One of the most complex tasks Airsafe is often asked to perform is waste classification.
What’s waste classification and why do we do it?
Waste is a natural byproduct of construction: you demolish a building, you dig a hole in the ground to lay foundations, and you end up with materials that you need to do something with. You can’t just dump the materials anywhere you please (at least, not without getting in trouble with the law).
Instead, it’s important to work out what kind of material you’re dealing with, and in particular whether it’s contaminated with potentially hazardous material. This is what waste classification is about. Waste classification determines where you can dispose of waste material, how you must dispose of it, and whether you can sell the material on to be used at another site.
How do we classify waste?
Classifying waste is a complex process, outlined in the EPA’s Waste Classification Guidelines. It can involve investigating the history of the site and the waste product itself, as well as laboratory testing for various types of contamination.
Ultimately, the aim is to place the waste into one of six classes:
- Special waste: This includes asbestos, clinical waste and tyres — categories that have their own special requirements about disposal
- Liquid waste
- Hazardous waste: Includes explosives, gases, flammable solids, and waste that has been contaminated with lead, coal tar and other hazardous materials
- Restricted solid waste: Waste with a level of contamination lower than hazardous waste, but higher than general solid waste
- General solid waste (putrescible): Waste that includes food scraps, manure, and other materials that decay, smell, or attract vermin
- General solid waste (non-putrescible): Waste that doesn’t fit into any of the other classes
What is Virgin Excavated Natural Material (VENM)?
Virgin Excavated Natural Material (VENM) is a special type of general solid waste (non-putrescible). It includes any natural material that has never been farmed, built on or otherwise modified, and is uncontaminated with hazardous materials.
The advantage of having waste classified as VENM is that you can sell it to to be re-used at another site (what used to be called “clean fill”).
If you’re planning to sell VENM, you must have paperwork to prove that it’s VENM. That means you need to get experts involved to assess and, if necessary, test the material.
Need help with waste or VENM classification? Call Airsafe on (02) 9555 9034.
A court case in South Australia sent a strong message to employers: there’s no excuse for failing to take action about asbestos-related risks to your employees.
85-year old Allan Geyer was diagnosed with mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos over a 31-year career at a South Australian power station. The Electricity Trust of South Australia was forced to pay Mr Geyer more than $320,000 in damages.
$20,000 of this settlement iswas”exemplary damages”, meaning the court believed that ETSA knew of the risks its employees were facing from exposure to asbestos, but failed to inform them or to adequately protect them.
This is a drop in the ocean compared to the total costs organisations like ETSA might end up facing if other former employees bring legal action against them. With mesothelioma rates expected to keep rising for the next decade, that’s a very real possibility.
What to do first: get an asbestos assessment
Employers have both a legal and a moral responsibility to make sure their employees are aware of and protected from asbestos risks. If your premises were built before 2004, the first step is to arrange an asbestos assessment from an experienced asbestos consultancy company like Airsafe. If we find asbestos on your premises, we’ll help you develop an asbestos register and management plan.
Don’t be an employer that the courts make an example of: do the right thing, and get your premises checked for asbestos.
If you live in an older house, chances are that over the decades, dust has accumulated in your ceiling cavity.
There’s also a good chance that this dust contains lead.
Lead in ceiling dust can come from various sources, including:
- petrol exhaust emissions
- wood or coal burning fallout
- detritus from old renovations (for instance the removal of lead-based paint)
- industrial debris from power stations, incinerators, and other sources
As you may know, even small concentrations of lead can be dangerous, especially to young children.
So what should you do about possible lead dust in your ceiling?
Get a lead sample tested
If you suspect there might be lead in your ceiling dust, a good first step is to get a sample tested to find out if lead is present, and if so, in what concentration.
Airsafe offers NATA accredited testing for lead. Find out how to get a sample tested.
If we do find lead, we’ll give you sound advice about what to do next.
Lead dust may not pose a risk
Just because you have lead dust in your ceiling, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s posing a risk to your family. There are two situations, however, where you do need to take action:
- If you’re planning renovations that will disturb the ceiling dust, like adding an extension or skylight
- If there’s a chance dust might be leaking from your ceiling
If you need ceiling dust removed
If you do need to remove dust from your ceiling, we strongly advise you against doing it yourself.
