Asbestos in the workplace

[Reiper]

So to keep a long story short, I started a new job, and the tiles in a recently renovated but small stockroom where I now work are made of asbestos.
I raised some concerns, but I did not want to make a fuss since I am new, and they told me it was all safe and up to code.

So today was my third shift, and they were further renovating the stockroom while I was working in it, and they were actively drilling into the ceiling tiles with power tools. Now I am no safety expert, but to me this seems potentially dangerous and the room seems poorly ventilated. They told me it was fine though, because they sprayed it with something beforehand

Am I right to be worried, or am I being a hypochondriac? I find it quite worrisome that I was potentially exposed to such an infamous carcinogen.

 

[Tiger King]

So to keep a long story short, I started a new job, and the tiles in a recently renovated but small stockroom where I now work are made of asbestos.
I raised some concerns, but I did not want to make a fuss since I am new, and they told me it was all safe and up to code.

So today was my third shift, and they were further renovating the stockroom while I was working in it, and they were actively drilling into the ceiling tiles with power tools. Now I am no safety expert, but to me this seems potentially dangerous and the room seems poorly ventilated. They told me it was fine though, because they sprayed it with something beforehand

Am I right to be worried, or am I being a hypochondriac? I find it quite worrisome that I was potentially exposed to such an infamous carcinogen.

I have heard of a sealer that you can apply to asbestos but I have never used it myself and am not familiar with how it is applied or it's properties. I guess that must be the 'spray' they applied.

Where are you from?
In the uk it is the law that the employer must provide protective equipment for it's workers.

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

Carpentry Apprentice here, could you give us more info? Are you expected to work around them? Where do you live(for laws), Have they sealed the room off with plastic? Are they vacuuming it? A sprayed sealer would only work for the surface of the asbestos, once you drill you are past that surface layer. I don't work around asbestos much and it's usually cement sheet in bathrooms when I do which you can take off in intact with minimal dust but I think you are supposed to keep applying water to the drill bit to trap the particles, since Asbestos is only dangerous in airborne dust form.

Also don't panic too much, asbestos scares the crap out of people but my understanding is that it's danger is in a cumulative effect, it hooks in your lungs cells and stays there forever, so it's people who work or live near all the time it that are in real danger. Not to say its good at all.

 

[Reiper]

Where are you from?
In the uk it is the law that the employer must provide protective equipment for it's workers.

I am from Ontario, Canada, and I am fairly certain the is the same here.

Carpentry Apprentice here, could you give us more info? Are you expected to work around them? Where do you live(for laws), Have they sealed the room off with plastic?

It is a very small two level stockroom, with a grated floor on the second level. They were drilling into the ceiling on the second level about 20 feet from where I was on the first level, where they had me organizing stock. They def didn't seal the area off with plastic, and the guys kind of looked like sketchy contractors, neither of whom wore masks.

 

[DementedSheep]

Here you can have asbestos in an old building but if you want to remove it you are suppose to wet it down, be in a well ventilated area and you have to be wearing a respirator not just a simple face mask. I would think drilling into the stuff would require that to because you would be breaking it up and creating dust (which is what you want to avoid with asbestos) and releasing some of it into the air. I think you're right to be concerned but I don't know what the laws are in Canada so I can't help you there.

 

[lechat]

Aspestos is not dangerous until you disturb it. Things like drilling and sanding are not great since they produce dust particles and breathing it is what will get you.

Also don't panic too much, asbestos scares the crap out of people but my understanding is that it's danger is in a cumulative effect, it hooks in your lungs cells and stays there forever, so it's people who work or live near all the time it that are in real danger. Not to say its good at all.

Although it's effects are cumulative a single fiber is enough to cause cancer in theory.
I've done a fair bit of work with asbestos in my last job using basically no protection and although i'm not really worried about the long term health risks i wouldn't go risking my life for some low paying job and it's one of the main reasons i no longer work there.

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

Aspestos is not dangerous until you disturb it. Things like drilling and sanding are not great since they produce dust particles and breathing it is what will get you.

Also don't panic too much, asbestos scares the crap out of people but my understanding is that it's danger is in a cumulative effect, it hooks in your lungs cells and stays there forever, so it's people who work or live near all the time it that are in real danger. Not to say its good at all.

Although it's effects are cumulative a single fiber is enough to cause cancer in theory.
I've done a fair bit of work with asbestos in my last job using basically no protection and although i'm not really worried about the long term health risks i wouldn't go risking my life for some low paying job and it's one of the main reasons i no longer work there.

You might be able to say the say about Tobacco, or any Carcinogen, but you still wouldnt expect to get cancer from smoking one cigarette, it wouldnt raise your chances very much. Or all those diesel fumes we breathe in on our way to work in the morning. Ask pretty much any older working class man who worked before the late 80s and hes probably been exposed to some Asbestos, Asbestos used to be a wonder product(its actually really useful for being fireproof too bad it kils people ) and they arent all dead.

Yeah, Id never work somewhere im required to go up against the stuff regularly though. Fuck that Ive seen an old man who was dieing of Asbestosis, but he worked with Asbestos tape on boats in the navy. The tape crumbles super fast and is really dangerous.
If it ever drives you too crazy apparently theres a test you can take to see how much asbestos you have in you. One of my TAFE teachers mentioned it and how back when he was young he was always cutting the stuff with grinders and such. He came back without any in him though, which was odd.

 

[mad825]

You might be able to say the say about Tobacco, or any Carcinogen, but you still wouldnt expect to get cancer from smoking one cigarette, it wouldnt raise your chances very much.

