Summary: Asbestos poses a hazard to health and environment. Its use and management as well as removal fall within the ambit of the Health and Safety at Work Regulations. Building owners, whether they are owners of homes or commercial buildings must call in certified professionals for asbestos removal.
There are tens of thousands of buildings across Australia that have asbestos in one form or another. Asbestos may be present in friable form such as insulating material between walls and in ceilings. Asbestos may be present in a compounded and bonded form in the form of walls, ceilings, drains, gutters and machine parts. Friable asbestos tends to disperse in the air and travel long distances. Old composite asbestos may have neared end of life and it is prone to becoming powdery, releasing friable asbestos in the air and into the environment. Asbestos causes asbestosis, mesothelioma and lung cancer and symptoms can appear after 30 years. If you own a building that was built prior to the ban on asbestos in 2003, it is likely there are asbestos containing components. It is in your interest to stay compliant with Health and Safety at Work Regulations 2016. It is in the interest of health of workers and environment that asbestos, if it exists in your premises, is removed in a safe manner by professionally certified technicians specializing in asbestos removal Australia.
When asbestos removal becomes necessary
Homeowners may undertake repairs or renovations of older buildings. In this case they are likely to encounter asbestos in the form of false ceilings or corrugated asbestos sheet roofings, walls, insulation, gutters and drains. It is in your interest to call in professionally qualified and licensed asbestos removal Australia based companies to identify and remove asbestos or contain it. You have two options. One is to encapsulate or otherwise coat it in a way to prevent release of asbestos fibers. If you do this you may have to maintain a register of asbestos and get the premises inspected on a regular basis. The second and better option is removal of asbestos.
Similarly commercial and industrial building owners may find that even though removal of asbestos is expensive it is the better and permanent solution. Eliminate asbestos from your premises and you eliminate all potential threats that asbestos poses for now and for the future. Further, by removing asbestos you need not worry about compliances with various regulations that specify management of asbestos and maintaining registers with periodic inspections.
The right asbestos removal Australia procedure
Even if the area of asbestos to be removed is less than 10 square meters it is always advisable to call in licensed and trained asbestos removal Australia based companies to handle it because of the risks and in order to conform to guidelines. Such removal companies have state and territory WHS licence for asbestos removal.
- One requirement is that prior to removal of asbestos from the premises all workers, working on asbestos removal or otherwise, must have their health monitored and such monitoring should identify changes in health caused by asbestos exposure and records need to be maintained for 40 years.
- The asbestos removal company must put in place air monitoring equipment during removal work to check if there is any air contamination.
- Removal is carried out safely and with precautions to minimize risk of dispersion of friable asbestos and all asbestos material is collected in one place and cleared for disposal.
- Once removal is complete then the area is inspected to detect presence of asbestos remnants.
The removal may be simple such as replacing asbestos sheets with some other material. In some cases demolition may be involved in which case the asbestos removal Australia company works along with contractors and supervises demolition too while its workers specifically handle asbestos removal.
Author owns and operates asbestos management plan and removal company in Victoria, Australia and it is fully licensed. All its removals are fully compliant with Health and Safety at Work Regulations.
Having asbestos in home or office can also create a number of legal concerns.
This work demands safety measures, including asbestos testing, inspection, special equipment & clothing, work area containment and much more to get the job done perfectly. Asbestos Disposal
Hiring trained and licensed professionals gives you peace of mind that your home or office is free from these harmful fibres.
The professionals deploy relevant skills to handle asbestos removal, thus reducing the exposure of fibres to the atmosphere.
Hiring asbestos removalists is all about ensuring your personal safety.
The professionals are well-versed with the laws governing, testing, removal, disposal and demolition of asbestos.
Asbestos removal in Newcastle & Central Coast is a serious task with every old city building this size should be.
With all the physical makeup and legal issues surrounding it, it's important to take care of it whenever you can, especially before starting a transformation or demolition project, to make sure there's no sudden danger during construction.
Since this substance is very dangerous, you should seek help from a specialist who will handle its safe disposal, storage rather than trying to handle it yourself.
You can get help from professionals via https://rynosasbestos.com.au/.
