Asbestos - What You Need To Know

What You Must Know if You Want to Lessen Your Asbestos Removal Cost

MLS — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 10:20:54 +0000

The purpose of asbestos awareness training is to offer workers with a primary understanding of asbestos, its danger, and the ability to identify conventional asbestos-containing materials found in the workplace. Realizing where it is found can help workers steer clear of exposure to this hazardous mineral.

What forms of items contain asbestos fibers?

Asbestos is a group of minerals found almost everywhere in the environment and is a fibrous material. They are present in fireproofing materials, electrical insulation, cement, construction materials, roof shingles, ceiling plaster, brake linings, and many other types of building materials. Small asbestos dust can become airborne, especially throughout the manufacturing of materials that contain asbestos. These airborne fibers can be breathed in, leading to mesothelioma, cancer, and other asbestos-related ailments.

Asbestos awareness training is vital because asbestos is seen in a large number of buildings in addition to homes and schools. Within the home or workplace asbestos will normally be found as insulation above ceilings and on metal beams, in ceiling tiles and floor tiles manufactured prior to 1981, and in electrical insulation encircling ducts and pipes. So far as floor tiles are concerned the bulk of 9-inch tiles and a few 12-inch tiles will contain asbestos if they had been manufactured prior to 1981.

Is asbestos a threat in your workplace building?

If an office building has asbestos-containing materials a notification will be posted near any main doorway alerting everyone to its existence. Additionally, if asbestos-containing-electrical insulation exists a label or sticker will be positioned to point out the prospective danger.

Critical ways to steer clear of exposure

To inhibit exposure you need to first pay attention to its likely locations. Always presume that all possible asbestos-containing items have asbestos until confirmed otherwise. Simply looking at ceiling and floor tiles, acoustic ceilings, electrical insulation, and other types of materials won’t usually let you know if they contain asbestos fibers. The only method to resolve positively if a product has asbestos is to have the Environmental Health and Safety Department take samples and look at them in a laboratory. Never take a sample on your own as it will possibly cause particles to become airborne where they can be breathed in.

product is labeled as containing asbestos or you believe that it could possibly contain hazardous asbestos, such as 9-inch floor tiles or acoustic ceiling tiles, you should not touch it. Never cut, disturb, move, hammer, saw, or break any materials that you believe may contain this hazardous mineral.

You must first check with the Environmental Health and Safety Department prior to carrying out any work like repairing or replacing ceiling or floor tiles, replacing or repairing electrical insulation around pipes or ducts, or removal of “popcorn” ceilings. This includes moving ceiling tiles to carry out any sort of upkeep work. Before performing any work you should first decide if the product contains asbestos. Once you have determined that the items are harmless the work can be done. Nonetheless, if asbestos is found it must be removed by qualified professionals before any work is carried out.

If any asbestos-containing items are found they must be reported to the Environmental Health and Safety Department. Until you have positively determined that any ceiling and floor tiles, or sprayed-on insulation does not contain asbestos fibers, you shouldn’t try to perform any work involving them. If you discover potentially dangerous products take measures to stop other folks from coming into contact with the material or disturbing it until an asbestos abatement crew can clean it up. Realizing what materials contain asbestos and where they’re located can help you avoid exposure to others and to yourself.

By Joshua Harding

Find important information about asbestos awareness training, asbestos removal companies

Industrial Roofing Essentials

MLS — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 10:19:45 +0000

One of the most important elements of industrial roofing is the obvious need to ensure it holds up to the rigors of internal environment and the weather outside. This ability to withstand the rigours inside & out and can be cost effective is reserved to a very few products, and in all cases, it’s most likely that these roofs are built from coated steel.

The basics

There’s several important ‘needs’ that people find with industrial roofing – one of the most important ones is a solid frame to attach the roof to. As industrial buildings are frequently huge and have heating problems, it’s important to choose a cladding that allows you to retain or reflect heat – in which case you need insulation, whether it’s foam or mineral wool and a steel internal & external sheet. This may add to the strain on the roof, so it’s important to ensure that your roof ‘foundations’ are sturdy and up to spec from the outset.

From there, you need to choose a set of cladding that works well with the overall flow of your building.

More design considerations.

Profiled steel doesn’t suit flat roofing projects- water will gather in the dips, which may in turn cause corrosion. So when designing a roof, consider designing it with a slant and align the ‘dips’ down that slant – maximise drainage by ensuring that the slant is sufficient to prevent snow or ice adhering for long, but not so steep that the area in the roof is ‘empty space.

Another design consideration is what internal roof cladding you would like to use. Usually, white painted steel is used which reflects light and heat, and protects it from any internal elements that may arise, such as heat, steam or moisture. It also allows you to heat your room with more predictable consistency, without creating issues with understanding the thermals in the building, or looking for drafts.

