Barbour Training Toolbox Talks Asbestos Asbestos INTRODUCTION Asbestos Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral and because of its excellent fire retarding and insulating properties it was widely used in the building industry until the mid 1980's. Research has shown that breathing in asbestos fibres causes lung disease and in 2008, it was the greatest single cause of workrelated deaths in the UK. The use of asbestos is now banned but if existing asbestos materials are in good condition, they can be left where they are as long as their condition is regularly checked to ensure they do not become damaged. Asbestos Asbestos types The three main types of asbestos that have been commercially used are: Blue Brown White In Practice, asbestos cannot be identified by colour alone as its appearance can change, depending upon how it has been manufactured or treated. Asbestos If there is asbestos at your place of work • know where that asbestos is • assume that materials contain asbestos (unless there are good reasons not to do so) • check your organisation's written record of the location of asbestos (the asbestos register) • regularly re-check the register for new information • follow all health and safety instructions • if you see any damage to asbestos, report it to your supervisor. Asbestos Where might you find asbestos in a building? • roof and walls • boilers and pipe work • ceilings • interior walls/panels • flooring materials • ventilation systems • domestic appliances • old fire blankets • water tanks. Asbestos Working with asbestos • employers need a licence from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) before starting any asbestos-related work • anyone working with asbestos must have received appropriate instruction and training • you must be given information and training if you could be exposed to asbestos fibres at work • asbestos waste is hazardous waste. Asbestos Remember : The only way to reliably check which type of asbestos is present is to have a sample of the material examined in a laboratory. All asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) should be treated with caution. If you think you have found asbestos, immediately inform your supervisor or safety representative. Asbestos Questions and Answers Q: What part of the body do asbestos fibres damage? A: Asbestos can damage the lungs. Q: How can you tell whether a material contains asbestos? A: Check the organisations asbestos register. Asbestos must be sent to a laboratory to determine which type it is. It must only be handled by a person who has had appropriate training. Disclaimer Toolbox Talks are provided by Barbour for general guidance on matters of interest. In making these documents available to a general and diverse audience it is not possible to anticipate the requirements or the hazards of any particular subscriber's business. Users are therefore advised to carefully evaluate the contents and adapt the Toolbox Talks to suit the requirements of each situation or activity. Barbour does not accept any liability whatsoever for injury, damage or other losses which may arise from reliance on this information and the use of these documents. Copyright of these documents remains with Barbour and whilst subscribers are permitted to make use of them for their own purposes, permission is not granted for resale of the intellectual property to third parties.
