White asbestos

[spark-doctor]

quite right dyche, all you can do is try and get aware of it, and how it was used. hse has some good guidance on what to avoid etc, i wonder if there is something on the market where you insert a dust sample and it turns a certain colour when asbestos is present ( ps i have just applied for patent of this device in my father honour !)

There is a little sachet you can get. You put the material in it, crush the bag and shake. A lot like the drug sample things you see on the TV. I saw a specialist asbestos remover using them a while ago. He said they were very limited but can give a "dirty indication" on site but to be sure the sample has to be checked under a microscope.

I do a lot of work in old military sites and am lucky that there is a full survey done before we start work. if the material is deemed stable, you would not believe the extra regs we have to abide by to work in the area.

 

[wayne]

one fibre can kill many years later,i work for a company so if there is is any suspicion we stop and get professional advice .you one man type have to be careful

 

[wattsup]

When I worked in power stations during 'outage' early ( 80's) we used to install 1000w sun floods in boilers so the laggers could see. Some bad areas the floods would only shine 4/5 mtr into gloom and dust.

Paper masks on! I personally know of 3 laggers dead now all under 60, meso.

I've had the tests myself, endoscopy not nice but turned out ok. The docs were particularly concerned regards power station work over 20 years ago.

When I first started out, our council used twisted asbestos flex for pendant light fittings in all council houses. (even after the asbestos scare hit.) A real pain to strip, and not that long ago. A right bunch of hypocrites if you ask me considering I cant go for a cr*p now without training.

Even if it looks like asbestos I walk away now. Not worth it, no way no how. I don't trust the 'testing procedure' either.

The next one will be fibre glass in loft spaces and ducting. It's an irritant on skin, so it can't possibly be 'harmless' The bloody fibres get everwhere. But so long has you've got your hard hat on, you should be ok!
hse are a complete shambles and a joke.

 

[Cirrus]

Hasn't fibreglass been banned for lagging loft spaces in the US? They apparently recognise the inherant dangers lying therein.

 

[tony.towa]

Have read this thread with a great deal of interest.

Since I started in the industry I have seen a few changes in attitudes to asbestos. When I started it was only blue asbestos that was the problem and white and brown could be worked on (drilled into etc) and removed.
The next change was that if white or brown was removed it had to be removed of site seperately. Then it had to be removed by specialist companies. Now it has been reclassified.
I too have followed specialist teams into these sites (you go in with them at the start to make the site electrically safe for them) and then go in after the removal process is complete. White suites, masks, shower off area, polythene sealing of the entire site etc.
Now, compared with when I started, slightest doubt, check it out.
Industrial, commercial generally no problem with the customer, domestic (if local authority) again no major problem although can be a delay. Private domestic, if I am not sure and the owner "could not care" I walk away. I do try to explain the risks, with the little knowledge I have.
If you ever work on Wimpey Nofines properties, built in the sixties the porch ceiling can be white asbestos and heres a scarey one, the water storage tank can be made of a mixture of concrete and asbestos cast into shape.
You can work in areas where there is asbestos as long as you do not disturb or drill it but make sure you wear a mask. If running cables use self adhesive trunking. This should only be done as a last resort and only if the material is the type with the smoothed or polished finish.

My advise, leave the stuff alone, any doubts get it checked. As Cirrus says it's not just your life you're playing with.

And what of the future, fibreglass and (the concern of several chippies I know) MDF and the fine particles that produces when it's cut.

 

[greekislandlover]

Echo all the above.

Before we do any rewire there has to be an asbestos audit of the property. Councils are very good in that respect!! We have experienced a problem with the testing in that if it's a textured ceiling they take a scraping from the corner and pronounce it negative. Often the new texture is negative, but applied over an old texture that isn't. Nowadays they just assume ANY textured ceiling is positive and let asbestos contractors deal with the fittings before we go in.

Thing is, all they do is to take the fittings down and throw the screws away! No masks worn and no dust hoovered up.