What is Asbestos?

Asbestos is a mineral type fibre mostly found in rocks of naturally occurring materials that can be separated into fibres. It can be located in and around unexposed locations throughout buildings and workplace environments. In the present day it is known to be used in thousands of consumer, automotive, industrial, maritime, building products and developments. It is extremely durable and strong making it resistant to heat and fire. It can be extremely harmful to occupants working in asbestos contaminated areas, as they are exposed to toxins and substances that relate to serious illness and possible death.

Asbestos site services:

• Asbestos physical testing and sampling
• Asbestos risk assessments
• Site clearance inspection & practise
• Aiding and controlling the contaminated area
• Communication and agreements between Queensland Laboratory and property owner.
• Site evaluations
• Further communication and expert observation on site

Why undertake an Asbestos site report?

Asbestos is a form of contaminated material and can be very harmful to occupants working in its presents because the inhalation of the toxin causes serious illnesses such as lung cancer, asbestosis and mesothelioma, it would be strongly advised to undertake such a report to advise current occupants on the site that it is free of ACM.

Removal of Asbestos:

The overall process is a three step procedure; discovery, isolation and notification of Asbestos-contaminated material (ACM) in workplaces.

The removal process ensures the identification of the type of ACM even in inaccessible locations throughout the workplace area.

Once Asbestos is located by the highly experienced and qualified team, it doesn’t just get sealed; it gets removed into waste bags to ensure no re-occurrence. Asbestos waste should be collected in heavy-duty polythene bags that are no more than 1,200mm long and 900mm wide.

The bags will be labelled with hazard warning signs, clearly indicating that the bag contains ACM.

When the removal process is complete the further observation will occur on site.

History of Asbestos:

Asbestos was a known used substance mainly in the mid to late nineties as cement, occurring with a variety of different materials, therefore any building that was constructed or was majorly attended to through refurbishment between the 1950’s to the 1980’s is likely to contain ACM.

Asbestos is known to still be used in the present day.

Types of Asbestos:

• Chrysotile (White)
• Amosite (Brown)
• Crocidolite (Blue)

All three types of Asbestos contaminating materials have been used commercially and are considered very dangerous, although; the Amosite and Crocidolite asbestos are thought to be more dangerous than the Chrysotile asbestos.