Commercial and domestic asbestos removal by Licensed contractors...

It can be beneficial to have an asbestos survey carried out prior to the purchase of a property to ensure no nasty surprises.

Asbestos surveys are carried out to ascertain the location, type and condition of asbestos containing materials within a property.

Whether carrying out refurbishment works to your property or demolishing part or all of it, it is your responsibility to make sure everyone involved is aware of any asbestos.

Midlands Asbestos Solutions use only surveyors with a P402 qualification UKAS accreditation. This ensures high standard surveys and a good quality report.

Examples of asbestos within a domestic property include Artex (textured coating), floor tiles, asbestos cement roof tiles and corrugated asbestos cement roofs on outbuildings.

Example of Summary of Samples

In properties with integral garages asbestos insulating board (AIB) ceilings are not uncommon particularly if built in the 1950’s or 1960’s.

Also in bespoke properties built in a similar period there is the potential for other asbestos materials such as pipe lagging & AIB to be used.

Having an asbestos survey carried out can ensure peace of mind, everybody’s health and safety and ensure minimum disruption during building works.

Midlands Asbestos Solutions offer extremely competitive rates on asbestos surveys so please don’t hesitate to contact us for further information.

Many garage roofs are made from materials which contain asbestos but the structure is solid and made from non-asbestos materials that remain in good condition.

As well as removing your asbestos garage roof Midlands Asbestos Solutions Ltd also carry out reinstatement of roofs once removed.

This means the removal and replacement of a garage roof can be carried out in one day without the need to arrange two contractors, minimising disruption.

Your garage roof reinstatement will be carried out using 200 micron leather grain plastisol which has an expected 25-year life span and is available in a range of colours to suit your requirements.

Goosewing Grey, Merlin Grey, Vandyke Brown, Olive Green, Juniper Green and Slate Blue are all ‘standard’ colours and available at no additional cost. All other colours are available for a small premium. All colours are stocked locally and roof sheets are manufactured to order.

We can produce a two-week turnaround when required from going to measure up your garage, to installing your new garage roof.

Give Midlands Asbestos Solutions Ltd a call for a free quotation.

Midlands Asbestos Solutions is moving to new premises following its results for the last financial year, which show continued growth.

The company, which celebrates 3 years in business this year, has recently welcomed several new people to its team and is working on a number of fresh business projects.

Our work in progress

Darren Skinner of Midlands Asbestos Solutions said, “We outgrew our previous offices and our new home gives us a great environment with planned impressive meeting and training facilities. We’re delighted to be working with many long-standing clients, together with more recent customers, and to be able to welcome them in such pleasant surroundings.”

On Friday 8^th March we’ll be in ‘transit’ but will be answering all enquiries as quickly as possible and the telephone as normal.

Our new address will be:

Unit 8

Crompton Road Industrial Estate

Ilkeston

Derbyshire

DE7 4BG

We will be up, running and fully operational from our new premises on Monday 11^th March 2013.

Asbestos Analysis

We get approached by many clients that are either selling or buying a property and have seen a copy of the homebuyer’s report which has indicated that there may be asbestos present in the property. Usually the report would detail to some extent the suspected location but generally no samples are carried out.

When our client is the buyer they are naturally keen to resolve these issues as the purchase tends to be quite far down the line when these ‘surveys’ are carried out and they could potentially suffer a financial loss if the sale falls through. They are often looking for cost reductions on the property they are purchasing if it has been highlighted that asbestos may be present to cover the cost of any removal works that may be required to be carried out. Vice versa when our client is the vendor they are keen to show that any asbestos identified is of minimal cause for concern and maximise the profitability of the property.

The clients that contact us can be looking for a sample to be taken on a suspected ACM (asbestos containing material) that is detailed within the report. We can send a surveyor out to site to take a sample and have this analysed at a UKAS accredited laboratory to determine the presence of asbestos.

We often recommend an asbestos survey is carried out- this would involve sending a surveyor to the property where ALL suspected ACM’s would be analysed.

