removing an appliance which contains asbestos , How do you deal with it?

[AWheating]

How dose everyone deal with an old appliance which has or may have asbestos inside? do you isolate, drain and leave the appliance fixed and allow the customer to get a removal firm in? do you remove the appliance if asbestos in good condition and bag it up outside and get it taken away by an approved firm? or do you get the apprentice to smash it up and take it down the scrappy?

 

[lame plumber]

damp all the asbestos and dusty bits down. check my list of at risk appliances and if its on it, mask and suit up, remove any asbestos seals etc and double bag, and into suitable bin keep damp and down to scrappy with the boiler, throw away mask and disposable suit with seals in bag. If it was a monster boiler and all crumbling and dusty as heck, call in the spacemen, not worth messing around

 

[AWheating]

from a legal point of view are your competent to do such work yourself without training/certification? hse would require you to have such things as a h vac, etc.........?

and would you think it worth the risk to your business not to just get a contractor in?

just trying to get a general consensus

 

[lame plumber]

having seen the aston martin owners at work removing it in the negative pressure sealed areas etc, some common sense has to apply here. If what you have is lovely blue asbestos thats collapsed into a dusty heap, dont even walk near the stuff. But for an old domestic boiler with seals in place and complete, loads of water, masked up in a paper suit and put it in a bag and seal it all up. Never use a henry on it as it will just blow it all over. I remember making a rabbit cage at school fm asbstos sheet, cut it all up and put it together over a few weeks, and it stayed in our garden with various critters for years. still here today, and more likely to drown in the sea than fmm my own lungs. Its not nice but the guys who cop it have normally been working in engine rooms or in the industry for years prior to getting this horrible disease

 

[diamondgas]

I thought the local scrap man sorted all the legal disposal stuff out?

Amazing how quick they disappear when you leave them at the front of the house...

 

[Nostrum]

I've done the asbestos awareness course and whilst it was a bit of an eye opener, I couldn't help thinking the guys that ran the course have a vested interest in this industry ( as they also happen to do asbestos removal) and wondered exactly how much of it was scaremongering. If the stuff is as wide spread as they say we haven't got a hope in hell of avoiding it. One women apparently died from it as the wall she used to staple her paperwork to in a school contained asbestos?

Ive vey binned loads of boilers that contained asbestos, never knew at the time but just treated them like any other scrap boiler. Today I would probably phone the scrap bloke and let him deal with it as diamond has said.

 

[AWheating]

the problem with asbestos is some get exposed once and die from a related illness, some worked with it for years and dont see any bad effects to there health. So how do you assess the risk? with small children around at home i keep thinking how do i garrantee i dont bring anything home if im messing with it? is its it worth the chance to save getting a contractor in? how do i prove if questions by the hse i delt with it correctly?

 

[diamondgas]

the problem with asbestos is some get exposed once and die from a related illness, some worked with it for years and dont see any bad effects to there health. So how do you assess the risk? with small children around at home i keep thinking how do i garrantee i dont bring anything home if im messing with it? is its it worth the chance to save getting a contractor in? how do i prove if questions by the hse i delt with it correctly?

If you suspect asbestos prior to a replacement then the first people I'd be making aware are the customers! I'm sure they'd appreciate knowing the potential danger as well as yourself. Who pays for correct removal is then one for discussion I'd imagine. Any doubt then either walk away, ask the customer to have it checked or find out and follow safe handling and disposal procedures for the dangerous wastes... It's been a long time since I done any training on asbestos handling to be honest, maybe someone more freshened up on them can give you the answers you're after mate?

 

[GasmanxxxR1]

from a legal point of view are your competent to do such work yourself without training/certification? hse would require you to have such things as a h vac, etc.........?

and would you think it worth the risk to your business not to just get a contractor in?

just trying to get a general consensus

depends if its licensed or unlicensed asbestos

 

[AWheating]

depends if its licensed or unlicensed asbestos

so what do you do? old bbu with asbestos?

 

[AWheating]

If you suspect asbestos prior to a replacement then the first people I'd be making aware are the customers! I'm sure they'd appreciate knowing the potential danger as well as yourself. Who pays for correct removal is then one for discussion I'd imagine. Any doubt then either walk away, ask the customer to have it checked or find out and follow safe handling and disposal procedures for the dangerous wastes... It's been a long time since I done any training on asbestos handling to be honest, maybe someone more freshened up on them can give you the answers you're after mate?

this is what i do tbh, i inform the customer that the appliance contains asbestos and then i give them the option of me arranging its removal or leave it isolated for them to deal with. What i want to know is how you deal with these types of situations? what about if you attend a service and the boiler contains a damaged seal/gasket?

 

[diamondgas]

this is what i do tbh, i inform the customer that the appliance contains asbestos and then i give them the option of me arranging its removal or leave it isolated for them to deal with. What i want to know is how you deal with these types of situations? what about if you attend a service and the boiler contains a damaged seal/gasket?

What we use to do was wet it, double bag it, and get rid of it when i worked for BG .. Can't remember off hand but I believe they had specialists collect and dispose? ... Where you take it yourself, I honestly don't know. I'd imagine the local authorities have a dedicated site somewhere?

 

[GasmanxxxR1]

If its licensed then you need the spacemen that lame mentioned, if its unlicensed then don ppe, spray with water to damp down, double bag and dispose of, my local tip has an asbestos bin and i know a local asbestos firm that i use

Nasty stuff

 

[iain85]

Did your rabbits cough a lot?

having seen the aston martin owners at work removing it in the negative pressure sealed areas etc, some common sense has to apply here. If what you have is lovely blue asbestos thats collapsed into a dusty heap, dont even walk near the stuff. But for an old domestic boiler with seals in place and complete, loads of water, masked up in a paper suit and put it in a bag and seal it all up. Never use a henry on it as it will just blow it all over. I remember making a rabbit cage at school fm asbstos sheet, cut it all up and put it together over a few weeks, and it stayed in our garden with various critters for years. still here today, and more likely to drown in the sea than fmm my own lungs. Its not nice but the guys who cop it have normally been working in engine rooms or in the industry for years prior to getting this horrible disease

 

[stevetheplumber]

Did your rabbits cough a lot?

not after they gave up the roll ups