public and environmental health risk governance: Hidden controversies in apparently plain notions. Citizen sensing for risk response: Exploring contributions to risk governance, 2025, Cham: Springer, 7-55

[5] Buthelezi N, Matamanda A, Nel V. Addaney M, Cobbinah PB. Climate change adaptation policies and disparities in informal urban settlements. Handbook on planning and climate change adaptation, 2025, Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing, 158-181.

[6] Butkevics J, Atstaja D. Diversion of asbestos—containing waste from landfilling: Opportunities and challenges. Sustainability, 2025, 1710Article4529.

[7] Cook E, Velis CA, Black L. Construction and demolition waste management: A systematic scoping review of risks to occupational and public health. Frontiers in Sustainability, 2022, 3: Article 924926.

[8] Curado A, Nunes LJ, Carvalho A, Abrantes J, Lima E, Tomé M. The use of asbestos and its consequences: An assessment of environmental impacts and public health risks. Fibers, 2024, 1212Article 102.

[9] Department of Employment and Labour. 2020a. Asbestos abatement regulations, 2020 (GN R1196 in GG 43893). Pretoria: Government of South Africa.

[10] Department of Employment and Labour. 2020b. Explanatory notes for the Asbestos Abatement Regulations, 2020. Pretoria: Government of South Africa.

[11] Department of Human Settlements. 2009. National housing code: Volume 3, Part 3: Rectification of pre-1994 residential properties. Pretoria: Republic of South Africa. https://www.dhs.gov.za/sites/default/files/documents/8%20Vol%203%20Part%203%20Rectificaton%20of%20Pre-1994%20Residential%20Properties.pdf. Accessed 15 Oct 2025.

[12] Dorsch, M.J. 2023. Polycentric sustainability governance in the 21st century as a transformative task. Doctoral dissertation. Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

[13] Epting S. Affordable housing in regions with naturally occurring asbestos. Environmental Justice, 2020, 1311520.

[14] European Commission. 2025. Stronger protection for workers with new asbestos guidelines and updated list of occupational diseases. Brussels: Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion. https://employment-social-affairs.ec.europa.eu/news/stronger-protection-workers-new-asbestos-guidelines-and-updated-list-occupational-diseases-2025-12-18_en. Accessed 10 Feb 2026.

[15] Ferraro S. Asbestos deaths: Sustainability against social justice. Società Mutamento Politica, 2024, 15304152

[16] Flórez Gutiérrez P, Cely-García MF, Larrahondo JM. Environmental management criteria, aimed at public policymaking, for the removal and disposal of asbestos—containing building materials in Colombia. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, 2023, 19410791088.

[17] Florin, M.V., and M.T. Bürkler. 2017. Introduction to the IRGC risk governance framework. Lausanne: EPFL International Risk Governance Center.

[18] Frangioudakis Khatib G, Collins J, Otness P, Goode J, Tomley S, Franklin P, Ross J. Australia’s ongoing challenge of legacy asbestos in the built environment: A review of contemporary asbestos exposure risks. Sustainability, 2023, 1515Article 12071.

[19] Gabela, M.F. 2021. The relationship of asthma and indoor air pollution in Orange Farm, Johannesburg homes in 2020. Master thesis. University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, South Africa.

[20] Gil LKT, Martínez DV, Franco KB, Pastrana AA, Saba M. Mapping roof coverings of asbestos–cement, the first step to control the technical condition/threat and establish priorities for replacement in developing countries. Heliyon, 2024, 1017113.

[21] Govorko, M.H. 2018. Developing a validated tool to identify asbestos-containing materials in domestic settings in the Western Australian community. Doctoral dissertation. Curtin University, Perth, Australia.

[22] Heefner CS. The right to an environment free from toxic pollution & state obligations to eradicate asbestos—Now is the time. European and Central European Journal on Environmental Law, 2020, 27: Article 79

[23] Hendricks MD, Van Zandt S. Unequal protection revisited: Planning for environmental justice, hazard vulnerability, and critical infrastructure in communities of color. Environmental Justice, 2021, 1428797.

[24] Hunt, S. 2020. Implementing disaster resilience policy in the Australian Federation. Doctoral dissertation. The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.

[25] ISO (International Organization for Standardisation)ISO 31000:2018 risk management–Guidelines, 2018, Geneva: ISO

[26] Irshad SM. Risk and economic governance. Economics of disasters and climate change: Risk and uncertainties, 2024, Singapore: Springer, 103-155.

[27] Kfoury A, Mitri G, Arab D, El Zakhem H, Aouad G. Risk assessment of asbestos-cement roof sheets in Chekka. North Lebanon. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2019, 1916Article 391.

[28] Kryder-Reid E, May S. Toxic heritage: Legacies, futures, and environmental injustice, 2023, Abingdon: Taylor & Francis

[29] Kusiorowski R, Lipowska B, Kujawa M, Gerle A. Problem of asbestos-containing wastes in Poland. Cleaner Waste Systems, 2023, 4: Article 100085.

[30] Linton A, Vardy J, Clarke S, van Zandwijk N. The ticking time-bomb of asbestos: Its insidious role in the development of malignant mesothelioma. Critical Reviews in Oncology/Haematology, 2012, 842200212.

[31] Lourens E. Asbestos abatement regulations, 2020 promulgated under the Occupational Health and Safety Act No. 85 of 1993 (as amended). Occupational Health Southern Africa, 2022, 284161162

[32] Macher GZ, Szigeti C. Pathways to asbestos-free and sustainable cities using multi-level perspective approach. Discover Sustainability, 2025, 61Article 960.

