“a license is not required to remove less than 10 square meters of bonded asbestos.” this is about as far as people get with this “ten square meter rule” it goes on to say”
“all asbestos removal work must be carried out properly usingsafe work procedures”
this is the bit that gets ignored !
Ask yourself why only a few specialized companiesremove asbestos professionally ? You may come up with the following answers :
:It is extremely dangerous.
: It requires specialized skills.
: It requires specialized equipment.
: The specialized equipment is really expensive ( our Hazardous substances vacuum cost us $2700.00 and has to be checked every 6 months for the integrity of the Hepa filter and ever 3 months for electrical safety)
: It not easy to transport ( you need a license in QLD to transport asbestos commercially)
:Its health risk (our guys have yearly in depth health checks by specialist doctors)
: You need special asbestos liability insurance. (Asbestos liability insurance starts at $5000.00 a year and goes up as you turnover more business )
Well you know you would only be about a tenth of the way into why asbestos should only be removed by professional asbestos removal companies. The act “how to remove asbestos safely 2011” is full of some of the most mind numbing legal jargon that you will ever read, it will take you hours to understand and then you will have to comply to it %100 which is tough because it changes regularly . Then there is the regulations on the regulated transport of asbestos waste another headache which can change regularly .
Before you let anybody convince you “its ok its less than 10 square meters I am good to take it out ” .Ask yourself does this guy have the following ?
:Expert training in asbestos removal that he has reviewed and refined to ensure best practices are used to keep my family safe?
: The correct expensive specialist equipment to ensure after he has finished the site is decontaminated so that my family is safe?
: Carry the correct asbestos specific insurance in case there is some sort of accident and my whole house in contaminated, and needs tens of thousands of dollars in decontamination work done.Which also will insure I am compensated for having to move out whilst costly decontamination of the home is carried out ,and I am fairly compensated for the loss of all my contaminated belongings?
: Is he looking after his workers are they trained and supplied with the correct custom fitted respirators to keep them safe?
:Does he know how to safely store the asbestos onsite until it is picked up by a licensed and insured contractor for safe transport to a registered dump to keep my family and neighbors safe?
:Will he have the job inspected by a competent person under the act and be able to supply me with a Clearance Certificate upon request?
If you have any doubts on any of these questions the answer should be . No I am not risking my family’s safety because you think its ok!
