A ceiling tile that looks wrong
You lift a ceiling tile to run cable. The board behind it is grey and chalky, and the pipes are wrapped in old white wrap. The building is from the 1970s.
You cannot tell by looking whether it holds asbestos. The fibres cannot be seen, and breathing them can cause deadly lung disease years later. What you do in the next minute matters.
Key words
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Asbestos | a mineral fibre used in old buildings that harms lungs when breathed in |
| ACM | asbestos-containing material: any material that holds asbestos |
| Asbestos register | the building's record of where asbestos is or may be |
| Isolate | seal off an area so nobody else can enter |
| Probability | how likely something is to happen |
| Impact | how bad it would be if it happened |
| Risk management | finding hazards, judging them and reducing them |
| Encapsulation | sealing a material so its fibres cannot get out |
| Mitigate | reduce the harm of a risk |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can say what to do when asbestos is suspected, and take it through the risk management process.
Starter: laws and risks
Have a go
Starter: laws and risks
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
This lesson is about stopping and telling
Warning
Never touch, break, sweep or take a sample of a suspected material yourself. Removing asbestos is work for trained, and often licensed, specialists. This lesson is about stopping, telling and recording.
Step 1: identify and stop
Before work on an older building, ask to see the asbestos register. It says where asbestos is known or presumed. Buildings built before the year 2000 can hold it.
If you find a material you do not know, stop work at once. Do not disturb it. Do not clean it up.
Step 2: tell and isolate
Tell your manager, your team and the person who runs the building. Isolate the area: keep people out, close doors, and switch off any air movement that could carry dust.
Leave the area as you found it. Wash your hands and clothes as advised, and do not take dust home.
Check: stop, tell, isolate
Have a go
Check: stop, tell, isolate
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.