You cannot really compare smoking to Asbestos. Once the lung is exposed to Asbestos, it could take decades for any symptoms to occur.

If it ever drives you too crazy apparently theres a test you can take to see how much asbestos you have in you. One of my TAFE teachers mentioned it and how back when he was young he was always cutting the stuff with grinders and such. He came back without any in him though, which was odd.

Erm, like what? biopsy the whole lung? There tests to determine whether there are any scaring/anomalies within the lung but there is no definite way... And most is I think is down to medical opinion.

 

[Trivun]

Where are you from?
In the uk it is the law that the employer must provide protective equipment for it's workers.

I am from Ontario, Canada, and I am fairly certain the is the same here.

Carpentry Apprentice here, could you give us more info? Are you expected to work around them? Where do you live(for laws), Have they sealed the room off with plastic?

It is a very small two level stockroom, with a grated floor on the second level. They were drilling into the ceiling on the second level about 20 feet from where I was on the first level, where they had me organizing stock. They def didn't seal the area off with plastic, and the guys kind of looked like sketchy contractors, neither of whom wore masks.

Not sure what the Canadian law is but here in the UK that would be completely illegal. If you disturb asbestos, that's when it's dangerous. The safest thing to do is to employ a RELIABLE specialist contractor to completely remove the materials containing asbestos. Failing that, sealing it off (a process called encapsulation) is useful, but then requires stickers to be placed there warning people of asbestos being present.

I work in construction, as a quantity surveyor for a repairs and maintenance firm. We do repairs to about 8000 properties for a local housing association, and by law they're required to keep an asbestos register, that is, a register of every property they have and a (constantly updated) list of the asbestos status of each one. They don't bother. This is illegal, and given the amount of issues we have with them we could very easily get them shut down by the Health and Safety Executive (but that goes against us having a £10 million 10-year contract with them), and we have to keep our own records just to ensure our workers and sub-contractors are safe on site. Bearing in mind, this same company (our client) employ an apparent 'building surveyor' who thinks asbestos can be eaten and be perfectly safe - spoiler, IT CAN'T.

In your case, you should get in touch with the relevant health and safety authorities (and yes, by that I do mean going to the government itself), and report the company. They're putting your life at risk, and although it'll probably not manifest for a good 30-40 years you are at severe risk now of asbestosis or mesothelioma - basically, a type of terminal lung cancer. Also, you could probably get a nice hefty payout from the company, which admittedly might soften the blow, even if it is a pretty big blow.

Just a side note, when I did my asbestos awareness training at work, we were shown a video of a woman who contracted asbestosis from her workplace, and died of it - she was a teacher and had never set foot on a building site in her life. She got it because she used to nail kids' work to the walls of the school each day, as part of her job, and this was disturbing the asbestos in the walls. It doesn't take much to kill you from it.

In case it wasn't obvious, I take asbestos-related concerns very seriously, given the industry I work in...

 

[Trivun]

Here you can have asbestos in an old building but if you want to remove it you are suppose to wet it down, be in a well ventilated area and you have to be wearing a respirator not just a simple face mask. I would think drilling into the stuff would require that to because you would be breaking it up and creating dust (which is what you want to avoid with asbestos) and releasing some of it into the air. I think you're right to be concerned but I don't know what the laws are in Canada so I can't help you there.

New Zealand, right? By the Gods, you guys have some pretty lax laws over there. In the UK you have to be a qualified technician to even consider removing asbestos, and there are a whole ton of laws and regulations about doing it safely. The Health and Safety Executive have the power to prosecute, and they take asbestos bloody seriously (given it's a life-or-death thing, I agree...).

 

[Scarim Coral]

When you started the job, did they hand you any kind of a Health and Safety guide/ paper etc since it would have asbesto and their guidelines toward it? Id not then ask for some kind of a health and safety thing.

As for my workplace (workplace) asbestos has been cover in the health and safety training online and in paper form but we don't have it in the store I worked in however the lights we used in the basement is a different matter (don't worry it's safe).

Captcha keep clam, don't tell me that, tell that to the op!

 

[Reiper]

When you started the job, did they hand you any kind of a Health and Safety guide/ paper etc since it would have asbesto and their guidelines toward it? Id not then ask for some kind of a health and safety thing.

Today when I go in to work, I am going to ask for the health and safety sheets to verify that the tiles in question are indeed Asbestos.

Normally I don't like making waves, but I think if they are, I will confront the managers, because they could be putting peoples lives in danger. I will also contact the ministry of labour, because I don't want anyone else exposed to it either.

 

[mooncalf]

My personal feeling is that this microscopic amount of asbestos has to be very lucky (unlucky for us) to get all the way through a moist airway designed by evolution to filter contaminants. Of course you don't go disturbing it or huffing the dust, there's no excuse to be blasé about it, but it is well enough left alone. If they reckon they have a safe proceedure for doing the work, well maybe you trust them or maybe you don't, you could ask for a compromise - to be given different work someplace else in the building until they're done. I've known people who - working carelessly with deep 6 in the 70s - by any judge should have this cancer, but don't.

 

[Vicarious Reality]

That sounds really really terrible

I remember they removed the asbestos from the schools gym hall many years ago, unfortunately, not before i went there

 

[Zipa]

Yeah you need to get out of that room dude, asbestos is fine unless it is disturbed or broken which drilling definitely comes under. You should at minimum be wearing a respirator and a protective suit when near this stuff. I don't know Canadian law on this but in the UK if you are disturbing or removing asbestos in any way then it is law that a specialist company must come and remove and dispose of it safely before you carry out the building work.