Asbestos, a naturally occurring mineral, has long been linked with various health concerns including pleural plaques – thickening of lung lining that may prove fatal – and has even caused deaths.
If you require work on asbestos materials, it is imperative that you hire an accredited structural asbestos removal Adelaide professional. Failure to do so could violate one of many laws that govern this material.
Category I friable asbestos
Category I nonfriable asbestos may be removed from structures without being subject to regulation by the Department if its removal process does not make it friable; if dry scraped or any activity causes it to crumble or pulverise into powder form it could become a regulated asbestos-containing material (RACM).
Category II nonfriable materials are stronger than Category I materials but still susceptible to damage and release of fibres when damaged, such as packing materials, gaskets, resilient floor coverings and asphalt roofing products. Transited shingles containing over 1 percent asbestos also fall within this category of nonfriable material.
Category II nonfriable mastic must be removed without rendering it friable, such as by dry scraping and/or hand-prying using tools such as spud bars or shovels, so as not to become friable and become susceptible to sanding, grinding, cutting or abrading. Once packaged up for disposal at a limited service area landfill.
Category II non-friable asbestos
Category II non-friable asbestos includes packings, gaskets, resilient floor covering and asphalt roofing products with more than one percent asbestos content. These materials are not subject to regulation by the department as long as they are removed during renovation projects in an acceptable way so they do not become crumbled, pulverised or powdery during removal – for instance by using pry bars, spud bars and shovels as appropriate to do this task safely.
Contrariwise, Category II non-friable RACM such as transit board siding and highly weathered roof shingles has an increased likelihood of becoming friable during typical demolition activities (by crumbling, pulverising or otherwise becoming powder) making them regulated asbestos containing material that must be removed during renovation by a certified structural asbestos removal Adelaide contractor.
The department typically requires that an initial notification be filed at least 10 working days in advance of any activity that would significantly alter RACM and may incur fees, with notification submitted by the abatement contractor performing removal work.
Category III friable asbestos
Asbestos-containing material (ACM) should never be disturbed during demolition or renovation projects as this can release fibres into the air, leading to respiratory illnesses, lung cancer, and other serious health concerns in people exposed. To protect people’s health, contractors should identify and safely remove ACM before beginning work on most construction projects.
Friable and non-friable ACM are two categories of asbestos composite material (ACM). Friable ACM can be crumbled, pulverised, or reduced to powder with hand pressure and is considered more hazardous. Non-friable ACM cannot be crushed or crumbled under hand pressure but may become brittle and break apart during removal releasing asbestos fibres into the air.
Contractors must use either a mastic-reducing solvent or water with a flashpoint above 140 degrees Fahrenheit to properly strip Category I nonfriable mastic from roofs before it can be stripped, such as water with an ambient flashpoint higher than 140. For optimal results, this solution should be mixed and applied directly onto the surface of the material to avoid friability issues and keep sufficient wetness levels during stripping and disposal according to asbestos work practice requirements if threshold quantities of RACM exist.
Category IV friable asbestos
When working with Category IV friable asbestos, it is critical to use a glove bag and comply with facility training requirements, including fit testing. This helps minimise airborne asbestos fibres. Furthermore, keep material wet so as to limit visible emissions. But, it is always best to hire structural asbestos removal Adelaide as it is more safe.
Based on its condition and expected forces during demolition and renovation, some nonfriable asbestos-containing material (ACM) may become regulated asbestos-containing material (RACM). If threshold quantities are reached, then department requirements apply, which could include wetting and containing friable ACM.
Non-friable ACM in good condition that will not become RACM during demolition or renovation projects does not need to be reported to the department, though the department encourages courteous notifications in such instances. Furthermore, such projects should take place in a clean room where employees do not touch street clothing or equipment from street sources.