Colorcoat® specialise in roof cladding , perfectly suited for your building projects. Enquire about the roof cladding & other industrial roofing online today

By Gareth Hoyle

Asbestos Removal – Know The Critical Facts

MLS — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 10:19:24 +0000

For almost all of the last century asbestos was really a favored compound used within loads of construction supplies. Due to its many exceptional traits which can include high temperature resistance, strength, in addition to its insulating characteristics, it was subsequently used in more than 3,000 construction items. Nonetheless, around the seventies, as soon as it was actually discovered that inhaling asbestos dust precipitated several serious or terminal lung maladies, it was subsequently banned for use in these construction items. In the present day, if there exists a threat of asbestos dust becoming released into the atmosphere, asbestos removal or containment is essential.

Asbestos isn’t really harmful unless of course its dust particles become airborne. When released into the atmosphere they could be sucked deeply into the susceptible lung cells and lead to mesothelioma tumors or some other dangerous lung diseases. This will make it imperative that you do asbestos removal or containment the moment contaminated items are found. When you’re redesigning your house you need to prevent all possible unsafe dust particles from being discharged into the atmosphere. Therefore, an authorized asbestos abatement service should really be retained to perform the work. You’re able to do the task on your own, but it is a really high-risk and filthy activity and must always be completed following rigid safety laws and codes.

In case you are thinking of performing asbestos removal without having the assist of a professional, be sure that you follow all guidelines, regulations, and safety measures. Failing to execute the task correctly may lead to significant health problems. Many individuals will perform the task by themselves in an effort to conserve cash, but they need to fully understand that it’s an incredibly serious activity and might not actually save any money. Protective clothing, footwear, gloves, breathing apparatus, and goggles have to be rented or bought. In addition, there are several items that should be accessible to boot. Furthermore, you should by no means complete the task without any help. A minimum of one additional person will have to be there as a assistant.

The initial matter that will have to be undertaken whenever achievable asbestos products are noticed is to test the items to determine if deadly fibers are definitely there. Occasionally the objects are labeled as manufactured using asbestos, but most of the time they have to be checked out in a laboratory for verification. Should the hazardous mineral is found, it could in many instances be left intact with virtually no danger to an individual’s overall health. However, when the dangerous supplies seem to have been disturbed or perhaps deteriorated, asbestos removal or encapsulation will have to be undertaken right away.

The task of asbestos removal is usually tricky. You will discover a number of steps which will need to be put into practice to preserve the protection of everybody taking part at all times. The entire abatement operation entails organizing everything before you proceed. Initially, basic safety clothing and equipment will have to be obtained and available to employ. The particular place in which the labor is to be performed will have to be enclosed entirely to stop the escape of any asbestos dust. Step ladders, scrapers, towels, plastic bags for containment, together with other equipment should also be immediately available. All the hazardous items must be wet before asbestos removal is begun. After clearing away any sort of hazardous substance it will have to be correctly put in a bag and labeled before it is actually driven to a disposal place.

In case you are thinking about doing the chore of asbestos removal on your own, don’t forget to read and know the different health and safety laws well before commencing the chore. Obtain estimates from a minimum of a pair of asbestos abatement contractors to ensure you will in fact save some money by doing it on your own. Occasionally it is in reality less costly to use a professional contractor than it is to purchase all of the equipment and do it on your own. The best strategy in the majority of circumstances is to enlist the services of an experienced service to complete the work. They should additionally be ready to conduct a final inspection when all the work is finished to ensure that all deadly items have been removed.

Learn some essential facts about asbestos removal, if it must be completed, tips on how to perform the job all by yourself, precisely what supplies and attire is required, precisely what the average asbestos removal cost will be, in addition to several other facts about asbestos and its particular dangers.

By Joshua Harding

Check Your Roof Before It’s Too Late

MLS — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 23:36:07 +0000

The roofs of all buildings whether they are residential, commercial or industrial are subjected to constant battering by the elements at all times of the year, but now, right in the middle of winter is when we are most likely to suffer real problems. Recent high winds in the South East of England have caused some major structural damage to buildings old and new which just goes to show that you can’t put off checking your roof simply because it is relatively new.

Perhaps it is simply that we don’t see our roofs on a regular basis as we do our windows, paintwork and the internal fabric of a building that we tend not to maintain our roofs as regularly as we should. The fact that they are, for the most part, not easily accessible means that we generally have to pay someone to check for damage – and if there isn’t any we feel we have wasted our money.

In commercial buildings there is often an obligation to carry out maintenance checks on a regular basis which there isn’t in a residential property – and, of course, there is a greater financial impact to commercial premises as the result of any serious damage such as having to relocate staff or having stock ruined due to a leaking roof. And yet the disruption and cost of a serious leak in our homes can have a major impact on our lives (and wallets).

