Hilliarous watching people baulk at paying less money to dispose carefully of very hazardous substances than they would buy a cheap set of chinese coilovers for their Nissan
Seriously - don't fcuk with asbestos. There's a reason why it's been the most talked about H&S topic of the last 20 years - don't care what colour is, it'll ****ing come back to haunt you in 20 years time and no amount of money saving is worth your own health.
or just follow the following guidlines and its perfectly safe ...... certainly considered safter than doing your own electric work or plumbing going on the regulations
Removal of asbestos cement (eg corrugated shed roof or garages)
Householders can undertake the removal of asbestos cement products provided that the following precautions are observed:
•keep everyone out of the work area who does not need to be there.
•thoroughly soak the material before starting work. You are advised to introduce a suitable wetting agent, eg washing-up liquid, into the water before saturation.
•do not use power tools, use hand tools only.
•carefully undo fixing bolts, screws etc and remove panels complete.
•avoid breaking asbestos-containing material into small pieces, i.e. do not use hammers or drop materials from heights into refuse skips.
•stack the removed sheets in the open and cover with plastic sheeting.
•never sweep asbestos pieces – use a vacuum cleaner that complies with BS 5145, known as type "H" (available from hire shops).
•put pieces in stout plastic sacks and seal.
•always work in well-ventilated areas.
•persons handling asbestos should wear hooded disposable over-clothing, and thoroughly wash exposed skin on completion of work. You are advised to hire from a reputable hire shop (see Yellow Pages telephone directory) a suitable dust mask specified for asbestos dust (reference FFP 3).
Disposal of asbestos
Do not put asbestos waste into the dustbin. There are special arrangements for the disposal of asbestos waste. Asbestos cement must be disposed of at a site, licensed to accept it.
I'd do it myself just so I know its done properly. Just because you pay some blokes £900 dosent mean the kid they pay £5 an hour hasent dropped and broken a few tiles on the floor chucked them in a bag and said fook it. First time you sweep the floor you suck them up unaware.
Take the right protection and I dont see a problem doing it yourself
My mate has a business doing this, travels all around the country! Want me to ask him?
Interesting - spoke to this lot today http://www.asbestosfirst.co.uk/
They quoted me £900, but said "you know you can do it yourself". It seems that Asbestos in cement is fairly safe to remove, provided you follow HSE guidelines.
Turns out a mate used to remove asbestos for a living, so I reckon he and I will get this done.
Exactly - he was working with it. If you read up on the medical side of things, you're talking about the difference between smoking 40 a day for 20 years, and spending an evening in a smokey pub (not that there's many of those these days), but you get my drift.
Trying to find the medical article I read the other night....
Here you go, not a medical article, but makes an interesting read none the less....
http://www.nofluoride.com/asbestos.cfm
Extracted for your ease:
Linda Rosenstock, director of the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety, researched the dangers of asbestos early in her career and remains extremely concerned about its unsafe use. But she says even people who should know better lack a sense of proportion about asbestos risks.
"I remember getting panicked calls from other doctors who had been exposed to a burst of asbestos dust while working on a boiler or whatever," she says. "I would tell them, 'Calm down. It's no worse than smoking
a couple of cigarettes.' Those two cigarettes are certainly not good for your health, but you have to keep it in perspective. The dangers of asbestos - like smoking - depend on amount and duration of exposure."
Workers who developed asbestos-related disease often spent years in clouds of asbestos dust, spraying insulation inside ships or weaving fireproof cloth at textile mills. They worked in places that might have a typical asbestos dust level of 10 fibers per cubic centimeter of air - enough to cause 20% of workers exposed for 20 years to develop lung cancer or mesotheliorna, a fatal cancer of the lung's lining. Their exposure was so high that their spouses had elevated cancer rates because of dust carried home on clothing.
In everyday life, breathing asbestos is unavoidable. Asbestos is a natural mineral released into the air by wind and erosion, as well as from manmade sources such as brake linings.
I'd do it myself and spend a few quid on a decent respirator and other PPE.
Which can then be used for the next 'not ideal' job.
I'll be doing that, but all the kit and clothes will be double bagged afterward and go off to the same place as the boards
I'm not saying it's not nasty stuff that should be treated with care, but that if I take all the precautions then there should be nothing to panic about. It strikes me that you can't do your own electrics, or gas works, any significant building work needs to be vetted by building control and you need a licence to drive a car because all of these activities are dangerous, yet you can remove asbestos yourself, legally, and the authorities even give you the guidance to do it yourself and provide the facilities to dispose of it. That's good enough for me.
Did mine myself using the correct equipment, wetting it down and triple bagging it (bags can be found on bay of e with the correct warnings on). I went for a full head to toe noddy suit, gloves, goggles and PPE mask. Luckily the inlaws father works at a fine chem factory so that was all free.
Then I called up the council they booked in to check what I had to skip and that it was stored correctly. They gave me a cert and I took this and bags to the tip where they directed me to an enclosed skip for them to dispose of.
Hardest parts were
a) Not taking your protective gear off the entire time your working as I had pools of sweat in my goggles, horrible it was.
b) Getting bags not to pierce with sharp edges of the tiles, I ended up cardboard boxing some of them.
Other than that no problemo.
fxxk it just smash it up n fly tip it!
I did a mini NBC drill afterwards, everything external off and into a double bag for disposal.
All under garments off and straight in a wash, followed by a rinse to clear the machine of any fibres. Then me straight in the shower.
Respirator last thing off.
Last edited by Lenagh; 24-05-2011 at 19:17.
Horrid stuff. Killed the coolest man in the history of everness.
I wouldn't like to chance it, whatever colour it was. I'm probably doomed anyway. Our factory roof is asbestos (Well, CAF) and it's been dropping to bits for years.
A lot of water mains used to supply you with water are made of AC (Asbestos Concrete) so in it's unbroken form it's not a health risk. It only becomes a health risk if you have prolonged contact with the dust given off.
If you are breaking it to bag it, just do what people have said above, a top to toe suite, goggles and a mask. I'd also wet down any sheets before you break them to minimise the dust given off
So should I stop worrying myself sick about the broken (snapped) kitchen tile I binned, that turned out to be an asbestos floor tile (!)?