Instead, give Airsafe a call on (02) 9555 9034. We’ll recommend a professional dust removalist who will take the proper precautions, including HEPA air filtration, and safe entry and exit to the ceiling that avoids further contamination.
Don’t put your children at risk: if you think you might be dealing with lead, get expert advice.
Since regulations have tightened around asbestos, a lot of companies are cashing in by offering asbestos inspection services.
One of these companies is a well-known “jack of all trades” franchising operation which started out as a lawnmowing business. We won’t mention them by name, but if you do a Google search for “asbestos inspection Sydney”, you’ll probably see their AdWords ad come up.
Now, we’re sure these guys do a great job mowing your lawn, but are they qualified to inspect your house for asbestos?
We have our doubts. Here are a few facts:
- The company is not NATA accredited.
- They don’t have professional indemnity insurance covering asbestos.
- Any asbestos samples they collect need to go to a third-party NATA accredited asbestos testing laboratory like Airsafe’s.
- To try to save on lab costs and consultant salaries so they can make a profit on their fixed-price inspections, they have to use inexperienced judgment about what does and doesn’t contain asbestos.
The upshot of all this is that you’re throwing money down the drain using an inexperienced asbestos inspection company — whether it’s our lawnmowing friends or one of the other operations that have suddenly popped up to take advantage of the rise in asbestos awareness.
A significant amount of Airsafe’s time at the moment is spent repairing reports from companies like these. Councils, WorkCover and the EPA take one look and say “not good enough”. And if somehow work is allowed to go ahead, and builders or bystanders are exposed to asbestos because of a substandard report, you as the building owner will be liable for legal costs.
So don’t waste your time and money, and don’t put your family and neighbours at risk. Get an experienced, NATA accredited company like Airsafe to do your asbestos inspection, and get it right the first time.
Get a quick quote for an asbestos inspection.
We once dealt with a householder who nearly paid $20,000 too much for asbestos removal.
Here’s the story. A Sydney homeowner — we’ll call him Jack (not his real name) — had found some old asbestos shingles in his roof while renovating. Although this type of shingle is easily mistaken for slate, Jack was savvy enough to realise that he was dealing with asbestos and would have to get it removed.
So far, so good. But now Jack made his big mistake: he did a Google search for an asbestos removalist. The removalist took a quick look around and delivered the bad news: Jack had friable asbestos, and it would cost $25,000 to remove.
Jack thought this sounded like a lot. Fortunately, he remembered that he’d done some work for the owner of Airsafe earlier in the year. He gave us a call, and we immediately arranged for one of our consultants to come and inspect his property.
Airsafe asbestos consultant saves thousands
The consultant confirmed that the asbestos was in fact not friable. He then arranged for quotes from two of Airsafe’s most trusted asbestos removal contractors. Both quotes came in at around $5,000 — a fifth of what Jack had originally been quoted!
Not only did Jack save a lot of money, but because he was using Airsafe’s recommended asbestos removalists, the job was done right, with air monitoring, tip dockets, and a legally compliant clearance certificate.
The lesson: if you know you need asbestos removed, don’t find some random asbestos removalist on Google. Instead, call Airsafe on (02) 9555 9034. We’ll send one of our experienced consultants for an initial asbestos inspection. They’ll then recommend the best course of action — one that keeps you and your family safe without costing you any more than necessary. If removal is required, we’ll recommend one of our trusted asbestos removal contractors. We’ve dealt with practically every asbestos removalist in Sydney, and we’ll help you steer clear of the ones who cut corners or sell snake oil.
If you’re not in Sydney, we still recommend talking to an asbestos consultant first. Look for a consultant who’s been in business for a long time, and has experience servicing commercial clients. Try to find a consultant who’s accredited by NATA, including the hard-to-get accreditation for asbestos identification. And make sure they have at least $5 million in professional indemnity insurance (ask to see a certificate of currency).
