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Asbestos

Horrendous stuff, unfortunately I had about 20 years at work before the current regulations came in so I'm in the cross my fingers and hope category. I can think of many, many times I was exposed over the years without knowing the dangers.
They even used to give us asbestos tiles in science class at school to put our Bunsen burners on so they didn't burn the desks! Most of them were flaking and falling apart.
Still regularly come across it, it's everywhere, but now I know to stay well away from it.
 
lukev said:
I used asbestos-testing.org.uk to test 2 areas of my outbuildings and they sent a kit for me to provide samples. They got the results back to me within 48 hours, with a full report. Sadly in my case it did end up being asbestos, so that's a problem for when I've got deep pockets to be able to pay for disposal of about 70sqm of corrugated concrete asbestos panels 😩
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You're lucky I have about 4 ton I have removed from our outbuildings as I knocked them down to build our house, it is all stacked and covered on our land ready for removal. I have two more roofs to remove so I will get rid in one lot, and have someone that I know who is registered to remove it from site. He has said the cheapest way is to get a large sealed skip especially for asbestos. I'm probably looking at about £1k to do it in one skip. I have worked around it since 1980 when I left school, and it was in a lot of things we worked on when I was an apprentice mechanical fitter in a shipyard. Everything you do, wet it with a garden sprayer first, and wear disposable coveralls and a good mask such as a Sundstrom, which seal well on 95% of peoples faces, unlike a lot of other makes.
 
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honkhonk said:
He said they are just marley tiles and fire board and would have just ripped it out.
I've made the leaseholder get a professional in for a survey, but he's not happy about it.
This is the type of ignorance that kills people... All to save £150!
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Floor tiles including those made by Marley can contain small quantities of asbestos. These are generally low risk as the fibres are not readily released into respirable form being well bound into the matrix of the material. Fire board, fire breaks and mill board all known to have contained large amounts of asbestos and are very friable so much higher risk. Definitely get the material tested by a competent analyst organisation that uses a UKAS accredited lab.
 
Had the survey done today. He didn't seem bothered about the tiles and thinks the board could be supalux as it sparkles with a torch. He does think the ceiling could be Artex though. Should have all the test results back after Easter.
 
Supalux board can still test positive for asbestos as it may have been made in the same factory using the same machinery as the forerunner product Asbestolux.

Artex ceilings often contain so little asbestos that a single sample can miss it returning NAD. Often a grid of multiple samples are taken to be sure.

Artex is low risk if painted and undamaged and I've seen a few left in-situ or joist hangers fitted to the walls and a new lower ceiling added where height allows.
 
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no country members said:
Masks should be FFP3. All masks including disposable should be face fit tested on the wearer before use.
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Yes I am authorised to face fit, done the course and everything last year. That's how I know the Sundstrom fits the majority of faces and come in different sizes.
According to the HSE guidance , disposable do not have to be face fit tested, unless FFP3! Which makes a mockery of the whole HSE ruling. Therefore you can give a shitty disposable mask out , but if you give an FFP3 it has to be face fit tested!! Barmy?
You will find it almost impossible to get most disposable masks to pass a face fit test. Strangely we can get the Sundstroms to face fit most of the guys with beards, which should not happen in theory!!
 
DEAN C. said:
we can get the Sundstroms to face fit most of the guys with beards, which should not happen in theory!!
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You must be clean shaven to use disposable RPE in fact the only RPE that an HSE Inspector will accept with a beard is a positive pressure ((powered) type.
 
no country members said:
You must be clean shaven to use disposable RPE in fact the only RPE that an HSE Inspector will accept with a beard is a positive pressure ((powered) type.
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Yep, We all know you should be clean shaven, but you cannot argue with a face fit test pass if done correctly. I don't know why you keep mentioning disposables though, most if not all are useless and don't pass any test. How many companies actually do face fit testing though???
The HSE don't test anyone, they only recommend, and prosecute when you get it wrong. :rolleyes: . I've run workshops and training centres for 20 years, and been doing this for a living for 44 years, originally trained by ICI and Du Pont and did my IOSH later(Twice). A lot has changed for the better in that time thank goodness. All my techs now have to wear hand arm vibration watches that I monitor daily, how things have moved on.
 
I remember in the mid 80's stories of painters and decorators and their wives getting asbestosis as when sanding it they got covered in dust and took it home, the mrs would put the work clothes in the washing machine and breathe in the dust,
I suppose it was possible but was it just a made up story, I've no idea but it could be true
 
davegee59 said:
I remember in the mid 80's stories of painters and decorators and their wives getting asbestosis as when sanding it they got covered in dust and took it home, the mrs would put the work clothes in the washing machine and breathe in the dust,
I suppose it was possible but was it just a made up story, I've no idea but it could be true
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It’s absolutely true, when I was on the tools and had been on a suspect site I would change my clothes outside and wet them with the hose before bringing them inside and putting them in the washing machine, Then straight up for a bath.
 
davegee59 said:
I remember in the mid 80's stories of painters and decorators and their wives getting asbestosis as when sanding it they got covered in dust and took it home, the mrs would put the work clothes in the washing machine and breathe in the dust,
I suppose it was possible but was it just a made up story, I've no idea but it could be true
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When I was an apprentice in the early 80's we would strip artex ceilings with no facemasks.
Also spent a week at the artex factory in Newhaven doing an artex course with no PPE.
God knows what might have been floating around in the air.
 
A family friend was a scene of crimes officer for the police and used to attend all sort of places where asbestos had been broken up - eg - fire sites, etc

Turns out he picked up asbestosis as a result. Really sad way to go.
 
As a kid I joined my stepfather in a large tipper truck at a weekend …
We went into Turners asbestos in Widnes … into a central area maybe 50 x 50 yards …. Scrap asbestos ….
I bloke in a jcb (unmasked) was smashing it up with the bucket and loaded us up …. We watched from the cab with the windows down …. We drove out towards sandbach I think (unsheeted)
And it went into landfill
I dread to think !
 
A friend of mine died a few years ago with asbestosis he packed brake shoes years ago as part of his job
 
I expect a few of the old style mechanics would have suffered the same fate as they always used to blow out the bit of crap and dust out of the rear brake drums and still to this day they grind the edges off on new brake pads to ensure full contact due to lipped discs,
not sure what modern brake pads are made of nowadays though
 
honkhonk said:
Having a survey done tomorrow.

What a mess!
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floortiles.webpphoto_2024-03-25_17-59-02 (2).webp

Results come back as white asbestos for floor tiles and ceiling.

Says low risk for floor tiles as asbestos in embedded in the vinyl. But i don't know... Looks bad to me.
 
Good job you got it tested. Did the company suggest the best way to remove it?
 
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