asbestos

[dcelectrical]

pop quiz

where does all that hazardous waste go to



wish i didnt know the answer


this comes to mind as i;
am quite happy to work live when deemed necessery(damn i can never spell that word) to do so.
will go down the side of a building in a bosens chair to relamp it,
or i will tighten the bars up live with a spanner

i have a fear hopefully shared by all

so here is the story, thought i might share it

went on a call out a month ago, simple enough story, power keeps tripping.

arrived at managing agents picked up keys
arrived at block of flats
argued with porter about parking
moved van 2 foot to the left and proceeded to go up to flat.
communal hallway with fuseboards on the outside of the properties
open cupboard of old mantel unit and observe meter and old rewireable ceramic fuses,
observe the white fluffy type stuff above and below the fuse carriers.
also observe the burned out neutral bar,
tighten screw on bar ever so slightly to give a temp repair
remove self from property having carried out temp repair
report to agent urgent cu change required but asbestos contractor required.
furnish agent with numbers for local numbers for this type of job (helpfulness gets cu changes)
wait 6 weeks for wheels to turn
arrive on site at alloted time to meet with contractor
argue with porter about parking
then meet with block managment agent, who asks, what exactly are you doing here today, i then inform him i am going to change the fuseboard but before i do so i need to have the asbestos removed, he then asks me, what colour is the asbestos, only we had a report carried out here last year and all the asbestos is encapsulated, not wanting to disagree i asked him to refer to the specialist contractor who would confirm this, he then advises me that he is going to have to see the building owner who happens to live upstairs, about 5 minutes later this little old lady comes down stairs and asks what i have come to do, i then advise her i have come to change the cu, she asks if am a proper electrician, as " electricians have been divided into two types now engineers and domestic installers" "so are you an engineer" and to those of you who are engineers you know what it means. after a couple of minutes we establish that for her puropses i am an engineer, we then proceed upstairs to the property where she is going to show me that you do not have to touch the asbestos to remove it, on arrival she pulls open the door and exclaims, look its only a bit of asbestos we have had loads of these taken out,
i was already about 30 foot away by the time i turned round my apprentice was behind me hottly followed by the asbestos man,
she then said i am glad we have had this conversation you can carry on with the fuseboard change but i think a small ammount of asbestos like this could have just been thrown in the bin.

an hour later after a thorough clean and the area was mine

and the board change went like a dream.

it cost about £200 to get it removed by an authorised contractor and i would not have touched the job prior to it being done.

the little old lady did not get it, i dont understand it but i know i am scared of it and i hope the younger guys never get to see it.

 

[tino1888]

Any photos? Sumtimes you don't always see the risks.. Wish I could notice all the types more

#silentkiller

 

[Darkwood]

I remember drilling through in my early days and the high risk stuff at that, my grandad died from it meaning im also have a high chance of been genetically prone to react but thus for im ok as i had a chest scan on my 40th to check for signs..... fingers crossed but it could be many more decades to show up if i have it :/

 

[dcelectrical]

sadly my dell laptop is not working so i am on the wifes pc but i will be putting up some photos very soon as i have had 6 asbestos boards in the last 12-18 months, i generally take pics and am happy to share, for 3 years i had looked after a building that is riddled with asbestos, they have in fact spent the last 6 months removing it, as long as it is encapsulated(basically encased and untouched) it is not meant to be dangerous, it is very often in old service heads and in gaskets round old service head doors, and in ceramic fusewire type fuse carriers and you can quite easily double bag it and removed, but if you think it might be then treat it as if it is until someone can prove that it isnt.

 

[dcelectrical]

scares the pants off me, my wifes a doctor and this is not an urban myth.
a man worked in vauxhall motors in luton on the brake assembly line, heavy smoker, used to go home every night after his shift and sit in the armchair in his overalls and his daughter would sit on his knee for her bedtime stories, he is now in his 70's and his daughter sadly is no more,

 

[Darkwood]

Its a massive issue in our town as we used to have a Brake lining company that used to employ a good % of our town but long since shut down leaving it legacy with many families around here.

 

[Engineer54]

The ceramic fuse asbestos scaremongery again. ....lol!!

One of my job's as an apprentice was to go round the many thousands of fuse boards and switch fuses changing out the asbestos arch suppression tape every shutdown. I should have been dead by now, many times over!!!

This is the white glazed asbestos, the least hazardous of them all, and in such small quantities, the chances of contamination is minimal to say the least. Hell you don't even have to disturb the stuff, to remove the bank of fuses, just pull the fuse one by one disconnecting the cable(s) and replace the fuse(s) again.

I reckon every spark over 50/55 has had to work with these old ceramic fuses, from when they first started work as apprentices. I wonder how many of them will be shaking in they're shoes at the thought of replacing a bank of them, or as it seems here, at the mere sight of them!! ....Not many i would say. I personally wouldn't think twice about removing them working on them etc.... Just need to know what your doing and a bit of commonsense safety wise....

 

[ipf]

The ceramic fuse asbestos scaremongery again. ....lol!!

One of my job's as an apprentice was to go round the many thousands of fuse boards and switch fuses changing out the asbestos arch suppression tape every shutdown. I should have been dead by now, many times over!!!

This is the white glazed asbestos, the least hazardous of them all, and in such small quantities, the chances of contamination is minimal to say the least. Hell you don't even have to disturb the stuff, to remove the bank of fuses, just pull the fuse one by one disconnecting the cable(s) and replace the fuse(s) again.

I reckon every spark over 50/55 has had to work with these old ceramic fuses, from when they first started work as apprentices. I wonder how many of them will be shaking in they're shoes at the thought of replacing a bank of them, or as it seems here, at the mere sight of them!! ....Not many i would say. I personally wouldn't think twice about removing them working on them etc.... Just need to know what your doing and a bit of commonsense safety wise....

Here, here. :sweatdrop: Shiver, shiver, eh?

 

[grantr37]

sadly my dell laptop is not working so i am on the wifes pc but i will be putting up some photos very soon as i have had 6 asbestos boards in the last 12-18 months, i generally take pics and am happy to share, for 3 years i had looked after a building that is riddled with asbestos, they have in fact spent the last 6 months removing it, as long as it is encapsulated(basically encased and untouched) it is not meant to be dangerous, it is very often in old service heads and in gaskets round old service head doors, and in ceramic fusewire type fuse carriers and you can quite easily double bag it and removed, but if you think it might be then treat it as if it is until someone can prove that it isnt.

If laptop is still not working let me know I can advise you how to get it going again (repair it) yourself via this forum......

 

[grantr37]

I worked doing repairs at a stonemasons workshop a few years ago and was warned to stay out by the office staff there....they told me about a 40 year old that got his insides damaged by stone dust and couldn't run 20 yards to catch a bus...I went in when the place was on a shutdown and the whole workshop building was 8 inches of light brown powder that could only be described as talc, there were suction ducts next to the benches that were choked and the fans were burnt out dead.....grinders with stone disks lying all over the place.....was repairing some lights and industrial sockets.....was just finishing up and they started to arrive, about a dozen of them in boiler suits, picking up dirty old dust masks, then the grinders were going again in no time, none of them seemed a tiny bit bothered.....


silicanitis I think they said it was called...