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Asbestos Awareness – Separating the truth from the myth

Wednesday, 17 August 2011 06:53

Myth

In the world of construction there are many myths surrounding the subject of asbestos. If you have tried to search ‘asbestos’ on the internet, you will be aware of the heavily conflicting theories and advice out there. Although asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral, and not a toxic substance, it’s fibres can be lethal when inhaled.

Fibres are inhaled when asbestos products are disturbed. HSE studies show that asbestos is responsible for more than 4000 deaths each year. Asbestos is the single greatest cause of work-related deaths in the UK. To put this in context the latest figures for road fatalities in Britain was 2,222 [2009]

There are four main diseases caused by asbestos:

mesothelioma (incurable and fatal);
lung cancer (almost always fatal);
asbestosis (incurable, debilitating and can be fatal; most sufferers will succumb to mesothelioma or lung cancer) and;
diffuse pleural thickening (not fatal – an indicator of past exposure to asbestos).

The effects of asbestos exposure can take many years before symptoms are recognised – mesothelioma, once diagnosed, is usually fatal within 14 months.

Myth 1: White asbestos is harmless

White asbestos is a Category 1 carcinogen and causes lung cancer when inhaled. It is true that blue and brown asbestos are significantly more toxic than white asbestos but the risk differential is closer to a comparison of the rate of bullets a gun fires. Each bullet can be fatal in its own right, but the more bullets, the greater the chance of a fatality.

White asbestos was, by a wide margin, the most imported asbestos into the UK, and thus the most common asbestos type used in products. Many products, however, were manufactured with more than one type of asbestos and thus it is very usual to find white mixed with both blue and brown, even though white asbestos may well be the predominant component.

Myth 2: Asbestos cement – it’s safe because the fibres are locked in

Asbestos cement is a product that is predominantly a mixture of cement and white asbestos. The fibres are tightly bonded in a matrix and when in good condition, asbestos cement is a lower risk asbestos product.

The risk from asbestos cement comes from the tasks that people perform on it and the condition of the material when these tasks are performed. After many years of exposure to the elements the cement will erode on the surface leaving asbestos that is not bonded in to the cement. As such the older and more weathered asbestos cement is, the higher the risk.

Asbestos cement should not be drilled, sanded, broken, cut, sawn, or cleaned; in fact anything that raises dust should be avoided unless proper, adequate controls have been implemented and those carrying out the task have been competently trained and issued with the right equipment. All work on asbestos cement should be conducted following the guidance within HSG 210 ‘Asbestos Essentials’.

Myth 3: Asbestos is used in new buildings

Asbestos has not been used in new buildings since 1999 when white asbestos was finally banned under the Asbestos (Prohibition) Regulations 1999; from whence it became illegal to import, supply or use any asbestos. Blue and Brown had previously been banned in the Asbestos (Prohibition) Regulations 1985.

Myth 4: All asbestos in buildings should be removed

Asbestos should not be removed just because it is present. Asbestos should be removed where retaining it incurs a greater risk than removing it. An example for asbestos removal would be where ceiling tiles in a corridor conceal; heating pipes; air conditioning ducts; IT cables and other services within the void above the asbestos tiles.

In such cases, repeated regular access for general maintenance, may mean that asbestos removal is by far the preferred option, as opposed to the control measures that would otherwise be needed to protect the service engineer each and every time they access the ceiling void.

The overriding factor in determining the action to be taken is whether the building can be occupied and maintained without anyone being accidently exposed to asbestos while they are in the building.

If this cannot be held to be true the first step is to check the Asbestos Management Plan to determine whether the product cannot be managed and does require removal, or, whether there is a process that does enable the management plan to control the risk with the asbestos retained in-situ.

Myth 5: There is a safe level of exposure to asbestos

There is no known safe limit for asbestos. We do know that the lower the exposure, the less the chance of succumbing to an asbestos disease. This does not mean that there is a ‘safe’ level.

Some people have succumbed to asbestos diseases from very small exposures as illustrated within a recent Supreme Court Ruling where Lord Phillips remarked that ‘it is plain that a very low level of exposure sufficed to cause the disease.’ In reference to the amount of exposure necessary to cause asbestos diseases and goes on to state: ‘… there is no known lower threshold of the exposure that is capable of causing mesothelioma.’ Put simply this is the President of the highest court in the land confirming that there is no known safe limit for asbestos exposure.

Summary

There is no doubt that there are many myths and many misconceptions surrounding the subject of asbestos in buildings. It is still a taboo subject, but the fact remains, in the UK around 1.8million people per year are exposed to asbestos; most of these are tradesmen and those working within the building maintenance industry. Many - if not most - of these employees have no idea that they are being exposed to asbestos, some by their own actions and some because they are in the vicinity of others unwittingly disturbing asbestos.

Currently high-risk asbestos removal can only be [legally] carried out by one of the 475 Licensed Asbestos Removal Contractors. These are the contractors who have been issued a license by the HSE’s Asbestos Licensing Unit (ALU). The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 divides asbestos into two categories; Licensable and Non-licensable. The dividing line is the risk created by the activity. The licensed industry employs approximately 9000 operatives, a tiny fraction (0.5%) of those exposed to asbestos annually.

With asbestos in over 500,000 workplaces, some 14 million homes and over 70% of our 26,000 schools; asbestos is a challenge for those involved in anything from the day-to-day management and maintenance of buildings to large-scale refurbishment and demolition. We are regularly reminded that this is a problem of today not one of the past and will continue to be a challenge for the future.

Over 4,000 people die every year from asbestos related diseases, the biggest workplace killer in the UK. Twenty tradesmen die each week from asbestos related diseases. Our goal is to ensure, as far as is possible, that the consequences of our actions today will be an eradication of the asbestos diseases of the future.

©SAFE Training – August 2011

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