There are two types of survey you could have carried out:

• A management survey involves minor intrusion and minor disturbance and will locate any ACM’s that could be damaged or disturbed by normal activities, foreseeable maintenance or by installing new equipment.
• A refurbishment/demolition survey must locate all ACM’s and involves destructive inspection and asbestos disturbance. The area needs to be vacated and certified ‘fit for reoccupation’ after the survey.

Dependant on the location of the property and numbers of suspected ACM’s, it can on occasion be more cost effective to have a full survey than a number of samples taken and analysed.

We would be happy to advise on what route we think would be best suited to your needs.

It’s becoming more and more commonplace to have potential clients call the office advising the colour of asbestos that is detailed within their certificate of analysis or asbestos survey with many thinking that blue and brown asbestos are a massive cause for concern and that white asbestos isn’t really so dangerous.

External view of the enclosure and transit route

Whilst we understand that knowledge of asbestos for many is limited to what information is available on the internet this misconception really does need further clarification because the colour of the asbestos really is irrelevant.

External view of the Airlock which is the entry and exit to the enclosure

What we really want to shout from the rooftops is ‘IT’S NOT THE COLOUR OF THE ASBESTOS, IT’S THE MATERIAL THAT IT’S CONTAINED IN’.

We are aware that white asbestos is Chrysotile, blue asbestos is Crocidolite and brown asbestos is Amosite, but what information we need from you is ‘Is it a cement based product or an insulation board?’. This is information that should be provided by your Analyst or Surveyor, if they don’t provide you with that information then ASK!

A negative pressure unit ensures no fibre release into the atmosphere

The material the asbestos is contained in can make a huge cost difference when quoting for removal. Only companies with a licence can remove an insulation board. When removing an insulation board material which can be fragile, we are required to notify the HSE (Health & Safety Executive) at least 14-days prior to the removal starting, have a DCU (decontamination unit) on site, form an air tight enclosure using polythene and obtain an air clearance certificate prior to reoccupation of the area. These additional control measures extend the time of removal to that of a non-licensed material and therefore increase the costs.

A DCU is used by operatives to decontaminate

So to make sure you are getting your best price, ensure you are in receipt of all the required information.

If you have any questions- please don’t hesitate to give us a call 0115 9326521.

Danger Asbestos

Asbestos is a word that conveys a previously less conscious health and safety world, where people unknowingly lived day in and day out in the home and workplace exposed to contamination and hazardous materials.

Although the effects of working with asbestos are evident in the thousands of people who were employed to manufacture and install the harmful material during the 1950’s & 1960’s, it seems the knowledge provided was limited.

Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate materials which were used in the UK commercially from the late 1800’s. Being an ideal product for sound absorption with good tensile strength, its fire and heat resistant properties and affordability it became an invaluable commodity within the construction industry where it was often mixed with cement or woven into fabric or mats.

Blue & brown asbestos was only banned in the UK as recently as 1985 although there was a voluntary ban in place before this from the early 1970’s. White asbestos wasn’t banned until 1999.

The risks of exposure to asbestos were recognised as early as the late 1800’s, although the full effects were not completely understood until much later, possibly due to the commercial value of the product. In 1952 it was proposed that asbestos containing products should carry warning labels although this was never instigated.

The inhalation of asbestos fibres over a lengthy time period can lead to debilitating diseases and can be fatal in some cases. Consequently it is those who worked with the product on an everyday basis between the 1950’s and early 1980’s who are now most likely to be seeking compensation

In accordance with HSE guidance all exposure to asbestos should be avoided, however that does not necessarily mean that you should worry about a one-off exposure. A one-off short term exposure is unlikely to be of concern, but each time you are exposed, the risk increases a little bit more.

Diseases as a result of chronic asbestos exposure can have incubation periods of up to 30 years.

Wishing you a merry Xmas and a prosperous 2013

Midlands Asbestos Solutions would like to thank all our clients for their custom throughout 2012 and hope to continue providing our services to you during 2013.

Our office will close on Friday 21^st December and reopen on the 27^th & 28^th of December and will reopen for the New Year on Wednesday 2^nd January.

We will be contactable outside of these hours on 07827 330 540.

