24 January 2014

Dickson asbestos alert

| johnboy
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Worksafe ACT are warning they’re shutting down a chunk of Dickson with all the asbestos blowing around:

WorkSafe ACT has been made aware of possible exposure to asbestos at several businesses backing onto Woolley Street, Dickson, Work Safety Commissioner, Mr Mark McCabe said today.

“WorkSafe ACT has been advised by a local business that asbestos fibres have been detected in a commercial building in Dickson,” said Mr McCabe.

“Tests conducted in the building have confirmed the presence of asbestos fibres, which we believe has come from the roof, which is constructed of material which includes compressed asbestos.

“Asbestos poses a health risk when asbestos fibres are released into the air and inhaled or ingested. This occurs once a material containing asbestos is broken, starts to deteriorate, or is disturbed in such a way that dust particles containing asbestos are produced. Continued use of this building in its current state could lead to a high risk of exposure to friable asbestos.

WorkSafe ACT has issued Prohibition Notices to several businesses in the building concerned, which is accessed by a laneway running off Woolley Street, Dickson.

“These businesses must cease operating immediately whilst WorkSafe ACT determines the appropriate steps to manage this situation,” continued Mr McCabe. “WorkSafe ACT will also be investigating the circumstances which have led to this exposure to determine whether any parties have failed to meet their work health and safety obligations under ACT legislation.

“WorkSafe ACT is working together with the building owner, tenants and other relevant government agencies to rectify this situation as soon as possible.

“While we believe that the likelihood of exposure for members of the public is low, if members of the public are concerned about possible exposure to asbestos, they should contact their local General Practitioner,” concluded Mr McCabe.

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Weaselburger10:03 pm 05 Mar 14

They also did asbestos testing in Ainslie shops. My bro’s clinic was targeted and even though tested it and found no risk they still shut him down whilst they do “structural testing” and given the media hype of it all the Canberra times had an asbestos story with a photo stating that the acupuncture clinic was ridded with asbestos…….Bulls***t

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd12:19 pm 15 Feb 14

dungfungus said :

c_c™ said :

CraigT said :

troll-sniffer said :

Anyone who worked in a city during the 60s and 70s and wandered the streets while traffic was moving about was almost certainly exposed to more fibres than anyone today who might stumble across a bit of friable asbestos sheeting and disturbs it.

It just occurred to me – anybody who visits a a city in countries where asbestos is still common (brake pads, etc…) has breathed in gazillions of these fibres.
Anywhere in China. Bangkok. Jakarta. Asbestos everywhere.

troll-sniffer said :

…it was revealed that the Wittenoom workers on average were breathing in 6-7 million fibres per hour of their working lives, and although a lot got mesothelioma a percentage didn’t.

10% of them got mesothelioma.

..and Wittenoom was [b]Blue Asbestos[/b].

Nothing like what goes in fibro.

Fibro can have blue asbestos too.

While there are no records discovered yet, anecdotal evidence suggests there are a lot of concrete/asbestos mains water pipes in Canberra (and New South Wales).
It will be interesting to see what is unearthed when the heavy infrastructure light rail contractors start digging up Northbourne Avenue.
What happened to Mr. Corbell’s “audit report” on what services and utilities were located under the Northbourne Avenue median strip?
Maybe too horrible to release?

How can there be no records? I was recently on a building with loads of them.

c_c™ said :

CraigT said :

troll-sniffer said :

Anyone who worked in a city during the 60s and 70s and wandered the streets while traffic was moving about was almost certainly exposed to more fibres than anyone today who might stumble across a bit of friable asbestos sheeting and disturbs it.

It just occurred to me – anybody who visits a a city in countries where asbestos is still common (brake pads, etc…) has breathed in gazillions of these fibres.
Anywhere in China. Bangkok. Jakarta. Asbestos everywhere.

troll-sniffer said :

…it was revealed that the Wittenoom workers on average were breathing in 6-7 million fibres per hour of their working lives, and although a lot got mesothelioma a percentage didn’t.

10% of them got mesothelioma.

..and Wittenoom was [b]Blue Asbestos[/b].

Nothing like what goes in fibro.

Fibro can have blue asbestos too.

While there are no records discovered yet, anecdotal evidence suggests there are a lot of concrete/asbestos mains water pipes in Canberra (and New South Wales).
It will be interesting to see what is unearthed when the heavy infrastructure light rail contractors start digging up Northbourne Avenue.
What happened to Mr. Corbell’s “audit report” on what services and utilities were located under the Northbourne Avenue median strip?
Maybe too horrible to release?

GaryLooney said :

Mesothelioma is a horrible disease, our Government claims concern about worrying the public in order to not deal with political and commercial Liability.

If there is no concern, there is no action, plain and simple politics.
For those who do not agree, who cares. I do

http://www.scribd.com/collections/4441447/TelstraPits

You can work with asbestos if you protect yourself from it.