As awareness of asbestos grows, we expect to see more and more householders being ripped off. Avoid being one of them by talking to an asbestos consultant first.
Since 1 July 2013, if you’re in NSW and having friable asbestos removed at your premises, you must engage a Licensed Asbestos Assessor to conduct air quality monitoring and asbestos clearance inspections and to issue asbestos clearance certificates.
We’re happy to confirm that Airsafe has Licensed Asbestos Assessors available. Our senior consultants have been granted the qualification by SafeWork NSW because of their acknowledged expertise and experience in dealing with asbestos.
So if you’re in charge of friable asbestos removal works, call Airsafe on (02) 9555 9034 to get a quote for air quality monitoring and a clearance inspection by a Licensed Asbestos Assessor. We’ll make sure you comply with your legal obligations.
What about non-friable asbestos?
The rules around removing non-friable (or “bonded”) asbestos aren’t as strict.
But at Airsafe, we recommend you take the same precautions as you would for friable asbestos, and engage our expert consultants for air quality monitoring and a clearance inspection.
Why’s that? Because non-friable asbestos, when damaged, can easily become friable. By taking precautions, you keep your staff and contractors safe, and protect yourself against possible legal liability in the future.
Whatever kind of asbestos you’re dealing with, get expert advice and help: call Airsafe on (02) 9555 9034.
The National Asbestos Exposure Register allows individual people to make a record of situations where they have been exposed to asbestos. It has a different purpose to the individual Asbestos Registers that businesses are required to have, listing all the places where asbestos has been found on their premises.
It’s useful to keep a national register of exposure to asbestos in case a person who has been exposed develops an asbestos-related disease in the future.
The Register is managed by the Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency.
What does this mean for employers?
If you’re an employer and one of your employees is exposed to asbestos in the workplace, they now have an easy way of putting this on the official record.
Hopefully, this will give employers an incentive to make sure their asbestos records and procedures are up to date. For any premises where asbestos-containing materials have been found, you need an asbestos register and management plan. And if you need to have asbestos removed from your workplace, make sure it’s done properly, with air quality monitoring in place. Do it to protect yourself against legal liability in the decades to come — but more importantly, do it to protect the health of your employees.
In 2013, the exposure of National Broadband Network workers to asbestos exploded into a major political scandal.
Unfortunately, given the prevalence of asbestos in Australia, it seems every major infrastructure project strikes an asbestos issue at some stage.
Rather than getting embroiled in the political blame game, let’s look at what lessons we can draw from the events.
Asbestos can become a big issue very quickly
At times, it seems like asbestos has receded into the background of Australian life. Despite the well-documented dangers posed by the presence of asbestos in so many Australian houses, schools and public buildings, it can often feel like asbestos has been put in the “too hard basket”.
But events of the last few weeks have proved that it doesn’t take much for Australians to start worrying about asbestos again.
As well as making sure that proper precautions are taken around asbestos-contaminated pits, the Australian Government needs to use this opportunity to make sure everybody working on construction projects is aware of the risks of asbestos, and knows when to call for expert advice. This is especially important when private subcontractors are being used to carry out public works.
Otherwise, this won’t be the last infrastructure project to be dogged by an asbestos scare. Getting this right is more important that apportioning blame.
Air monitoring is crucial
In response to revelations that workers had been exposed to asbestos, the NBN Co moved to using specialised asbestos removal contractors to work around the asbestos-contaminated Telstra pits where the NBN was being installed.
As part of this more rigorous protocol, air quality monitoring was in place to ensure that workers and the public weren’t put at risk.
It probably goes without saying, but a more comprehensive risk management strategy earlier in the process, including air monitoring around sites known to contain asbestos, could have prevented the problems with the project from spiralling out of control.
It’s not just about asbestos
We have an understandable focus on asbestos at Airsafe, but it’s important not to ignore other risks from hazardous materials. In the case of the Telstra pits being used for the NBN, many of them were also contaminated with Dieldrin, a toxic termite pesticide that was used over many years to stop termite damage.
The combination of asbestos and Dieldrin made remediation doubly complicated, as disposal requirements for the two materials are quite different.
