Thanet Bowls Club Asbestos Awareness Information / Training
What is asbestos?
Asbestos is a strong fibrous rock, which can resist heat and chemicals. It was commonly used in building materials between the 1950s and 1980s. Asbestos was often used as fireproofing but also as a general building material. Many buildings built or changed during this period are likely to contain asbestos.
Why is asbestos so dangerous?
Asbestos kills around 5,000 people every year in the UK … more deaths than people killed on the road? Around 20 tradesmen die every week due to exposure to asbestos.
When materials that contain asbestos are disturbed or damaged, fibres are released into the air. When these fibres are inhaled they can persist in the lungs for many years and cause serious diseases. The most common diseases associated with asbestos are asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma.
These diseases often take a long time to develop, but once diagnosed, it is often too late to do anything about them.
Asbestos materials only pose a risk when they are disturbed or damaged allowing the fibres to be released into the air.
How do I Avoid exposure to Asbestos?
A visual survey of materials used in the clubhouse does not reveal the presence of asbestos containing materials. Nor does it conclusively exclude their presence for the reasons outlined below. Asbestos containing materials may not look any different from their more modern equivalents. Thermal pipe lagging, floor tiles and roofing materials are typical examples of building products that may historically contain asbestos and which may still be present in a facility today. The presence of asbestos may therefore not be obvious to those maintaining a facility.
Drilling, sanding, grinding or otherwise physically disrupting asbestos containing materials creates a risk of the release of asbestos fibres into the air.
In the event that maintenance or other work reveals grey fibrous materials that it is thought may be indicative of asbestos. The area must be evacuated immediately and the area cordoned off, pending a survey. The area may not be reentered until the survey is concluded and any necessary remediation has been undertaken.
The following advice is good practice whenever maintenance work creates a dusty atmosphere and should therefore be adopted routinely. This good practice will also reduce the risk of exposure in the unlikely event that work is performed on materials that unknowingly contain asbestos.
A dust mask must be worn by anyone undertaking an activity, e.g. sanding, that causes a dusty atmosphere in the region of the workplace.
Where practicable the use of water, vacuum extraction or other dust suppressing measures should be used.
Where practicable dusty work must be performed outside or in a well ventilated environment.
Residual dust on surfaces will be removed by wet mopping after a dusty job is concluded.