Asbestos Roof Solutions – 6th February 2019
Asbestos Roof surfaces -from Bonded to Friable on site, explained.
A recent asbestos roof inspection by Asbestos Roof Solutions, requested by a client who had received his yearly asbestos register update, revealed a major safety issue.
The yearly asbestos register audit had been undertaken for the last six years, providing the client with guidance as to how to manage the asbestos on site.
This year the 3,600m2 super six profile, asbestos roofs condition report, was upgraded from the asbestos contained within the roof sheets from being in a bonded state to now being in a friable state.
In layman’s terms this means that the asbestos fibres that were contained within the roof sheet are now uncontained and are loose and unbonded on the roof surface. In its current condition there are free, loose, unbonded fibres which have become airborne.
These loose fibres were discovered from onsite tape grab sampling and from samples taken from the roof gutters by a NATA registered inspection company during the register update.
This onsite photograph, shows asbestos fibres and dust after being washed down the roof during rain and some of it settling against the sides of the roof gutters.
Note the grey fibres and dust on the right-hand side of the gutter, these are loose, unbonded asbestos fibres and dust.
Should the gutter overflow or become blocked then these fibres and dust would be washed down into the work and common areas of the site.
When the conditions dry up, then the fibres and dust can be windblown into the work and common areas.
The result of this situation is that the client now has two options available to him:
- Remove the whole of the existing roof system and replace it with a new roof system.
2. Decontaminate the gutters and encapsulate the roof surface using a proprietary asbestos roof encapsulation system. Once the roof is encapsulated, loose fibres are bound up in the specialised coating.
As a viable alternative to full roof removal and replacement, asbestos roof encapsulation can prevent the above catastrophes by locking the asbestos fibres in situ as well as numerous other benefits.
Asbestos Roof Solutions Pty Ltd specialise in the repair of asbestos roofs, including the encapsulation of asbestos roof surfaces.
