Where is asbestos found?
Materials that contain asbestos can be found in buildings, workplaces and dwellings built before 1990. Even in buildings, workplaces and dwellings built after 1990 it is possible that second hand items installed within them could contain asbestos. Asbestos can also be found in products or materials, for example brake disc pads. An extensive list of examples of asbestos-containing materials is available in Appendix A of the asbestos management code (non-Queensland Government link).
It is often very difficult to identify the presence of asbestos by sight. The only way to be certain is to have a sample of the material analysed by a laboratory.
Sampling of anything you suspect may contain asbestos is itself hazardous and should only be done by a competent person, and analysed only in accredited laboratories.
More information on identifying asbestos and where this can be done is available from the National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA) (non-Queensland Government link).Where materials are not tested you can presume that something contains asbestos and treat it as such. For example, if there is reliable manufacturer information on a product, a label stating something contains asbestos, or if it is a product of a type and age that typically contains asbestos you can presume it contains asbestos. If this presumption is made the material must be treated as if contains asbestos for working with the material or removing it.
Workplaces
Asbestos was used in a variety of workplaces from the 1940s up until the late 1980s when the dangers to health due to exposure became more widely acknowledged. Some uses of chrysotile asbestos products, mainly friction materials and gaskets continued until 31 December 2003. Asbestos is found in asbestos cement sheeting and piping, as an insulator on pipes and in buildings, as a fire retardant in textiles and as a filtering material in the chemical and food industries.
An extensive list of examples of asbestos-containing materials is available in Appendix A of the asbestos management code (non-Queensland Government link).Workplaces are required by law to identify and manage asbestos, and to follow the asbestos management code.
Dwellings
In Queensland from 1940 until the late 1980s bonded asbestos was commonly used in the manufacture of asbestos-cement corrugated and flat sheets (fibro) for roofing and walls. Undisturbed or painted fibro that is in good condition does not pose a health risk.
Thermal or acoustic insulation used in homes may have also contained friable asbestos, the easily crumbled form of asbestos that can be reduced to powder by hand.
Friable asbestos is extremely dangerous and must only be removed by a person who holds a certificate to remove friable ACM (also known as an 'A' class certificate).To find an asbestos removalist refer to the Yellow Pages (non-Queensland Government link) or check with the Asbestos Industry Association .
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