It’s not uncommon for older buildings to have asbestos inside. Years ago, many types of insulation, flooring adhesives, and spray on coatings were made with a material called asbestos. While it provided some useful properties to the finished product, very little research was done beforehand. Over time, it has been found that regular exposure to asbestos can pose serious health risks, including lung disease, restriction of lung expansion, lung cancers, and mesothelioma. Once the health risks became known, bans were placed on the on-going use of the material – however, many homes and buildings had already been constructed with it. Since regulation was lax at that time, knowing exactly which buildings were contaminated was almost impossible.
It’s Your Duty to Manage Asbestos
As a shop or industrial business owner, it is your responsibility to be aware of the presence of asbestos within your building. This not only helps keep you safe, but it can keep your employees and occupants safe as well. If you know asbestos is present, or have a good reason to believe it is, you are expected to manage it safely. This includes notifying maintenance people, employees and any third-party teams that will be working within the building doing refurbishing or remodelling. In addition, there are control limits placed on your interior atmosphere to help ensure the amount of airborne particles is low or non-existent. Should the time come when it exceeds the control limit, it is your duty to hire a professional cleaning and removal team to contain the problem. Visit the website to get more information.
Removing the High Risk Materials
Some of the highest risk materials include insulation, insulating board, and sprayed coatings. These can be found in almost any area of a house or business, especially between the walls and in the raised area above ceilings. These high risk materials should be removed as soon as they are found, but only by a qualified, licensed and experienced team. It can be a very hazardous job so never attempt to remove it yourself. You’ll find the team you employ will use strict processes and will be wearing specialized respiratory equipment to keep them safe. Internal containment of the material is also a possibility, with a temporary sealed room being constructed around the working area. This helps prevent the spread of airborne particles and potentially allows business to carry on within the building as the removal process is going on, with no risk to the occupants.
When your building has exceeded the control limit for asbestos, it’s time to look for a company that specializes in asbestos removal in Wakefield. Contact ACS Health Safety & Environment today for more information!
