Librarian
26th May 2023, 11:41 AM
Link to Asbestos Victorian Government (https://www.asbestos.vic.gov.au/in-the-workplace) very informative.
419
15th July 2023, 12:10 AM
Strange but true. Homeowners with no experience, no training and no expert supervision can remove as much asbestos as they like on their own homes in Victoria, putting them, their families, their neighbours and passers by at risk. Homeowner removal | asbestos.vic.gov.au (https://www.asbestos.vic.gov.au/in-the-home/find-manage-remove-dispose/homeowner-removal)
Unlicensed tradies with no experience, no training and no expert supervision can remove small quantities of asbestos. Unlicensed removal | asbestos.vic.gov.au (https://www.asbestos.vic.gov.au/builders-and-trades/asbestos-removalists/unlicensed-asbestos-removal)
I've done a bit of friable and non-friable asbestos removal, from chipping friable asbestos lagging off pipes in the 1960s with no idea of the risks involved to fairly recent removal of non-friable asbestos cement sheets and friable vinyl sheet flooring on a post-WWII house with a lot more knowledge of the risks involved and doing it properly and carefully. I've also seen licensed asbestos removers at work and I wouldn't say they're necessarily any better than a properly informed and equipped careful homeowner or unlicensed tradies, but vastly more expensive.
Apart from the safety issues, the main problem with DIY and unlicensed asbestos removal is packing and disposing of the material. There is only a handful of tips that accept it in Victoria. You might be required to throw it into a huge skip above head height as I had to do in Ballarat a couple of years ago, so you will have to do a lot of small double wrapped and labelled packages. This requires reducing large fibro sheets into smaller portions, which you can't do safely with any power tools or by breaking the sheets as this releases asbestos fibres into the air. It can be done with reasonable but not complete safety with a hose and fibro hand shears or a tungsten knife and straight edge over a tarp that will go into the asbestos tip if the cut pieces are wrapped immediately after they're cut and the tarp is kept wet until the job is finished and doesn't wash off onto surrounding surfaces where the fibres can dry out and go into the air, but it's slow work and there's always the risk that stray fibres will get into your lungs.
Anyone who has been exposed to asbestos in any circumstance can register their exposure on the National Asbestos Exposure Register, which might help them in future if they have health or legal claims arising from their exposure. National Asbestos Exposure Register | Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency (https://www.asbestossafety.gov.au/asbestos-health-risks-and-exposure/national-asbestos-exposure-register) Slater and Gordon lawyers and perhaps other law firms offer their own registers which might be useful if there is future litigation on asbestos injuries and diseases, although one might be sceptical about whether they're offering a community service or looking for new clients. Register your exposure to asbestos | Slater and Gordon (https://www.slatergordon.com.au/personal-injury/asbestos/register) I'm registered on the National Asbestos Exposure Register and Slater and Gordon's one, but there's no sign of any asbestos disease so I'll probably die of something else.
The Asbestos Victims Association provides useful information on various aspects of exposure to and injury from asbestos. ABOUT AVA (https://www.avasa.asn.au/)
Anyone who's thinking of doing DIY asbestos removal, especially friable asbestos such as old asbestos vinyl floor coverings and associated asbestos adhesives, should ignore a multitude of idiots on YouTube and similar sources doing things like cutting friable asbestos with circular saws and a vacuum cleaner for totally useless dust extraction but go to reliable sites like the Victorian government sites linked above and similar sites interstate as well as Worksafe / workers' compensation insurer websites.