Posted By CU Hi all I work on a site which has a number of fabrication sheds. The roofs of the sheds are made on concrete corrigated asbestos sheeting. Due to the weather damage of late and age, sections of the the roof have collapsed into the sheds. On this happening we have immediately informed the duty holders of the site (owner), and they have sent in an asbestos contractor to remove the debri. As the damage is now done we are now on a daily basis finding small sections of roof in the sheds. which the duty owner is removing immediately. We had a survey carrie out 2 years ago, which highlighted all asbestos on site. But this damage was not done then. We have risk assessed all the areas on site, but they are 2 years old. We keep personnel away from the debri when present. As replacing the roof is not an option as cost would close the site. Spraying the damaged sheets would not be practical as when we had more damage they would just expose more fibres.ARE WE DOING ENOUGH TO PROTECT OURWORKERS. What more can we do, should the risk assessments be reviewed, do we need to get a new survey carried out. I have all the info off the HSE. Which states that we dont not a licenced contractor to pick up the debri, but we do need special waste to remove of site. Is this type of asbestos low risk as many claim. Any thoughts would be most welcome.

Posted By Peter MacDonald Tony Remote demolition as you call it is not in itself a bad idea. This method should only used when the dangers associated with removal of the sheets whole (for example working at height on a damaged/unstable roof from a MEWP or scaffold) outweighs the very low risk associated with chrysotile fibre release from dense asbestos cement. We've carried out large scale removal of industrial sheds in this fashion that took well over two or three days, never mind one hour. Background and personnel monitoring by an independent third party analyst confirmed we did not exceed any action levels. Falls from height are a real danger, chrysotile asbestos cement is (comparitively) barely a hazard. Peter

Posted By Jim Cameron You say that 'on a daily basis' you are finding small sections of roof inside your sheds! Surely if your roof is this unstable you should worry about the risk of your workers being injured by falling material, prior to worrying about the risk from asbestos!

Posted By Dave Wilson Geoff what do you mean? You dont need a licence to do this. Would you undertake airmonitoring outside when removing asbestos cement dont think so as you can quite safely say that you will not exceed the action or control limits etc!

Posted By David J Jones My thoughts are to re-assess the risks as CU states the original risk assessments are two years old - surely the first step to be taken in any event. I agree with other postings referring to "experts", they don't come cheap but surely the cost of a consultation in re-assessing the risks would come under the caveat of reasonably practicable. At the end of the day, no matter how benign, or otherwise, white asbestos is thought to be, the duty of care cannot be ignored David

Posted By Mark Talbot Hi, Firstly I am not an expert in asebestos. I am however, more than qualified to tell you that your risk assessment should have been reviewed the very first time you saw / heard of damage. Do it now, and do it with an asbestos expert and fabrics man at your shoulder. I agree with others that looking for debris is not ideal if the roof is now fragile. Make the area a no-go until you are happy that the appropriate safeguards are in place.

Posted By Paul E Reynolds It all well and good saying that you do not reqire a licence to remove asbestos cement sheets, but please ask your insurance company if you are covered to carry out this work, i very much doubt it.