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Asbestos:
It’s still out there
Stop playing renovation
roulette was the message
during November’s Asbestos
Awareness Month. Angela
Brown reports on the hidden
danger that’s still lurking in one
in three Australian homes.
It’s been banned in Australia for more than a
decade but asbestos is still posing a risk to
electricians and gasfitters with this dangerous
fibre found in one in three Australian homes
built or renovated before 1987.
With no safe level of exposure to asbestos
dust, November marked Asbestos Awareness
Month to remind tradespeople and renovators that
they still need to be vigilant about this hidden peril.
ESV’s Executive Manager Gas Installation and
Appliance Safety, Paul Bonsak, says that tradies
“absolutely will” come across asbestos during
their careers.
Mr Bonsak said its strength, heat resistance
and insulating properties made asbestos
extremely popular for building from the 1940s
to the 1980s and plumbers and electricians
carried asbestos cement sheeting in their van
and would throw it around without thinking twice.
The fallout
Unfortunately, asbestos’s durable and
long-lasting qualities for building materials are a
big part of its danger to our health. The Asbestos
Diseases Research Institute (ADRI) advises
that asbestos does not break down—once the
particles lodge in your lungs, they stay there. We
now know that asbestos causes the ultimately fatal
asbestosis and the incurable cancer mesothelioma,
and it contributes to other cancers. Mesothelioma
can take decades to develop but once its
symptoms appear it can be fatal within a year.
The Commonwealth Asbestos Safety and
Eradication Agency says that Australia was one
the world’s highest per-capita users of asbestos
and is now seeing the highest incidence of
asbestos-related disease in the world.
How do I protect myself?
Asbestos is safe until its fibres are released.
Asbestos cement cladding, for example, is safe
while it is undisturbed. The danger arises when
the sheeting is broken up, cut or drilled into and
asbestos dust and fibres are released. These are
invisible to the naked eye and easily inhaled.
The Construction, Forestry, Mining and
Energy Union’s Occupational Health and Safety
Advisor, Peter Clark, says that when entering
an older (1980s or prior) building, tradespeople
should always ask for the asbestos register to
Hidden dangers: Even though it hasn’t been used for years, tradespeople will still find asbestos in homes
built or renovated before the 1980s, including meter panels, eaves, ceilings, insulation and flues.
ensure they can identify where asbestos
is located before starting work.
“It’s important to be informed,” he says.
“Every tradesman should do an asbestos
awareness course.”
Where are you likely to find asbestos?
Mr Clark says a worrying trend at the moment
is “dirty soil”, broken up pieces of asbestos
cement sheet being found in old building rubbish
pits. With so many sites being dug up for
development, these old dumping grounds are
a risk to anyone digging to lay pipes or cables.
Asbestos had hundreds of uses and it can
still be seen all around the state. Corrugated or
flat, AC sheeting was used for siding and roofing
on many buildings, particularly on the old fibro
weekenders. It was also used in everything from
eaves and ceilings to all types of flooring and
underlays, in wet areas like bathrooms, toilets and
laundries, and in kitchens for its fire resistance.
ESV’s Manager Electrical Installation Safety,
Brent Matthews, says that in the electrical industry,
asbestos was used in meter panel linings, meter
panels, fuse carriers, fuses, contactor arc chutes
and switches, cable insulation and conduits.
Smart meter installers will be aware that old
meter boards may contain asbestos and they
must be trained how to handle it.
Meter boards could be made of asbestos
mixed with resin or a coal-tar pitch composite.
These are a brown or black colour and have
a rough surface finish. Brand names such as
Lebah, Zelemite, Miscolite and Ausbestos may
be stamped on the panels. Mr Matthews says
that it is also important to be aware that the
internal face of the meter cabinet may be lined
with AC sheet or with asbestos millboard, a soft,
white cardboard-type material.
In the gas and plumbing industry, asbestos
was used in lagging around steel piping, piping to
and from boilers and chillers, steam and hot-water
heating supply-and-return lines, gaskets
and washers.
Mr Bonsak says asbestos was also often
used in the sealants of gas joints and in the fluing
of wall ovens, cookers and space heaters.
The type of flexible asbestos used for
lagging or insulation is called friable and it is
easily broken up with hand pressure. Contact
with this type of asbestos is particularly risky
because the fibres are easily released and,
therefore, breathable.
Beware of home renovations
The increase in the number of home
renovators—both men and women—being
diagnosed with an asbestos-related condition
suggests that homeowners are not sufficiently
aware of asbestos.
An ADRI study found that 60 per cent of do-ityourself renovators had been exposed to asbestos
dust, and by the time an electrician or plumber is
called in, asbestos may have already been disturbed.
What if I disturb asbestos?
Mr Matthews says electricians and gasfitters
will often come across asbestos unexpectedly
when pulling something apart.
If you do inadvertently cut or drill into asbestos,
there are a few steps you can take to minimise
the risk.
Before you do anything further, put on a
P2 standard mask. Seal the area to prevent more
fibres escaping using paint or PVA glue squirted
through a water spray bottle.
Then call in the professionals.
or more information go to
F
www.asbestosawareness.com.au