TEN FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT ASBESTOS

• If asbestos is not managed correctly in your premises, you are putting your employees and other people’s lives at risk.

• If you or others disturb asbestos, you release fibres into the air therefore making yourself and others exposed to the dangers.

• If asbestos is in good condition it should not be disturbed, it should be left in place and managed.

• Some minor work on asbestos can be carried out without a license, but the majority will require a license to be obtained, precautions should always be followed.

• Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations is a duty to manage, not a duty to survey.

• Surveys don’t always have to be carried out but you do have to manage your asbestos-containing materials (ACMs)

• A bad survey is worse than not carrying out a survey.

• Managing asbestos means maintaining your (ACMs) in good condition to protect two groups of people.
  1. those who work on the fabric of the building
  2. those who work inside the building.

• Any ACMs that are damaged or deteriorated should be repaired, removed or isolated until remedial action can be taken.

• Your Asbestos Management Plan-
  1. is your way of ensuring that your employees or others do not disturb any of your ACMs
  2. can take may forms and need not be complex, but it does need to be effective.

NIC employees are trained to the highest standard, so trust in them to ensure a healthy environment for you.

ABOUT ASBESTOS

Asbestos is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral, used for its strong and incombustible properties. Due to its thermal stability and high heat resistance, this durable material was widely used in the past for the fire proofing and insulation of buildings.

Asbestos is no longer allowed due to health risks as it can pollute air or water, loose silica dust, when inhaled ort swallowed, has the potential to cause chronic lung disease including Asbestosis, mesothelioma and cancer.

According to the Health and Safety Executive, Asbestos is the greatest single cause of work related deaths in the UK. It is likely that up to 1.5 million Commercial, industrial and public buildings in the UK contain Asbestos materials. Asbestos was used in Hundreds of different products and buildings from the 1950’s to the mid 1980’s. Asbestos cement was used up until 1999 in a variety of different premises and materials. Any building that was constructed or had major refurbishment between the 1950’s and mid 1980’s is likely to contain some type of asbestos containing material. Use of asbestos peaked in the 1960’s and early 1970’s - premises built or refurbished during this time are the most likely to contain some form of asbestos.

Three main types of asbestos were commercially mined for their useful properties these were:

Crocidolite (Blue)

Amosite (Brown)

Chrysotile (White)

Asbestos contains properties that enable it to be mixed with other materials such as cement and take the form of a number of products including:

Insulation

Asbestos Insulation Board (AIB) - Ceiling and wall panels

Sprayed Coatings

Fire Protection to Steelworks.

NIC are motivated to ensure that Asbestos related diseases need not claim any more lives. With a management team, when combined have over 125 years experience in the Asbestos Removal industry, and a team of professional operatives that are highly trained and monitored, NIC provides an efficient and reliable service tailored to satisfy your specific needs.

WHERE CAN ASBESTOS BE FOUND

The following is a list of where in premises asbestos can be found.

ROOF AND EXTERIOR WALLS

• Roof sheets and tiles
• Guttering and drainpipe
• Wall cladding
• Soffit/facia boards
• Panel beneath windows
• Roofing felt and coating to metal wall cladding

BOILER, VESSELS AND PIPEWORK

• Lagging on boiler, pipe work, calorifier etc
• Damaged lagging and associated debris
• Paper lining under non asbestos pipe lagging
• Gasket in pipe and vessel joints
• Rope seal on boiler access hatch and between cast iron boiler sections
• Paper lining inside steel boiler casing
• Boiler flue

INTERIOR WALL/PANELS

• Loose asbestos inside partition wall
• Partition walls
• Panel lining to lift shaft
• Paneling to vertical and horizontal beams
• Panels behind electrical equipment
• Panels on access hatches to service riser
• Panel lining service riser to floor etc etc

WHAT ARE THE HEALTH EFFECTS OF ASBESTOS

There are four main diseases associated with inhalation of asbestos fibres.

• Asbestosis (scarring of the lung tissue)
• Mesothelioma (cancer)
• Asbestos-related lung cancer
• Diffuse pleural thickening (non malignant disease that affects the lung lining)

Current evidence suggests that asbestos can also cause laryngeal cancer and may be implicated in causing pharyngeal, stomach and colorectal cancers.

Asbestos is a hazardous material but can only pose a risk to health if the asbestos fibres are disturbed releasing them into the air and then inhaled. Asbestos Containing Materials or ACMs when maintained and in good condition cannot release the fibres that endanger lives.

Breathing high concentrations of asbestos fibres leads to asbestos related lung diseases, mainly cancers. It can take 15-60 years to develop, therefore misleading people that may have inhaled asbestos fibres into thinking there is nothing wrong with their health.

Diseases relating to asbestos are currently responsible for 3000 dealths a year in the UK. Most of the people that are dying now were exposed to asbestos in the 1950’s, 1960’s and 1970’s.

The largest group of workers that are at risk from asbestos related diseases are those in the building and maintenance trades.

THERE IS NO CURE FOR ASBESTOS RELATED DISEASES SO RING NIC NOW TO ENSURE THE HEALTH OF YOU AND THOSE AROUND YOU.