Asbestos Sampling and Testing

During an asbestos survey, the normal procedure is to take a small sample of the material thought to contain asbestos and to send it to a specialist laboratory to determine whether asbestos is present and to identify the type of asbestos present.

Although it is possible to identify certain products and materials that contain asbestos by sight, there are many other materials that could contain asbestos which cannot be easily identified.

The Control of Asbestos Regulations state that in cases where a material has not been tested for the presence of asbestos, it has to be presumed that it does contain asbestos.

This a "better safe than sorry" rule that can cause as many problems as it solves.

For example, if an asbestos survey made a presumption that a suspended ceiling tile contained asbestos, then the entire ceiling must be treated as though it does contain asbestos.

That would mean that whenever the ceiling was to be worked on, for example, to change a light fitting, certain procedures must be followed. This could include evacuation of the immediate area, covering the area with plastic sheeting, damping down surrounding ceiling tiles and vaccuuming the area with an approved HVAC vaccuum cleaner. All workers involved in the process would need protective overalls and face masks.

As you can imagine, the cost of changing a light fitting suddenly becomes extremely expensive and prohibitive.

For this reason, when conducting an asbestos survey, our approach would be to sample and test for asbestos, any product that might increase your costs in the event of it otherwise being presumed to contain asbestos.

Asbestos sampling must be carried out by a qualified person, as disturbing asbestos can have very serious consequences.

We can arrange asbestos sampling on your behalf, where a qualified asbestos surveyor will visit your premises and take samples of the suspect material. The asbestos sampling and testing service is only available in the Birmingham and West Midlands area, unless we are conducting an asbestos survey, which we carry out nationwide.

If you suspect that you have asbestos present in the workplace, it is often more cost-effective for you to have an asbestos survey carried out on the premises than it is to simply have a suspect material tested and of course, by having the survey, you will be fully compliant with the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations.     

Our asbestos images gallery contains photographs from our own surveys, together with descriptions of where the asbestos was found.

Take a look and see some real life examples from buildings just like yours.

More details about asbestos testing and sampling can be found at our dedicated asbestos testing web site, www.asbestostesting.co.uk, but if you need specific advice or information in a hurry, please feel free to call us on the telephone numbers above and we will do our best to help.

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