And as recent weather conditions have shown, rain is are not the only thing likely to cause a problem with roofs – high winds are just as likely to do some serious damage by loosening tiles and even blowing off chimney pots. So don’t leave it until it’s too late – check your roof now before the winter weather gets worse.

Roof Blown off by 44mph winds

MLS — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:20:57 +0000

Following the news yesterday that part of the roof had blown off a relatively new, and very expensive grandstand at Epsom Racecourse in Surrey, there has been plenty of comment on the blogosphere about who is to blame. Could it be the Architect, who designed a roof that could not withstand wind speeds that are not unusual in this part of the UK? Or could it be the builders who constructed the roof or perhaps those responsible for the maintenance of the roof (or the lack of maintenance)? Given that the roof is only 2 years old and that we have a relatively moderate climate in Southern England, it would seem unlikely that much maintenance of the roof would have been required at this stage.

Extremes in wind speed are a natural feature of the UK climate so can hardly be unexpected considerations for architects and roofing contractors working on major public buildings. With a typical average gust speed of 25 – 30 mph in January and maximum gust speeds of 70 mph any building in the southern UK should be designed and built to withstand 44 mph gusts.

On the Beaufort Wind Scale 44mph only falls into the “fresh gale” category which might be expected to break twigs off trees and impede progress but it is only in strong gales (between 47 – 54 mph) that slight structural damage might be expected to occur – such as chimney pots and slates being blown off. So that rather suggests that the gusts which caused the substantial damage to the roof of the Grandstand at Epsom were not excessive and certainly would not have been expected to cause the destruction that they did.

Epsom staff evacuated as roof blows off stand

MLS — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:18:33 +0000

POLICE sealed off roads to Epsom Downs on Tuesday morning and racecourse staff were evacuated after strong winds ripped off part of the grandstand roof.

The roof of the Duchess stand, which was opened in April 2009 as part of a £38 million development, was torn off by winds which, according to the Met Office, were gusting at up to 44mph.

The surrounding area was strewn with insulating material blown from the roof, which resulted in trainers in the town deciding not to exercise their horses.

Racecourse spokesman Johnno Spence said: “Following severe weather conditions and turbulent winds at Epsom Downs racecourse this morning, the Duchess Stand roof has been damaged.

“There were no injuries to anyone but as a result and after liaising with the emergency services, the racecourse has been evacuated and all non-essential members of staff sent home. The emergency services are on site and are monitoring the situation.”

Local trainer Jim Boyle, who was on the rain-lashed Downs posted a picture of the damage to the grandstand on his Twitter account.

He said: “I didn’t see it happen but our string rode past soon after it had happened and there was already debris starting to fly around so I decided to cancel third lot.

“Some of the roads are closed, I would guess for health and safety as there is a bit of foam around from the two-layered roof.”

By Paul Eacott 12:20PM 3 JAN 2012

Your Options for Industrial Asbestos Roofs

MLS — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 08:22:16 +0000

Replacing an industrial or commercial asbestos roof is, fairly obviously, a major job with major cost implications. These cost implications do not relate only to the cost of removing and replacing the actual roof but also to the downtime for your business while the building cannot be used. The cost will vary depending on the size and location of the building and the prevailing weather conditions. If the roof has become dangerous but putting your business on hold is not feasible then you may also need to find temporary accommodation for your staff, stock or equipment – adding further to the expense.

But if the roof is dangerous because of the extent to which it has deteriorated then you cannot put off finding a solution to prevent the asbestos fibres escaping into the building.
Removing and replacing the roof is not the only option open to you. If the problems with the roof are not too severe, or are concentrated in only one small part of the whole roof, then it is possible to repair an asbestos roof or to overclad (or encapsulate) it with a metal profile sheet roof or with a specialist roof coating designed specifically for asbestos roofs. Encapsulation is a safe and cost-effective option where minor repairs would not suffice and a full replacement is not an option, whether because of cost or business operating constraints. It traps the asbestos fibres inside the outer roofing material and prevents their escape into the surroundings.

What type of asbestos roof solution you choose will depend significantly on whether you own the building or are simply leasing it (and the remaining term of the lease). For owners of industrial or commercial premises encapsulating or replacing the roof is likely to be the right long term solution but for leaseholders, if a repair can be facilitated with minimal cost and minimal disruption to your business, then that may be the better solution.

Whatever works best for your business, it is important to take some action if you have asbestos industrial roofing in poor condition – the problem won’t go away and will certainly get worse of left untreated.

Maintaining Commercial and Industrial Roofs

MLS — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 17:48:18 +0000

Maintenance of any type of roof is essential to prolong its life and to avoid any failure of the roof structure. Leaking roofs can be costly in terms of the damage they may cause to property inside the building and the resulting inconvenience of moving furniture, stock or equipment away from the leaking area so it is always advisable to have an ongoing roof maintenance plan. However, the roof is often one area of building maintenance that is neglected even though a problem with the roof can have serious consequences.

