Fire Damaged Buildings and Asbestos
Getex Director Jason North has warned on the dangers presented by burnt out asbestos cement houses. “When an asbestos cement building burns the usual thing that happens is that light flakes of asbestos containing material (ACM), which does not burn (but simply becomes small and fragile), rise up in the air and settle on the surroundings covering land, foliage, and buildings in an asbestos flake ‘snow’. The flakes can easily be transported with the wind.”
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“I have seen them lodge in cobwebs in bushes, in swimming pools, in all sorts of places where they can be quite difficult to remove. If not attended to quickly people or pets may walk across the ’snow’, then carry the asbestos inside the house. A quick response is vital”. Since asbestos in this form is classified as friable*, an asbestos removal contractor with an AS1 licence is required to clean it up. The removal must be conducted in association with NATA accredited asbestos in air monitoring **. While it is unlikely that in the days following a building fire which has involved the release and spread of asbestos containing materials (ACM) that airborne fibre levels will exceed any relevant Australian guideline for countable fibres which conform to defined geometric criteria, considerations for those within the vicinity must include the obvious observation that any dust which becomes airborne has the potential to contain respirable fibres, hence the situation must be monitored in order to assist in the risk assessment/ decision making process. The situation presented by the spread of asbestos materials from one property to another brings with it many other issues beside those of occupational health and safety and site contamination. An experienced consultant such as GETEX can advise those involved in the clean up works, assist in the management of the removal, provide air monitoring and issue the final site clearance following the removal of all accessible asbestos contamination and get the building/home owner back on track to re-building. Once the asbestos has been taken care of, normal building works can then resume.
Jason North went on to say “The Code requires that the risk be assessed and action taken. The most significant danger is that the asbestos is inhaled. There is a hierarchy of control measures that should be undertaken, including ensuring people do not become exposed to the flakes, either by excluding them from the area and removing the source of contamination (most favourable) or by requiring them to wear personal protective equipment (least favourable). Until effective hazard control measures can be put in place, preferably rapid clean up action, NATA air monitoring for airborne asbestos is a requirement for the development of an appropriate risk control strategy”. This air monitoring is done by GETEX who can also provide associated services such as the development of asbestos sampling plans, asbestos removal control plans or scope of work reports, soil classification and disposal reports and asbestos clearance inspections and reports. GETEX are NATA accredited for asbestos fibre monitoring and air volume measurement.
Getex has experienced qualified staff with many years of project experience working alongside council, project managers, insurance companies and building controllers/owners, including the management of small and large scale asbestos clean up works following house/building and bush fires.
Getex may be contacted 24 hrs/ 7 days a week on (02) 9889 2488 and further information can be found on our website, www.getex.com.au.
* WorkCover NSW defines Friable Asbestos Material as “any material that contains asbestos and is in the form of a powder or can be crumbled, pulverized or reduced to powder by hand pressure when dry. Sprayed limpet, millboard, pipe and boiler lagging are examples of friable asbestos. Asbestos inappropriately buried (i.e. not in accordance to any environmental legislative requirements) is considered friable asbestos material. Any asbestos cement product, which has been subjected to weathering, severely damaged by hail, damaged by heat/fire or other mechanical action, or illegal water blasting is a friable asbestos product and an AS1 Licence for friable asbestos is required for its removal”. Refer to http://www.workcover.nsw.gov.au/Publications/OHS/SafetyGuides/workingasbestos.htm
** The NOHSC: 3003 (2005) Guidance Note on the Membrane Filter Method for Estimating Airborne Asbestos Fibres 2nd Edition describes the method of determining possible respirable fibres as : “A sample is collected by drawing a measured quantity of air through a membrane filter by means of a sampling pump. The filter is later transformed from an opaque membrane into a transparent, optically homogeneous specimen. The respirable fibres are then sized and counted in accordance with defined geometric criteria, using a phase contrast microscope and calibrated eyepiece graticule. The result is expressed as fibres per millilitre of air, calculated from the number of fibres observed on a known area of the filter and the volume of air sampled’.
Download the Fire Damaged Buildings and Asbestos Information Sheet (PDF)
