Asbestos
People working in demolition, construction, and building maintenance are at particular risk of exposure to asbestos.
What is asbestos?
Asbestos is the name given to a group of naturally occurring minerals that are made up of long, thin, crystalline fibres. There are six types of asbestos:
- chrysotile (white asbestos)
- amosite (brown asbestos)
- crocidolite (blue asbestos)
- anthophyllite
- tremolite
- actinolite.
Where is it found in buildings?
Asbestos was used extensively in the UK from the 1940s to the 1980s for a range of uses:
- Sprayed asbestos and loose asbestos packing were generally used as fire breaks in ceiling voids.
- Moulded or pre-formed coatings and lagging were generally used in the thermal insulation of pipes and boilers.
- Sprayed asbestos and asbestos in a cement matrix were commonly used as fire protection in ducts, firebreaks, panels, partitions, soffit boards, ceiling panels and around structural steel work.
- Sprayed asbestos and board materials were often used for sound deadening in walls and ceilings, usually as a coating or as tiles.
- Asbestos cement products include corrugated roofing sheets, corrugated sheets for wall cladding, gutters, rainwater pipes and water tanks.
- Millboard, paper and paper products containing asbestos were used for the insulation of electrical equipment, and as sandwich or backing materials, for example on wood veneers or linoleum.
- Asbestos ropes and products woven from asbestos fibres such as cloths.
- Certain textured coating, decorative plasters and paints, for example ‘Artex’ type finishes and cornices.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) provide detailed information on the locations and types of asbestos found in buildings.
What you must do
If, once you start work, you come into contact with any materials that you suspect contain asbestos (including any hidden materials or dust), stop work immediately and leave the area.
Asbestos-contaminated soil often results from mixing soil with demolition rubble, poor housekeeping at industrial sites or poor waste disposal practices in the past.
Do not break or damage any material that may contain asbestos to try and identify it. Only suitably trained people should take samples.
If you have any materials containing asbestos that could become airborne, you should keep them damp.
Asbestos removal
You should double bag any material containing asbestos and place it in covered, locked skips. This includes overalls, over-shoes, sampling wastes and respiratory protection equipment that have come into contact with asbestos.
You must clearly label the material. When disposing of asbestos-contaminated materials, contractors who specialise in removing asbestos will use red, thick plastic sacks with asbestos warnings printed on the outside.
With a few exceptions, all work with asbestos insulation, asbestos coatings and asbestos insulating board must be carried out by contractors who have a licence from the Health and Safety Executive or Health and Safety Executive Northern Ireland.
For work with other forms of asbestos, employers must prevent employees being exposed to asbestos, or where this is not practical, reduce exposure to a level which is as low as possible. The Health and Safety Executive and Health and Safety Executive Northern Ireland provide further information on dealing with asbestos.
Asbestos disposal
Asbestos is a carcinogen (cancer causing material). Materials containing it, or likely to be contaminated with it, must be disposed of as hazardous/special waste.
Your waste haulage contractor will be able to give you disposal options in your area.Alternatively, to find contractors in your area who can dispose of your waste, use the waste directory. SEPA has produced guidance on the disposal of asbestos waste in landfills. Your waste haulage contractor will be able to give you disposal options in your area.
Alternatively, to find contractors in your area who can dispose of your waste, use the waste directory.
