Mother has got safety ignorant Indian cowboys in to replace an asbestos
cement garage roof. Method of removal of the old roof is hammers and
smashing it all to pieces, dry, no mask or overall protection & dust
everywhere.

Should I call H&S?

Should they all start making wills?

How long should she wait for the dust to settle before entering the place?

:-(((

--
Adrian C

Should I call H&S?

http://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/regulations.htm

Yes - for the sake of the poor saps getting regular work exposure, and
likely to have serious health problems years down the line.

Are they paying for proper, legal disposal of asbestos?

Are you aware that you are likely to be committing an offence by
knowingly contracting someone to work like this?

On 07/03/2011 10:59, wrote:

Are they paying for proper, legal disposal of asbestos?
Are you aware that you are likely to be committing an offence by
knowingly contracting someone to work like this?

Yes, the knowingly bit unfortunately came *after* their stupid act was
done. I'm calling H&S...

Er, "committing an offence" - they can lock up my mum, fine by me.

--
Adrian C

On Mar 7, 10:59*am, " wrote:
Are you aware that you are likely to be committing an offence by
knowingly contracting someone to work like this?

"Sporadic and low intensity, guv'nor" is the favoured form of words
for fending off the bowler hat.

That, and placing the air sampler well _upwind_ of the job site.

"Air sampler". I crack myself up. As if.

On Mar 7, 10:35*am, Adrian C wrote:
Mother has got safety ignorant Indian cowboys in to replace an asbestos
cement garage roof.

Any particular reason to replace it? Did it need fixing, or was it
being removed because asbestos is "too dangerous to leave in place".

Method of removal of the old roof is hammers and
smashing it all to pieces,

Hammering it is fortunately a bit less troublesome than disk cutting
it - or even for that matter, pressure-washing the moss off it.

I wouldn't panic, but I would try to encourage safe practice from now
on, a cleanup of the mess they've made so far, and having _their_
lungs doing it. Also check where the stuff is eventually being
disposed of, as they sound like the sort of people who'd be fly-
tipping it under the nearest hedge.

In 07/03/2011 12:16, Andy Dingley wrote:
On Mar 7, 10:35 am, Adrian wrote:
Mother has got safety ignorant Indian cowboys in to replace an asbestos
cement garage roof.

Any particular reason to replace it? Did it need fixing,

beyond fixing, leaks and holes where a neighbours chimney once fell through.

I wouldn't panic, but I would try to encourage safe practice from now
on, a cleanup of the mess they've made so far,

In the end, It'll be me.

Her negoitating skills are not that strong, I can imagine them pulling
one and leaving a half done cleanup... :-(

--
Adrian C

Adrian C wrote:

How long should she wait for the dust to settle before entering the
place?

That depends on her life expectancy. If it's less than 25 years she won't
die from the asbestos. Her neighbours may, of course, though. She's nowhere
near the N2 postcode, I hope?

In article , lid says...
Mother has got safety ignorant Indian cowboys in to replace an asbestos
cement garage roof. Method of removal of the old roof is hammers and
smashing it all to pieces, dry, no mask or overall protection & dust
everywhere.


That happened at school a few years ago. Work on the edge of the roof
taking place during the holidays. Perviously identified (and nasty sort)
of asbestos was drawn to the contractor's attention and they duly signed
the appropriate book to say they'd read the appropriate bit of the
school's asbestos report.

Site inspector came to see how things were going and found the old bloke
telling the young bloke to stand well back while he removed the asbestos
with a hammer and saw.

Cleanup set the work back some time - at least enough to run over into
termtime, much to the annoyance of all concerned. The bill wasn't small,
either and got passed to the **** with the hammer.

--
Skipweasel - never knowingly understood.

Skipweasel wrote:

Site inspector came to see how things were going and found the old
bloke telling the young bloke to stand well back while he removed the
asbestos with a hammer and saw.

I'm curious as to how you are supposed to do this? Water sprays to keep it
all damped down? Or do you paint over it all before you start? In which
case, what about cut edges? I'm assuming here that it's not possible on a
roof to seal the whole area off completely.

