I have just discovered a set of red bin bags labelled asbestos outside a neighbouring workshop! No-one around to ask but I had a look around mine and think that there is some asbestos board near the doors? Can anyone confirm?? I am worried!

022 by nbathurst, on Flickr

020 by nbathurst, on Flickr

018 by nbathurst, on Flickr

Cat Asbestos?

If it’s rented property contact your landlord immediately and ask him to deal with it, it’s HIS problem not yours and he has a duty of care when he rents out the property. I also hate to tell you that you need to log your exposure to it ‘officially’ as you won’t know the consequences for a long time 😯 We found some at our workplace years ago and we all have to have regular health screening now!

If is it asbestos it’s in a very hazardous condition and needs dealing with urgently. I suggest you stay away until it’s dealt with as its fekin nasty stuff. We haven’t reached the peak of people dying from exposure 20 – 25 years ago yet.

You also say there’s red bags labelled ‘asbestos’ outside neighbouring properties????? I’d contact the local H & S executive as that’s fekin illegal of some cowboy clearance has just left bags lying around!!!

on a more serious note:

That’s absolutely the worst condition for asbestos to be in – I imagine it’s shedding fibres quite regularly and it’s right over where you walk in and out 🙁

If I were you (and purely as a precaution) I’d get some insurance details from the landlord ‘just in case’ and talk to your insurers about it too.

It could just be hardboard, of course…

Fingers crossed it is hardboard!!

Have a look here for reference, although for the HSE reference library they are pretty low res:

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

without getting too close, is it coarse textured and/or dimpled on the other side?

yes get it sorted ASAP !

It could be asbestos cement which its more likely to be…

Looks like hardboard to me.

Take a match or a lighter to one corner – if your workshop goes up in flames it’s hardboard, if it will not take a flame or smoulder then it could be Asbestos, but don’t take advice from a web forum – ask your local council for advice.

It doesn’t look like asbestos to me. But I could be wrong.

You won’t know for sure whether it contains asbestos fibres unless you get it lab tested. To me it looks fibrous just like an asbestos-cement product. If the Asbestos content in the product is less than 14% it’s classed as Asbestos-cement and can be handled differently ( wet removal, p3 mask, paper suit etc ) compared to if it contains more than 14%. Now you’re talking full PPE, P3 Mask with blower, Work area to be encapsulated, negative pressure to prevent fibres escaping etc.., Showers for the workers and and and.
Be Warned! YOUR LANDLORD WILL NOT WANT TO GO DOWN THIS ROUTE IF HE HIS A ROGUE AS IT IS EXPENSIVE. Get some sort of official clearance.
IMHO it’s asbestos. firstly by looks, secondly It’s also very difficult to make products that have the same characteristics as asbestos ie. heat resistance in the same dimensions as an asbestos product. ie 5mm thick.
to clarify..a non asbestos product that is to deliver the same as an asbestos product needs to be thicker.

A few years ago I was asked to paint some soffits and after inspecting asked the lady to send a piece off to the lab. She said she’d spoken to this person, that person etc and it’s not asbestos. She’d spoken to the last decorator that had sanded and painted them and there is nothing to worry about. I still refused and told her to get the painter back that did them last time. Long story short lab result was asbestos.

Email in profile if needed.

if under the terms of your lease you are responsible for the repair and mantenance of the premises then there is a good change that you are what is called the duty holder. The responsibility for the assessment of and the dealing with asbestos could therefore be our responsibility and your cost.

Take advice!

but don’t take advice from a web forum

Even people who identify asbestos for a living can’t do so by just looking at it. Asbestos has/had numerous applications and lots of things look a bit like asbestos.

Your photos look like they could hardboard (which would only be about 4mm thick) or Sundeala (the stuff notice boards are made from but it also gets used as an insulation board in older industrial buildings) which is about 12mm thick.

chances are though that the workshop should never of been rented out if its contaminated…Landlord has the onus surely?

Get it tested. If it is,get out. Then tell the landlord.

Possibly AIB. If it is you’re all ready into ongoing monitoring. Having it tested is reasonably cheap, unless you get the tester to take the sample (which I would strongly recommend given the state of the boards).

As a commercial building it has to have an asbestos register, did you check that when you rented it? However that looks like hardboard to me, it’s certainly not sundeala as it doesn’t break down like that.

That’s not hardboard.

Not sure if its asbestos but there is probably lots of other stuff that actually asbestos elsewhere in your premisis. There always is.

Ask your landlord for their risk register. If they don’t have one find somewhere else to work and call the hse.

Not to worry about contamination now. We were all probably well and truely contaminated when at school…

Not to worry about contamination now. We were all probably well and truely contaminated when at school…

I always wondered about this , the amoiunt of asbestos garage roofs we used to play on , fall through when we were kids and then when they used to demolish them there was the smashing of any sheets or flourescent lightbulbs we could lay our mindlessly destructive hands on

Whilst working in the asbestos removal business in Germany 15 odd years ago there was talk of a ‘ new ‘ threat namely PCB. I worked on a couple of projects removing PCB whilst scientists, professors, Hse etc worked on an acceptable ( non dangerous ) level. This level was set. Tests were carried out which would of resulted in 90% of the schools closing. Thus the ‘ acceptable level ‘ was changed….