Regulation 4 of the ‘Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012’ details the duty holder’s responsibilities; this is expanded fully in the HSE’s guides L143 ‘The Management of Asbestos in Non-Domestic Premises’ with additional guidance in HSG 227 ‘A Comprehensive Guide to Managing Asbestos in Premises’. Key facts from this guidance are detailed below

• If the asbestos in your premises isn’t managed, you could be putting your employees and other peoples health at risk
• Exposure to asbestos occurs when it becomes disturbed and releases fibres into the air
• If existing asbestos is in good condition and is unlikely to become damaged, they may be left in place and managed and monitored
• Work on asbestos can require a license but some minor work can be done without a license if the correct precautions are followed
• Regulation 4 is a duty to manage not a duty to survey
• You don’t have to carry out a survey but you have a duty to manage all your asbestos containing materials
• A bad survey is worse than not carrying out a survey
• Management of asbestos is to maintain in good condition all ACM’s to protect two groups of people

-          Those who may be instructed to carry out work on the building e.g. plumbers, electricians etc.

-          Those that work in the building and may come into contact with the ACM’s whilst carrying out there day-to-day work.

• ACM’s that are damaged or have deteriorated should be removed or repaired, or the area isolated until remedial works are possible
• Your asbestos management plan;

-          Is to ensure that contractors and employees don’t disturb your ACM’s

-          Can come in many forms, does not need to be complicated, but does need to be effective.

The MAS team last week attended the 758^th Ilkeston Charter Fair which is one of the largest and oldest street fairs in Europe and always attracts thousands of people when it rolls into town with its traditional fairgrounds rides and amusements.

The traditional ceremony, which includes the reading of the original 1252 Charter, takes place on a stage in front of Ilkeston Town Hall and always attracts local families and visitors – who join the showmen to officially welcome the fair.

We all indulged in roast chestnuts, bratwursts and burgers…. Yummy!!

MAS Ltd recently carried out an asbestos removal project in Bolsover and although the boiler was quite small we thought we could describe the job as it was not so straight forward as it looked!

Asbestos Covered Boiler

As with all licensed projects, we were required to collate sufficient information when carrying out our site visit to write a method statement and risk assessment. This is done to enable us to submit an ASB5 notification to the Health & Safety Executive 14 days prior to the works commencing as required under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.

The project was at Bolsover Post Office which is in a pedestrianised area and as the project was licensed we were required to have a decontamination unit (DCU) sited as close to the job as practically possible. In this case the asbestos that required removing was through the Post Office and down some stairs, so the pedestrianised area in the street was the closest we could get the DCU. We had to apply to the local Town Council for permission to park it and were instructed to leave ample space for emergency vehicular access.

Pedestrianised Area

The removal work was carried out over a weekend to minimise disruption as the Post Office had to be closed. The DCU and external transit route were secured with heras fencing so as to not allow the general public to infringe into the work area.

Before any works were carried out we were required to carry out a pre-clean of the basement boiler room to create a clean surface to seal the enclosure. The Site Supervisor and all Operatives wear disposable overalls and half face masks for this exercise. In this case, it also allowed for the setting up of the negative pressure unit (NPU) which pulls clean air through the enclosure to ensure no asbestos fibres are released into the atmosphere.

Smoke tests are carried out to ensure that the enclosures are air tight and then the Site Supervisor and Operative/s will enter the DCU to change into their disposable overalls and full face masks and can then begin the removal of the asbestos insulation from the basement boiler.

Using a wet strip machine, needles will be inserted into the asbestos insulation which will damp the asbestos enough to minimise the fibre release and reduce exposure. The Supervisor ensures that the material is sufficiently saturated before the removal begins. Following the safe removal of the asbestos from the boiler, the basement will then be fully decontaminated and a UKAS accredited laboratory will be employed to attend site for a 4-stage clearance certificate (also known as a certificate of re-occupation) which includes a visual inspection of the entire area and an air test where samples are taken to ensure there are less than 0.01 fibres/ml.

Following a successful visual and air test the area is then deemed safe for re-occupation and is handed back over to the client.

Mr Miller, the Post Master, added ‘the project went as planned, I was pleased with the fact there was no mess and your site supervisor Shaun advised me daily of the progression of the project and what time they would be arriving and leaving site and they always on time’.

Another satisfied customer for Midlands Asbestos Solutions Ltd.