In article ,
says...
Site inspector came to see how things were going and found the old
bloke telling the young bloke to stand well back while he removed the
asbestos with a hammer and saw.

I'm curious as to how you are supposed to do this? Water sprays to keep it
all damped down? Or do you paint over it all before you start? In which
case, what about cut edges? I'm assuming here that it's not possible on a
roof to seal the whole area off completely.

Well, since it was only a single storey building, IIRC they built a tent
over the whole affected fascia and took it down like that.

--
Skipweasel - never knowingly understood.

On Mon, 7 Mar 2011 18:08:30 -0000, Skipweasel wrote:

Well, since it was only a single storey building, IIRC they built a tent
over the whole affected fascia and took it down like that.

Yep build a scaffold to enclose the entire structure, double cover
that with polythene, fit air locks and a negative pressure system.
Everything is double bagged inside the containment.

Bit OTT for an asbestos cement roof which is probably white asbestos
and relatively safe compared to blue or brown. Bashing it up with
hammers or angle grinding into manageable bits with no attempt at
dust control or breathing protection is at the other extreme though.

--
Cheers
Dave.

Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Mon, 7 Mar 2011 18:08:30 -0000, Skipweasel wrote:

Well, since it was only a single storey building, IIRC they built a
tent over the whole affected fascia and took it down like that.

Yep build a scaffold to enclose the entire structure, double cover
that with polythene, fit air locks and a negative pressure system.
Everything is double bagged inside the containment.

Doing that to the outside of a school, though, how do you get the inside
clean enough to put kids in?

In article o.uk,
says...
Bit OTT for an asbestos cement roof which is probably white asbestos
and relatively safe compared to blue or brown. Bashing it up with
hammers or angle grinding into manageable bits with no attempt at
dust control or breathing protection is at the other extreme though.

This is insulation contained within a (previously) sealed void.

--
Skipweasel - never knowingly understood.

On Mon, 07 Mar 2011 19:42:59 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Liquorice"
wrote:


Yep build a scaffold to enclose the entire structure, double cover
that with polythene, fit air locks and a negative pressure system.
Everything is double bagged inside the containment.

Bit OTT for an asbestos cement roof which is probably white asbestos
and relatively safe compared to blue or brown. Bashing it up with
hammers or angle grinding into manageable bits with no attempt at
dust control or breathing protection is at the other extreme though.

It is asbestos cement - it can be removed without any particular
precautions other than minimising dust by wetting it well. It does
not require a licenced asbestos fraudster to do the job.

On 07/03/2011 18:06, GB wrote:
Skipweasel wrote:

Site inspector came to see how things were going and found the old
bloke telling the young bloke to stand well back while he removed the
asbestos with a hammer and saw.

I'm curious as to how you are supposed to do this? Water sprays to keep it
all damped down?

Ideally from what I've read, but more avoid doing it in the first place.

Anyway, her neighbour and I are planning to jetwash the place inside,
both of us wearing protective gear. There's little else we can do.

--
Adrian C

On 07/03/2011 18:17, Adrian C wro

Anyway, her neighbour and I are planning to jetwash the place inside,
both of us wearing protective gear. There's little else we can do.

Update. Been now told jet washing is a no-no, so now holding off for
quotes to have the area properly cleaned (probably 'class H' vacuumed).

Grrrrr....

--
Adrian C

On Wed, 09 Mar 2011 00:19:55 +0000, Adrian C
wrote:


Update. Been now told jet washing is a no-no, so now holding off for
quotes to have the area properly cleaned (probably 'class H' vacuumed).

You don't want high pressure water as it blows the dust everywhere -
just lots of low pressure water. The ideal device is a watering can
with a rose sprinkler on it and about a teaspoon full of washing up
liquid to each can of wate. The washing up liquid acts a s a wetting
agent ensuring the dust doesn't blow about..

Removing asbestos cement waste is a non-licensed task See Leaflet
A11.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/guidance/a11.pdf