The surface of every roof is constantly exposed to airborne pollution, acid rain, the ultra-violet rays of the sun, and also to snow and wind too. In coastal regions a roof is, in addition, exposed to the corrosive effects of salt. So it is no surprise that a roof will deteriorate over time if it is not regularly maintained and repaired. Some apparent deterioration may only be cosmetic such as fading or discolouration of coated roofs or the growth of moss and lichen but you cannot assume that these issues do not mask underlying problems and the worst thing to do is to leave a roof that you suspect of being past its best until it actually starts leaking – the cost of regular checks and maintenance of your commercial or industrial roofing by a reputable contractor is insignificant compared to the cost of major repairs or, worse, a completely new roof.

In many cases a professional clean can restore the appearance of an undamaged roof but if repairs are required they will cost less if done before a minor issue develops into a major problem.

The roof is one of the most important parts of any commercial building, whether that is a warehouse, factory or office and implementing a regular programme of maintenance could avoid any major financial outlay on substantial repairs or roof replacement.

Asbestos And How It Affects Your Health & Safety At Work

MLS — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 14:16:03 +0000

In the UK more people die every year from the work-related effects of asbestos than from any other work-related cause so it is important that anyone potentially exposed to asbestos as part of their work duties knows what to look out for and how to protect themselves.

If asbestos fibres are inhaled they can potentially lead to very serious, and often fatal, diseases such as mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis, which although not necessarily fatal, can be a very debilitating disease.

In the UK people are exposed to very low levels of asbestos fibres because it is a naturally occurring substance in our environment. But there is only a high risk of developing one of the serious diseases if you work in an environment where you are likely to inhale large amounts of asbestos fibres on a regular basis. Asbestos-related diseases do not become apparent until many years after exposure so it is important to minimise exposure if you are working in a high risk area.

Contact with asbestos can occur in any of the following occupations and in many others involved in working on buildings built or refurbished before the year 2000:

Electricians
Plumbers
Carpenters
Joiners
Plasterers
Heating engineers
Roofing contractors
Painters and Decorators
Construction workers
Gas fitters

Asbestos is not generally a health risk if it is undamaged, particularly when encapsulated in another material such as asbestos cement, but it is important to remember that you can’t see asbestos fibres in the air because they are too small so there are no warning indications of any danger.

Neither is it easy to tell if materials actually contain asbestos simply by looking at them – special laboratory tests are the only way to make a definite assessment. But there are some common uses of asbestos that are worth watching out for, such as:

Lagging on pipes and boilers
Ceiling and floor tiles
Insulation in partition walls
Lift shaft lining
Fire surrounds
Soffits
Asbestos cement gutters, pipes and water tanks
Asbestos Roofs

So if you think you may be at risk of asbestos exposure at work, then check the Health & Safety Executive’s equipment and method sheets for details on what to use and how in order to stay safe.

DIY non friable asbestos removal

MLS — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 17:08:28 +0000

Non friable asbestos can be very difficult to identify. The only way to be sure that the material you are dealing with is asbestos is to take a sample of the material and send it into a lab for analysis. This is also a good way to prove that a material does not contain asbestos. A rule of thumb in Australia is if a material is suspected of being asbestos then treat it as though it contains asbestos.

Non friable asbestos is essentially asbestos mixed with another material. Non friable means that the material is unable to be crumbled into dust by hand pressure. Examples of asbestos products that would be classified as non friable are asbestos roofs and asbestos walls.

Examples of asbestos products that are classified as friable would be asbestos ropes and asbestos insulation.

Too safely remove non friable asbestos you need to follow these procedures.

Never break up or smash an asbestos product this will release asbestos.

When removing always wet the material down either with water or even better spray a solution of PVA glue onto the material.

If nails or screws are holding the material in place carefully remove the nails by nail puller, cold chisel or flooring spike. A nail puller will pull the nail out a cold chisel will take the head of the nail and a flooring spike can be used to push the nail back. I find the larger nails are better removed with the nail puller and smaller nails with a flooring spike.

Screws or bolts are to be removed by hand powered tools, electric powered tools are not recommended because of the potential to damage the asbestos.

Personal protective equipment to be used includes disposable overalls, gloves and a P2 rated respirator. Overalls and gloves are thrown out after every use. Respirators can be used again, only if they are a reuseable type. The respirator should be the first piece of equipment you put on and the last piece of equipment to take off.

When working indoors with asbestos the room in which you are working needs to be sealed off. This is to stop the spread of asbestos dust into other parts of the building. You can do this with some plastic and duct tape.

Once you have finished removing asbestos its time to clean up. For this you will need a HEPA vacuum rated for asbestos. Vacuum all floors and walls thoroughly. Once vacuumed you can take down all the plastic.

http://www.asbestosperth.com.au
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