Our government has done more than most when it comes to providing the laws that regulate those protections.

Mesothelioma is a horrible disease, our Government claims concern about worrying the public in order to not deal with political and commercial Liability.

If there is no concern, there is no action, plain and simple politics.
For those who do not agree, who cares. I do

http://www.scribd.com/collections/4441447/TelstraPits

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

JC said :

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

Do you have sources for any of that BS, craigt?

Btw, asbestos sheeting is not “just fibro”.

CC is 100% correct.

Most of what Craig says is most correct. It is well known fact that there is friable and no friable asbestos and asbestos sheeting, roofing etc is very much non friable, meaning the danger time is people making it, people cutting it, people removing it and it if becomes damaged simply because the fibres are bound in something else. In most cases with non friable leaving it alone is more safe than having it removed, so long of course you know it is there and treat it as such.

I reckon there is some of this in every home built in the ACT before the early to mid 90’s.

The friable variety is the most dangerous because it isn’t bound in something so fibres can get in the air more readily. The insulation that was removed from Canberra over the years being a good case, along with some forms of pipe cladding where it can be easily disturbed and broken.

Now all that said in the case of Dickson it would appear as if some sheeting has started to break up and there were broken parts of the sheeting on top of false ceilings. So in this case clearly it should be considered as potentially dangerous and properly inspected and cleaned. But as mentioned what Craig said is for the most part the truth and not BS. Just need to do some googling for friable and non friable.

If air monitoring has detected fibres, then there is a major issue.

Did you not read my last paragraph?

CraigT said :

troll-sniffer said :

Anyone who worked in a city during the 60s and 70s and wandered the streets while traffic was moving about was almost certainly exposed to more fibres than anyone today who might stumble across a bit of friable asbestos sheeting and disturbs it.

It just occurred to me – anybody who visits a a city in countries where asbestos is still common (brake pads, etc…) has breathed in gazillions of these fibres.
Anywhere in China. Bangkok. Jakarta. Asbestos everywhere.

troll-sniffer said :

…it was revealed that the Wittenoom workers on average were breathing in 6-7 million fibres per hour of their working lives, and although a lot got mesothelioma a percentage didn’t.

10% of them got mesothelioma.

..and Wittenoom was [b]Blue Asbestos[/b].

Nothing like what goes in fibro.

Fibro can have blue asbestos too.

troll-sniffer said :

Anyone who worked in a city during the 60s and 70s and wandered the streets while traffic was moving about was almost certainly exposed to more fibres than anyone today who might stumble across a bit of friable asbestos sheeting and disturbs it.

It just occurred to me – anybody who visits a a city in countries where asbestos is still common (brake pads, etc…) has breathed in gazillions of these fibres.
Anywhere in China. Bangkok. Jakarta. Asbestos everywhere.

troll-sniffer said :

…it was revealed that the Wittenoom workers on average were breathing in 6-7 million fibres per hour of their working lives, and although a lot got mesothelioma a percentage didn’t.

10% of them got mesothelioma.

..and Wittenoom was [b]Blue Asbestos[/b].

Nothing like what goes in fibro.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

CraigT said :

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

JC said :

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

Do you have sources for any of that BS, craigt?

Btw, asbestos sheeting is not “just fibro”.

CC is 100% correct.

Most of what Craig says is most correct. It is well known fact that there is friable and no friable asbestos and asbestos sheeting, roofing etc is very much non friable, meaning the danger time is people making it, people cutting it, people removing it and it if becomes damaged simply because the fibres are bound in something else. In most cases with non friable leaving it alone is more safe than having it removed, so long of course you know it is there and treat it as such.

I reckon there is some of this in every home built in the ACT before the early to mid 90’s.

The friable variety is the most dangerous because it isn’t bound in something so fibres can get in the air more readily. The insulation that was removed from Canberra over the years being a good case, along with some forms of pipe cladding where it can be easily disturbed and broken.

Now all that said in the case of Dickson it would appear as if some sheeting has started to break up and there were broken parts of the sheeting on top of false ceilings. So in this case clearly it should be considered as potentially dangerous and properly inspected and cleaned. But as mentioned what Craig said is for the most part the truth and not BS. Just need to do some googling for friable and non friable.

If air monitoring has detected fibres, then there is a major issue.

Crap.

Just like science, huh?

More crap.

It’s been explained to you in a variety of different ways (see above, if you can read) that a bit of old fibro lying around poses ^%$#-all risk in terms of asbestos.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd12:49 pm 02 Feb 14

CraigT said :

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

JC said :

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

Do you have sources for any of that BS, craigt?

Btw, asbestos sheeting is not “just fibro”.

CC is 100% correct.

