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stevie h

Fitted some spot lights in some soffits/eves today , after cutting the 3rd hole , i started to wonder what material it was made of , so i took a bit round to my brother (builder) who confirmed my supisions , it was white asbestos :eek: (wore mask for the rest of the work) any of you lads come across this stuff ? i assume it takes years of contact with the stuff to causes real ill health ( i hope) or am i about to pop me clogs :(
 
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avoid all forms of the stuff like the plague, my old man suffered an aggonising death due to mesotholemia, the worst kind of asbestos illness worse then lung cancer. suffacating at the age of 56 is no way to go after grafting all ya life. refuse to work anywhere near it and if anyone tells you its ok, then tell them to **** off and die!
 
I get on with the Job ! Ive pulled loads of the stuff out. Only tell client if necessary and mention the sudden large increase in the quote!

There are a lot of myths about asbestos.
 
Hmm, not always us though is it. I work with labourers who think that asbestos floor tiles are ok to pull up with loads of different trades in the room at the time. It's others attitudes towards the stuff that is the problem. Also, it can be there and broken by you without even knowing it. For example, drilling into an artex ceiling and puncturing asbestos sheet above it.
 
and then there is the case of the woman who died of asbestosis due to washing her husbands overalls for years (he worked in an asbestos factory)
 
yeah and even some artex ceiling now contain traces of it in the artex.

This is true. All sparks should be very aware that older types of artex may contain asbestos. Be very very careful when you are working on old ceilings. A lot of decorating firms will get artex analysed before starting work on old ceilings.Is it really worth the risk to earn a few 'undred quid.
 
I get on with the Job ! Ive pulled loads of the stuff out. Only tell client if necessary and mention the sudden large increase in the quote!

There are a lot of myths about asbestos.


im sorry but i cant just listen to "alot of myths" , it is a killer no myths no doubts, if you go in and pull it down then i hope you do it with no one else in the same work space as you. youre as good as saying you might live to see 60 but then you also mights not. do you really want your family to see you take your last breaths whilst your off your head on morphine in hospital?!!!!

there were indeed alot of wifes getting ill from it with cleaning the overalls, my old man worked at the york carriage works where they threw it round like snowballs, maybe they also thought it was a myth, until you look at the figures, well over 80 people have died in york due to this.

if you suspect its there dont touch it, get it analyzied by a professional company.
 
Agreed - it is a killer and you have to be careful I worry when my kids come and hug me when I get in from work daily. I worry when my wife picks up my snickers trousers to wash them. How ****e would I feel if they ever got it from my clothes?!!??

To show disdain is immature and a lack of education. I say you get onto an asbesos awareness course Londinium Luke - I have to each year!
 
yeah previous employer of mine used to give us these h & s talks aswell, be careful luke its a horrible way to go.

also some old storage heaters have it inside them as well.
 
how do you know when you come across any type of asbestos.????.I'm sure a lot of people are working with the stuff and don't even know it!!!!
 
quite right dyche, all you can do is try and get aware of it, and how it was used. hse has some good guidance on what to avoid etc, i wonder if there is something on the market where you insert a dust sample and it turns a certain colour when asbestos is present ( ps i have just applied for patent of this device in my father honour !)
 
quite right dyche, all you can do is try and get aware of it, and how it was used. hse has some good guidance on what to avoid etc, i wonder if there is something on the market where you insert a dust sample and it turns a certain colour when asbestos is present ( ps i have just applied for patent of this device in my father honour !)

There is a little sachet you can get. You put the material in it, crush the bag and shake. A lot like the drug sample things you see on the TV. I saw a specialist asbestos remover using them a while ago. He said they were very limited but can give a "dirty indication" on site but to be sure the sample has to be checked under a microscope.

I do a lot of work in old military sites and am lucky that there is a full survey done before we start work. if the material is deemed stable, you would not believe the extra regs we have to abide by to work in the area.
 
one fibre can kill many years later,i work for a company so if there is is any suspicion we stop and get professional advice .you one man type have to be careful
 
When I worked in power stations during 'outage' early ( 80's) we used to install 1000w sun floods in boilers so the laggers could see. Some bad areas the floods would only shine 4/5 mtr into gloom and dust.

Paper masks on! I personally know of 3 laggers dead now all under 60, meso.

I've had the tests myself, endoscopy not nice but turned out ok. The docs were particularly concerned regards power station work over 20 years ago.

When I first started out, our council used twisted asbestos flex for pendant light fittings in all council houses. (even after the asbestos scare hit.) A real pain to strip, and not that long ago. A right bunch of hypocrites if you ask me considering I cant go for a cr*p now without training.

Even if it looks like asbestos I walk away now. Not worth it, no way no how. I don't trust the 'testing procedure' either.

The next one will be fibre glass in loft spaces and ducting. It's an irritant on skin, so it can't possibly be 'harmless' The bloody fibres get everwhere. But so long has you've got your hard hat on, you should be ok!
hse are a complete shambles and a joke.
 
Hasn't fibreglass been banned for lagging loft spaces in the US? They apparently recognise the inherant dangers lying therein.
 
Have read this thread with a great deal of interest.

Since I started in the industry I have seen a few changes in attitudes to asbestos. When I started it was only blue asbestos that was the problem and white and brown could be worked on (drilled into etc) and removed.
The next change was that if white or brown was removed it had to be removed of site seperately. Then it had to be removed by specialist companies. Now it has been reclassified.
I too have followed specialist teams into these sites (you go in with them at the start to make the site electrically safe for them) and then go in after the removal process is complete. White suites, masks, shower off area, polythene sealing of the entire site etc.
Now, compared with when I started, slightest doubt, check it out.
Industrial, commercial generally no problem with the customer, domestic (if local authority) again no major problem although can be a delay. Private domestic, if I am not sure and the owner "could not care" I walk away. I do try to explain the risks, with the little knowledge I have.
If you ever work on Wimpey Nofines properties, built in the sixties the porch ceiling can be white asbestos and heres a scarey one, the water storage tank can be made of a mixture of concrete and asbestos cast into shape.
You can work in areas where there is asbestos as long as you do not disturb or drill it but make sure you wear a mask. If running cables use self adhesive trunking. This should only be done as a last resort and only if the material is the type with the smoothed or polished finish.

My advise, leave the stuff alone, any doubts get it checked. As Cirrus says it's not just your life you're playing with.

And what of the future, fibreglass and (the concern of several chippies I know) MDF and the fine particles that produces when it's cut.
 
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