It’s critical to understand how to safely manage asbestos in and around the home if you’re considering renovations. Australian homes contain asbestos materials in about a third of all cases, and exposure to asbestos is linked to a number of fatal diseases.
It is crucial that homeowners and renovators are aware of the best practices for asbestos removal because this week is National Asbestos Awareness Week. By organizing your asbestos removal Calabasas services through the use of freelance job applications, you run the risk of hiring personnel who are not qualified for risky tasks for which they are not trained or authorized.
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Safest The Safest Methods for Removing Asbestos
In order to protect yourself and others, such as your family and neighbors, you must make every effort to ensure safe asbestos removal during renovations. Conducting do-it-yourself (‘DIY’) asbestos removal during house renovations is not advised.
The risk and availability of asbestos
A variety of typical building supplies contain asbestos, a hazardous natural mineral that was frequently employed in Australian home construction. A house is likely to be constructed of materials that may contain some asbestos if it was built before 1990, according to the Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency. This is particularly true of the kitchen and bathroom, but other parts of the house, such as the gutters, flooring, and roofing, also frequently have asbestos-containing materials.
The only way to be confident that there is no asbestos in your home is to do asbestos sampling and testing. Prior to hiring any tradespeople to work on With renovations, it’s important to get your home inspected for asbestos. This way, you can provide any workers with a copy of the asbestos survey and inform them of any potential dangers.
The specifications for removing asbestos
While all asbestos removal work in the ACT must be done by a registered asbestos removalist, all other states, and territories, including Victoria, permit the removal of non-friable asbestos by an unlicensed individual as long as the area is no larger than 10m2. Most often, a licensed asbestos removalist is required because asbestos removal projects generally demand the removal of greater regions than this.
Friable asbestos is defined as material that contains asbestos and is in the form of a powder or that, when dry, may be crumbled, pulverized, or converted to a powder by hand pressure. This information is crucial because, in accordance with the Work Health and Safety (WHS) Regulations, a Class A license entitles the holder to remove any type of asbestos, including both friable and non-friable forms, while a Class B license is only permitted to do so.
This means that you need an asbestos removal license if you’re removing more than 10m2 of non-friable asbestos. However, it is still advised that you hire a certified removalist and complete asbestos awareness training if you are removing less than 10m2 of non-friable asbestos.
DIY removals without a licence
It is crucial to keep in mind that a person performing removal work for non-friable asbestos must still be regarded as competent, which means they have completed training, have experience removing asbestos in the workplace, and have the necessary tools for the job.
No amount of asbestos exposure is safe. Keep in mind that removal work, especially when done on a modest scale by someone without a licence, still has the potential to be harmful to people’s health.
How to Work with Asbestos Removal Experts
Finding companies with the necessary expertise and tools is crucial when deciding how to go about hiring an asbestos removalist.
Organizing asbestos removal calabasas work through online freelancing employment platforms can be challenging, especially as online service platforms grow in popularity. These websites serve largely as a marketplace where independent contractors can “bid” on different activities or contracts that people publish online.
There are worries that these platforms could result in unskilled professionals executing tasks for which they are neither trained nor certified. This is particularly risky when the task at hand involves asbestos removal, and it might also violate safety and licensing regulations.
The fact that untrained employees can apply for positions and undercut others who have paid for and completed the required training and certifications must be understood. Always verify credentials or other indicators that a company is suitably licenced to conduct asbestos removal duties when searching online, and request a copy of the licence.
The easiest approach to identifying an asbestos removalist is to get in touch with your state or territory’s health and safety regulator, who may give you a list of authorised asbestos removalists. You can do this in Victoria by going to the Work Safe Victoria website here.
Asbestos removal experts will also be listed in the Yellow Pages. You can either contact the work health and safety agency to confirm that the removalists have the appropriate class of licence for the task, or you can ask them for a copy of their licence (which will either be Class A or B).