Most of what Craig says is most correct. It is well known fact that there is friable and no friable asbestos and asbestos sheeting, roofing etc is very much non friable, meaning the danger time is people making it, people cutting it, people removing it and it if becomes damaged simply because the fibres are bound in something else. In most cases with non friable leaving it alone is more safe than having it removed, so long of course you know it is there and treat it as such.

I reckon there is some of this in every home built in the ACT before the early to mid 90’s.

The friable variety is the most dangerous because it isn’t bound in something so fibres can get in the air more readily. The insulation that was removed from Canberra over the years being a good case, along with some forms of pipe cladding where it can be easily disturbed and broken.

Now all that said in the case of Dickson it would appear as if some sheeting has started to break up and there were broken parts of the sheeting on top of false ceilings. So in this case clearly it should be considered as potentially dangerous and properly inspected and cleaned. But as mentioned what Craig said is for the most part the truth and not BS. Just need to do some googling for friable and non friable.

If air monitoring has detected fibres, then there is a major issue.

Crap.

Just like science, huh?

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

JC said :

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

Do you have sources for any of that BS, craigt?

Btw, asbestos sheeting is not “just fibro”.

CC is 100% correct.

Most of what Craig says is most correct. It is well known fact that there is friable and no friable asbestos and asbestos sheeting, roofing etc is very much non friable, meaning the danger time is people making it, people cutting it, people removing it and it if becomes damaged simply because the fibres are bound in something else. In most cases with non friable leaving it alone is more safe than having it removed, so long of course you know it is there and treat it as such.

I reckon there is some of this in every home built in the ACT before the early to mid 90’s.

The friable variety is the most dangerous because it isn’t bound in something so fibres can get in the air more readily. The insulation that was removed from Canberra over the years being a good case, along with some forms of pipe cladding where it can be easily disturbed and broken.

Now all that said in the case of Dickson it would appear as if some sheeting has started to break up and there were broken parts of the sheeting on top of false ceilings. So in this case clearly it should be considered as potentially dangerous and properly inspected and cleaned. But as mentioned what Craig said is for the most part the truth and not BS. Just need to do some googling for friable and non friable.

If air monitoring has detected fibres, then there is a major issue.

Crap.

troll-sniffer said :

Anyone who worked in a city during the 60s and 70s and wandered the streets while traffic was moving about was almost certainly exposed to more fibres than anyone today who might stumble across a bit of friable asbestos sheeting and disturbs it.

NON-friable.
Friable is worth removing. Fibro isn’t any kind of realistic risk unless you’re taking to it with an angle grinder 8 hours a day for years on end.

troll-sniffer said :

Sorry all you hysterical ones, but I’m with CraigT on this, and as for ComicandGamerNerd’s question… the answer is all around you as the hysteria surrounding the substance is pushed by people of limited judgement and analytical skills.

Yeah, that’s the useful idiots, but it’s people with an agenda who start the moral panics. In this case somebody will probably get a nice big juicy contract with the ACT government by blowing this up out of all proportion and making the removal last for ever and cause as much disruption as possible.

troll-sniffer said :

fibres than anyone today who might stumble across a bit of friable asbestos sheeting and disturbs it.
.

Don’t disagree with your basic sentiment, but the bit quoted above kind of contradicts itself. The definition of friable and non friable, courtosey of Work Safe WA is:

Friable asbestos means any material that contains asbestos and is in the form of a powder or can be easily crumbled, pulverised or reduced to a powder by hand pressure when dry. Examples of friable asbestos include, but are not limited to, asbestos lagging, sprayed insulation, millboard, felt and woven asbestos matting.

Non-friable asbestos means any asbestos-containing material other than friable asbestos. Examples of non-friable asbestos include, but are not limited to, asbestos cement building products, vinyl floor tiles, friction materials, and any product where the asbestos is locked into the matrix.

Therefore if it is sheeting, even if that sheeting is broken it is still non friable. Though non friable that is broken should be treated with caution.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd8:03 am 02 Feb 14

JC said :

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

Do you have sources for any of that BS, craigt?

Btw, asbestos sheeting is not “just fibro”.

CC is 100% correct.

Most of what Craig says is most correct. It is well known fact that there is friable and no friable asbestos and asbestos sheeting, roofing etc is very much non friable, meaning the danger time is people making it, people cutting it, people removing it and it if becomes damaged simply because the fibres are bound in something else. In most cases with non friable leaving it alone is more safe than having it removed, so long of course you know it is there and treat it as such.

I reckon there is some of this in every home built in the ACT before the early to mid 90’s.

The friable variety is the most dangerous because it isn’t bound in something so fibres can get in the air more readily. The insulation that was removed from Canberra over the years being a good case, along with some forms of pipe cladding where it can be easily disturbed and broken.