At Airsafe, we have decades of experience in consulting on all kinds of hazardous materials, not just asbestos. We can test for Dieldrin and, if it’s found, advise on the best course of action. Contact us for more details.
We’ve often talked about the need for homeowners to take precautions around possible asbestos when renovating their houses.
We’ve also talked about the need to make sure any contractors you employ are properly qualified to work around asbestos.
A 2013 case in Canberra drives home both of these points.
Justin and Erin Thompson had hired a builder to renovate their bathroom. Unfortunately, neither the Thompsons nor their builder had thought about testing the room for asbestos.
As it turns out, the bathroom was full of asbestos sheeting, which the builders were cutting through using angle grinders, then casually leaving the asbestos waste at the front of the house.
The danger this posed for the family only became apparent when a neighbour confronted the builder. When the builder tried to fob the neighbour off, he contacted WorkSafe. (We think that neighbour is a hero!)
Meanwhile, the family had been exposed to asbestos throughout the renovations:
Despite assurances from the builder that the asbestos “was not the dangerous kind”, the family will require ongoing annual medical tests for life-threatening illnesses, including mesothelioma.
By “not the dangerous kind”, no doubt the builder meant bonded asbestos. But while it’s true that bonded asbestos isn’t dangerous as long as it’s undamaged and undisturbed, as soon as you rip into it with an angle grinder it becomes potentially very dangerous!
Lessons for householders
There are a number of lessons that families can learn from this unfortunate story:
Get a survey
Before starting major renovations, get an asbestos survey from a company like Airsafe. A survey would have clearly identified the danger in the bathroom, and outlined the precautions that needed to be taken.
Don’t take your builder’s word for it
Don’t believe everything builders tell you — especially reassurances that asbestos is “safe”! All asbestos removal should be handled by a qualified asbestos removal contractor. Airsafe can recommend a good one.
Think about your neighbours too
Asbestos doesn’t just affect your family — it can potentially affect your neighbours as well. In this case, it was a neighbour’s vigilance that brought the problem to light. But even when asbestos removal is being done correctly, your neighbours might need reassurance — which is one of the reasons we always recommend air quality monitoring during asbestos removal.
We wish the Thompsons well, and we hope their example inspires others to take precautions.
The most important ingredient in the success of Airsafe is the quality of our asbestos consultants.
So what is it that makes our consultants special?
You might think it’s their knowledge of asbestos – and of course that’s very important. All our consultants have science degrees and extensive experience conducting asbestos audits, air monitoring during asbestos removal, and asbestos clearance inspections. Our consultants’ knowledge, experience and attention to detail mean we get it right the first time. Unlike some of our competitors, our asbestos audits never have to be re-done because of a lack of thoroughness.
So knowledge of asbestos is absolutely crucial to a good asbestos consultant. But there’s something even more important: great communication skills.
Communication skills are the key
An Airsafe asbestos consultant has to deal on a daily basis with multiple stakeholders in extremely sensitive situations.
Imagine a situation where asbestos has been unexpectedly found on a site, bringing a halt to a major renovation project. When our consultant is called in, they’ll have to consider the needs of:
- Building owners who want to get the project finished without expenditure spiralling out of control
- Unions who need to be reassured their members aren’t at risk of contracting asbestos-related diseases
- Contractors who want to get the job done, get paid, and avoid legal dramas down the track
- Government and regulatory bodies who want to make sure everything proceeds according to the law
As you can imagine, sometimes the meetings we attend can get pretty heated! And the last thing that’s needed is an asbestos consultant who throws their weight around, criticising the way things have been done before they arrived.
Instead, what’s needed is someone who’s a good negotiator, able to work with everyone to come up with a solution that keeps people safe while minimising disruption to the business. That’s the type of person we look for when we engage a new asbestos consultant. People with those qualities aren’t easy to find, but we’ve found it’s worth the effort!
If you need an asbestos consultant who’s an expert on asbestos and a great problem solver, contact Airsafe on (02) 9555 9034.
And if you think you have what it takes to be an asbestos consultant, get in touch!