Everybody at our place has had to go on asbestos awareness courses in the last year or so. What we took away from it was you can’t tell just by looking at it – it needs lab testing. You definitely can’t tell by looking at a few pictures on the internet.

This is worth a look.

What to do about it depends on your circumstances – who owns it, who’s responsible for maintenance, is it your workshop or are you employed there? You may well find it’s down to yourself to sort out, in which case you need to get an asbestos survey done.

Any news OP?

Hardboard.. its got nails through it ffs.

Hardboard.. its got nails through it ffs.

You can nail through AIB too. You can’t tell from photos, polarised light though…

there’s some asbestos in my garage with those nails through it.

It’s painted and undamaged so I’ve just left it, tbh, as it’s probably less risky than trying to remove it.

@cheez0.. ( leaving myself open to abuse ) that comment proves that you have no realtime experience with asbestos! Leave advising someone on possible life threatening substances to those that know what they are talking about!

Hello, I’m an asbestos analyst and surveyor. You need to contact your landlord and arrange for a UKAS a credited surveyor to come and sample it. It’s likely to be AIB if it is an asbestos containing material (acm). If you are in the southwest then pm me and I will give you details of the company I work for. Unfortunately only by laboratory analysis can it be confirmed as to whether it’s an acm or not. Also, if it’s an acm you will need an air test to determine any contamination. For now don’t touch or go near the product. Any qustions just let me know.

Also, if your landlord has rented the property to you he has a duty to ensure an up to date as datos management survey and register is carried out. Check through the register and see if it mentios it. I’d be suprised if you have an asbestos register and that product was flagged as an acm due to the condition it’s in. Either you dont have a register and it might be an acm or you have got one and it’s not.

Thanks for all the posts. I tackled the landlord on site today. He says he bought the property in 1982 and that the surveys then did not flag anything up. He says it is not asbestos. At that point, just by chance a demolition guy was hanging around and he got into the debate and broke a bit of the material off and said “a million %” its not asbestos. Interestingly when he broke it, it was very hard and very brittle, not at all fibrous, almost like cement or stone. No-one could give me the name of the material… The landlord was then quite unhelpful and basically said if you don’t like it then leave! The area here is quite rural and there aren’t many other workshop options. I said I’d think about it….Does anyone know how much it would cost to have a small sample analysed? Could a real expert tell just by looking at it?

I use this lab…
http://cavendishlaboratories.co.uk
Costs about £15 a sample last time I used them but that was a couple of years ago. So, phone up to get cost, carefully get sample(s), double bag and label sample(s), send off with cheque. Last time they informed me within about 48 hours of sending off

Thanks Nuke, that is very helpful. I called Cavendish and they do the test these days for £21.60! I will send it off tomorrow and get the results in 48 hours….great service.

If it turns out to be asbestos you’re going to have to either walk away or send in the legal heavies – there’s no way you should end up paying to remediate a rented property.

What Peter said basically. I’m also a asbestos consultant in the south west.

I’m not sure why your neighbour would have red bags outside, that’s very worrying. Have you got a pick of the bags please?

Fantombiker……wet well ( soak ) before removal. As a precaution cheap p3 dust mask. Re the idiot who broke off a bit claiming to be knowledgeable he is nothing more than an idiot. In my previous posts I have said that only a lab will tell ( there are also brittle asbestos products )…and remember the story about that lady who wanted to listen to everyone else but me..these idiots deserve to be proven wrong. ( thing is though in the end I’m the bad man for her having to fork out more money than she intended ).
If it is asbestos work out what your exposure was and log it.
Good luck.

If it is AIB do not remove it no matter what people say. It is highly illegal to work on a licensed asbestos product unless your a fully licensed removal contractor. And a dusk mask wouldn’t do much to protect you.

Asbestos removal works are very expensive for a good reason.

But let’s hope it’s not an ACM and alps well

The results came back from the lab. It is “chrysotile”, with asbestos in! It appears from what I have read, this is the least dangerous and was not disturbed since I have been there, I am now going to move out pronto. Luckily I was not in the workshop a lot, just using it for storage and the odd car repair, but some people are in these units all day, and have removed boards etc

I am also considering going to get some legal advice…

I learnt a lot here, mainly that you can’t tell by looking at a material whether it contains asbestos. Even people who appear knowledgeable are not, just as Tymbian says it needs lab testing. Secondly, I learnt that Landlords may appear to know what they are doing but may be in a position of ignorance as well.

I am also considering going to get some legal advice…

this. no one wants anything bad to happen but if the worst happens in 30 years time at least you’d be prepared for it.

I’d do this before contacting landlord or even the other tenants. but at least let the latter know as soon as you can.

If you’re feeling like it get the authorities on to him as per earlier posts.

I’d notify the local authority environmental health just in case the landlord gets some cowboys in to remove it and fly tip it as sadly often seems to be the case……