Now all that said in the case of Dickson it would appear as if some sheeting has started to break up and there were broken parts of the sheeting on top of false ceilings. So in this case clearly it should be considered as potentially dangerous and properly inspected and cleaned. But as mentioned what Craig said is for the most part the truth and not BS. Just need to do some googling for friable and non friable.

If air monitoring has detected fibres, then there is a major issue.

troll-sniffer said :

It’s like the idiocy surrounding exposure to sunlight and the line pushed by the Cancer Council that all exposure to sunlight causes damage to the skin. Bullshit.

Yeah, we don’t need no stinking science obviously.

troll-sniffer6:20 pm 01 Feb 14

Years ago before all the hysteria surrounding even the slightest transient exposure to a few asbestos fibres, it was revealed that the Wittenoom workers on average were breathing in 6-7 million fibres per hour of their working lives, and although a lot got mesothelioma a percentage didn’t. Anyone who worked in a city during the 60s and 70s and wandered the streets while traffic was moving about was almost certainly exposed to more fibres than anyone today who might stumble across a bit of friable asbestos sheeting and disturbs it.

Sorry all you hysterical ones, but I’m with CraigT on this, and as for ComicandGamerNerd’s question… the answer is all around you as the hysteria surrounding the substance is pushed by people of limited judgement and analytical skills.

It’s like the idiocy surrounding exposure to sunlight and the line pushed by the Cancer Council that all exposure to sunlight causes damage to the skin. Bullshit.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

Do you have sources for any of that BS, craigt?

Btw, asbestos sheeting is not “just fibro”.

CC is 100% correct.

Most of what Craig says is most correct. It is well known fact that there is friable and no friable asbestos and asbestos sheeting, roofing etc is very much non friable, meaning the danger time is people making it, people cutting it, people removing it and it if becomes damaged simply because the fibres are bound in something else. In most cases with non friable leaving it alone is more safe than having it removed, so long of course you know it is there and treat it as such.

I reckon there is some of this in every home built in the ACT before the early to mid 90’s.

The friable variety is the most dangerous because it isn’t bound in something so fibres can get in the air more readily. The insulation that was removed from Canberra over the years being a good case, along with some forms of pipe cladding where it can be easily disturbed and broken.

Now all that said in the case of Dickson it would appear as if some sheeting has started to break up and there were broken parts of the sheeting on top of false ceilings. So in this case clearly it should be considered as potentially dangerous and properly inspected and cleaned. But as mentioned what Craig said is for the most part the truth and not BS. Just need to do some googling for friable and non friable.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd2:39 pm 01 Feb 14

Do you have sources for any of that BS, craigt?

Btw, asbestos sheeting is not “just fibro”.

CC is 100% correct.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

cranky said :

These businesses, or their forebears, have occupied these premises for over 40 years. Asbestos contamination is a killer, but are the authorities over reacting? Now it’s been discovered, and the businesses shut down, who pays for the lost income?

How can you over react to asbestos fibres?

See above for a good example. Life in Dickson comes to a standstill as a result of some non-dangerous fibro.

This is not blue asbestos. This is asbestos sheeting (it’s all over Canberra – every house built before 1976 is chock-full of it) made from chrysotile which is only known to cause health issues as a result of chronic exposure, eg factory workers exposed to loose fibres. Fibro sheeting is concrete-bonded Chrysotile, meaning your risk is even smaller because the fibres can’t blow around.

The people who love their little moral hysterias (eg, the media, dodgy unions looking to slow down work, etc…) are always very careful to blur the facts to make you believe there’s some deadly danger out there.

Bottom line is, there isn’t. It’s just fibro. You need to spend decades constantly breathing in loose chrysotile fibres to give yourself a decent chance of mesothelioma. Every time you breathe in a lungful of car-exhaust-tainted air on a roadside in Civic you are exposing yourself to far, far more risk than if you’ve got some sheets of fibro sitting in your house.

cranky said :

These businesses, or their forebears, have occupied these premises for over 40 years. Asbestos contamination is a killer, but are the authorities over reacting? Now it’s been discovered, and the businesses shut down, who pays for the lost income?

40 years of weathering has likely done terrible damage to the super 6 asbestos sheeting that seems to be a fairly common roofing material in Dickson. As the sheets break down they release asbestos fibres.

Lost income doesn’t really cut it when facing potential asbestosis…

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd7:09 am 01 Feb 14

cranky said :

These businesses, or their forebears, have occupied these premises for over 40 years. Asbestos contamination is a killer, but are the authorities over reacting? Now it’s been discovered, and the businesses shut down, who pays for the lost income?

How can you over react to asbestos fibres?

These businesses, or their forebears, have occupied these premises for over 40 years. Asbestos contamination is a killer, but are the authorities over reacting? Now it’s been discovered, and the businesses shut down, who pays for the lost income?

Do we know where it is/was?

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd5:30 pm 24 Jan 14

Messed up.

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