Asbestos Testing

Asbestos was widely used in many industries until the mid 1980's and was used in some imported construction materials until 1999, so can crop up in the most unexpected places.

The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 make it necessary for commercial building duty holders to identify possible asbestos in their buildings and to maintain a register that notes the location and condition of the material concerned.

A type 1 presumptive survey does not usually involve sampling and testing, because the surveyor has to presume that any suspect material contain asbestos.

However, that can lead to problems later on, because anything that's suspected as containing asbestos in a survey, has to be treated as being asbestos for maintenance purposes.

So, whenever you come to work in the close vicinity of the material, you need to take precautions.

Unfortunately, the Health and Safety regulations lay down formal procedures for such working, which in most cases will significantly increase your maintenance costs.

For this reason, we recommend that certain types of materials are laboratory tested as a matter of routine, because the small cost will more than repay itself later on if no asbestos content is found.

Some materials that may contain asbestos, such as floor tiles, linoleum, old toilet cisterns and the like present such a low risk, that it's easier to presume that they contain asbestos. Only when they are damaged do they need to be tested.

Testing for asbestos is a specialist job and from November 2004 can only be carried out by officially licensed laboratories.

The cost is not as expensive as you might think and can not only save your company large amounts of money, it can also save lives.

Type 2 and Type 3 asbestos surveys involve sampling materials as a matter of course and for this reason will be more expensive than a type 1 asbestos survey.

WARNING

Asbestos surveyors are specifically trained and experienced in safely sampling asbestos containing materials in the work place.

Under no circumstances should an untrained person attempt to take a sample from materials suspected of containing asbestos.

Asbestos is made up of millions of microscopic fibres, that if disturbed can become airborne, presenting a major risk to the health of you, your employees and your visitors.

The consequences of disturbing asbestos could result in the total closure of your business until the area is declared safe by the Heath & Safety Executive.

If you suspect that your commercial premises contain asbestos, please call us immediately for friendly advice or an instant quotation.

For more information about asbestos testing, please see our testing site, www.asbestostesting.co.uk.