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Alison Withers
Copyright (c) 2010 Alison Withers Starting a new business involves many things to think about when and no matter how thorough the preparation sometimes the unexpected can crop up. This was the situation a small manufacturing start-up faced when locating suitable premises to use as a workshop. On a long-established industrial estate which had several empty buildings they found what they thought was an affordable building of the right size whose owner was anxious to let it because it had been unused for some tyime. The first job was to clear out a couple of decades' worth of rubbish and debris before a thorough clean-up and modifications to make it suitable for the business.The work was on schedule and going well, when it was discovered that the building had a corrugated roof containing asbestos, a substance that was regularly used in building construction up to the early 1970s because of its properties of resistance to fire, alkali and acid. Eventually some types of asbestos were banned after it was discovered that it had carcinogenic properties and cases of severe lung damage began to emerge. The risk arises from breathing in microscopic asbestos fibres released through mishandling, or in areas where it is subject to heavy wear. The building's new tenant was presented with a dilemma. The lease had been signed and refurbishment was progressing, however, fortunately further investigation revealed that the situation might not be as bad as was first feared.Surprisingly, a thorough inspection of the roof revealed that it was undamaged and, thanks to the wealth of information on the Health and Safety Executive's website, it gradually became clear that it was not necessary to completely replace the roof. Analysis showed that the asbestos type that had been used in the roof was "white", which is the least dangerous of the three types, and with sensible precautions to protect workers it was possible to deal with it by sealing the inside by cleaning and painting it.However, the HSE guidelines for working safely revealed that a large amount of equipment and some specialist knowledge would be needed to deal with the cleaning safely. The list of guidelines included restricting access and using tape and notices to warn others, plus ensuring safe access and issuing watnings that asbestos roofs could not bear any weight and were quite fragile.The list of equipment needed included 500-gauge polythene sheeting and duct tape, approved biocide, a proprietary cleaning machine, a garden-type sprayer containing wetting agent and asbestos waste containers. In addition, clearly, the workers would be doing the work at a high level and directly above a concrete floow, which meant proper scaffolding, safe platforms and protective equipment would have to be added to the list. It was obvious specialist help would get the job more quickly and cheaply than trying to do it using the people the business had employed to do the clearing out and refurbishing. They called in a specialist cleaning company experienced in high level cleaning and with the proper equipment and knowledge to do the job quickly, efficiently and above all safely.It was plain that in this situation cutting corners would not do and it proved to be the right decision. The high level clean was completed quickly, the interior painted and the rest of the refitting done in what was now a safe environment and the company opened for business.
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