Would you accept Asbestos back in building materials?

[SirGalahad]

Lack of knowledge is (and probably has been) the major factor for decades now.

Knowledge of whether there is any asbestos present, where someone is working.

(Wilful) non-compliance is an acknowledged issue, but IME makes up a small proportion of the issue as a whole.

So would quicker and cheaper testing be helpful? (not sure if that is feasible) But as a material to work with does it have benefits over the ones currently used?

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

Or have we gone slightly over cautious in our approach?

 

[Brigadier]

Testing isn't expensive.

Real and perceived delays to a repair or refurbishment can be.

 

[Bodd]

Lack of knowledge is (and probably has been) the major factor for decades now.

Knowledge of whether there is any asbestos present, where someone is working.

(Wilful) non-compliance is an acknowledged issue, but IME makes up a small proportion of the issue as a whole.

The fact is there is a lack of knowledge awareness in working with it and identifying it. We have a work force that is under skilled and care even less We just need to keep clear of the stuff.

 

[Brigadier]

Asbestos is probably not significantly better than alternatives nowadays, so better to engineer it out, rather than manage it (which demonstrably fails, time and time again).


Dame Judith Hackett (former head of the HSE; speaking in a later role at a H & S conference, IIRC) said something along the lines of "I have come to the conclusion that there are no new accidents, only new people having old accidents".

 

[Ihavenojob]

Asbestos is ok as long as it's not disturbed. The problem is it is/was used in many applications, some of which a lot, if not most, people would not be aware of, so they will cause a problem, the main one being Artex. Up until about 1990 Artex contained asbestos , so all those 60's/70's & 80's housing estates would more than likely contain it. How many people have, over the years, modernised/redecorated those houses, causing lots of dust & not used a mask?

 

[Thomasthepiperson]

I wouldn't accept it back into building materials. I am concerned about post Brexit, and asbestos regulations I hope they don't become watered down.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Watering down regulations is one of the primary goals of Brexanatics.

 

[durhamplumber]

Watering down regulations is one of the primary goals of Brexanatics.

Wrong

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Try actually reading the fantasies of your fellow travellers, people like Jacob Re-smog and Liam Ffoxsake.

 

[Notch7]

The car repair company in the industrial unit next to me were fitting a new spray booth extraction through the asbestos roof.

They cut through it with a jigsaw

I kept well out of the way.

 

[Thomasthepiperson]

When I was in Hungary, there is very little asbestos safety there. I saw builders smashing up an Asbestos cement roof, No respirator, No PPE. I also visited an aircraft museum, which had an asbestos rope on the floor, where people were standing on it! I wonder if Asbestos is actually banned there

 

[noseall]

When I was in Hungary, there is very little asbestos safety there.

There must be millions dying. Hospitals must be at breaking point and cemeteries overflowing, surely?

 

[motorbiking]

Are there not safer alternatives? My understanding is that asbestosis risk is much more about the combination with other toxins e.g. cigarette smoke.

 

[SirGalahad]

There must be millions dying. Hospitals must be at breaking point and cemeteries overflowing, surely?

Assuming they record these deaths properly.

 

[Brigadier]

When I was in Hungary, there is very little asbestos safety there................ I wonder if Asbestos is actually banned there

Almost certainly.
As will murder, theft, drink-driving, and it's a fair bet that these things happen as well.