[33] Mahadevia D. Heat adaptation and health in the informal housing—An exploratory research in Ahmedabad. India. Development, 2024, 24Article 2461

[34] Makene, C. 2008. Housing-related risk factors for respiratory disease in low-cost housing settlements in Johannesburg, South Africa. Master’s thesis. University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

[35] Maphoso, N., and C. Amoah. 2025. Coping strategies adopted by inhabitants with asbestos cement roof houses in South African legacy township. In Proceedings of the 13th World Construction Symposium, 15–16 August 2025, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 495.

[36] Moteallemi A, Minaei M, Tahmasbizadeh M, Fadaei S, Masroor K, Fanaei F. Monitoring of airborne asbestos fibers in an urban ambient air of Mashhad City, Iran: Levels, spatial distribution and seasonal variations. Journal of Environmental Health Science and Engineering, 2020, 18212391246.

[37] Nix E, Paulose J, Shrubsole C, Altamirano-Medina H, Davies M, Khosla R, Belesova K, Wilkinson P. Evaluating housing health hazards: Prevalence, practices and priorities in Delhi’s informal settlements. Journal of Urban Health, 2020, 974502518.

[38] Obmiński A. Asbestos in building and its destruction. Construction and Building Materials, 2020, 249: Article 118685.

[39] OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). 2025. Recommendation of the Council on the Governance of Critical Risks. OECD/LEGAL/0405. https://legalinstruments.oecd.org/public/doc/305/305.en.pdf. Accessed 10 Feb 2026.

[40] OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). 2024. Environmental justice: Context, challenges and national approaches. Pairs: OECD Publishing.

[41] Pena-Castro M, Montero-Acosta M, Saba M. A critical review of asbestos concentrations in water and air, according to exposure sources. Heliyon, 2023, 95120.

[42] Pewa M, Robson E, Deutz P. A feminist political ecology of household waste management in an urban township. South Africa. South African Geographical Journal, 2025, 1081117

[43] Phillips JI, Rees D, Swanepoel AJ. Asbestos remains troublesome in South Africa after the ban: Issues in occupational health. Occupational Health Southern Africa, 2016, 2242023

[44] Qian E. The staying power of asbestos hazards: A critical environmental justice case analysis. Sociology Between the Gaps: Forgotten and Neglected Topics, 2023, 91Article 3

[45] Quintero Santofimio V, Amaral AF, Feary J. Occupational exposures in low-and middle-income countries: A scoping review. PLOS Global Public Health, 2024, 411Article e0003888.

[46] Renn O. Stakeholder and public involvement in risk governance. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, 2015, 61820.

[47] Rose A. Asbestos–The last modernist object, 2022, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press

[48] Shabangu P. Narratives of teachers’ experiences of structural violence in farm schools in Mpumalanga, South Africa. Power and Education, 2025.

[49] Shepard M, Binelli L, Okereke IC. The transparency and public availability of asbestos exposure levels. Journal of Thoracic Disease, 2025, 17121146511477.

[50] Singer M. Ecosystem crises interactions: Human health and the changing environment, 2021, Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons

[51] Thives LP, Ghisi E, Júnior JJT, Vieira AS. Is asbestos still a problem in the world? A current review. Journal of Environmental Management, 2022, 319: Article 115716.

[52] Thobejane, M.T. 2025. The spatial distribution of asbestos and the community awareness and perception of asbestosis risk in Ga-Mathabatha, Limpopo Province, South Africa. Doctoral dissertation. University of Limpopo, Sovenga, South Africa.

[53] Trimbur J. Grassroots literacy and the written record: A textual history of asbestos activism in South Africa, 2020, Bristol: Multilingual Matters2

[54] UK Parliament, Work and Pensions Committee. 2022. Set 40 year deadline for non-domestic building asbestos removal, MPs say. London: UK Parliament. https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/164/work-and-pensions-committee/news/165978/set-40-year-deadline-for-nondomestic-building-asbestos-removal-mps-say/. Accessed 10 Feb 2026.

[55] Ukwatte L, Khan T, Siriwardhane P, Ukwatte Jalathge SL. Accountabilities and stakeholder expectations regarding asbestos-free building materials supply chain: An actor-network theory perspective. Meditari Accountancy Research, 2024, 32195122.

[56] UNDRR (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction). 2015. Sendai framework for disaster risk reduction 2015–2030. Geneva: UNDRR. https://www.undrr.org/publication/sendai-framework-disaster-risk-reduction-2015-2030. Accessed 14 Nov 2025.

[57] Wigell, M., H. Mikkola, and T. Juntunen. 2021. Best practices in the whole-of-society approach in countering hybrid threats. European Parliament Coordinator: Policy Department for External Relations Directorate General for External Policies of the Union.

[58] Wilk E. Environmental management and socioeconomic challenges of removing asbestos-cement roofs, 2025, Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press

[59] WHO (World Health Organization). 2021. Urban redevelopment of contaminated sites: A review of scientific evidence and practical knowledge on environmental and health issues. https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/340944. Accessed 28 Nov 2025.

[60] WHO (World Health Organization). 2024. Asbestos. Geneva: WHO. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/asbestos. Accessed 28 Nov 2025.

[61] Zhao Z, Li J, Tan F, Xue Q, Gao S, He J. Assessing the global burden of mesothelioma: Trends, socioeconomic influences, and asbestos exposure—A retrospective cohort study. International Journal of Surgery, 2025, 111193103.

Rights & permissions

The Author(s)