Monday - Friday 8 am - 5 pm
Asbestos remediation works are often completed in time and money constrained environments. Unfortunately, that often means planning and implementation are inadequate.
Mistakes during remediation programs can lead to delays, regulatory issues and cost blowouts. Most importantly, you increases the risk of further contamination and fibre release. Understanding the most common mistakes and how to avoid them is the first step in ensuring your efforts are carried out safely and compliantly.
In this article, we explain five mistakes often made during asbestos remediation and what you should do instead.
To arrange a consultation on your site, click here.
Before you attempt any kind of treatment or removal, you must conduct a full contamination investigation to get a gauge of asbestos risks on site. Determining the location, distribution and friability of asbestos is almost impossible without a comprehensive assessment.
Skipping this step will result in a remediation program that is either too limited or too extensive
What to do instead:
When engaging an asbestos remediation company, ensure they conduct an investigation before other work begins. Soil sampling, site inspections and laboratory analysis should all be present in a through and robust assessment. This will ensure all future decisions are based on concrete data, not assumptions.
There is no blanket treatment for asbestos contamination. Some ACMs (asbestos containing materials) can be managed through removal, others require encapsulation. Selecting the wrong strategy will render remediation works ineffective and cause regulatory delays and cost blowouts.
What to do instead:
Only develop your remediation strategy once you have received your investigation results. Combining these with advisory assistance from WSW and prior knowledge about site conditions, you can build an effective and compliant asbestos remediation strategy at a reasonable cost.
Any remediation project involves multiple parties. Site managers must deal with regulators, consultants and removal contractors. When roles and responsibilities are not clearly defined, it can see important safety controls and reporting requirements overlooked.
Poor coordination on asbestos remediation projects can also lead to cost blowouts and reputational damage for any contractor involved.
What to do instead:
Create clear lines of communication from the outset and set clearly defined roles, especially around the identification, reporting and removal of asbestos from the site.
Asbestos fibres don’t pose their greatest risk in soils – they are most dangerous once airborne.
If remediation disturbs ACMs without appropriate exposure controls, fibres can spread across the site and impact site occupants. Common mistakes include insufficient dust suppression and a failure to monitor air quality throughout works.
What to do instead:
Incorporate safety measures like dust suppression and air monitoring to ensure fibres are not released during the excavation, removal of encapsulation of asbestos.
Completing a treatment program does not automatically mean you have eliminated asbestos risk. Results must be properly verified or else contamination can remain in areas that were overlooked or seen as lower risk.
Importantly, failure to verify remediation efficacy can create compliance issues, particularly if the contamination is rediscovered during future works.
What to do instead:
Contact WSW for independent validation testing of your remediation works. We utilise soil sampling and site inspections to confirm asbestos risks have been properly addressed and that the site is suitable for its proposed use.
If you’re a site manager in WA who has identified asbestos contamination, you’re subject to reporting obligations under the Contaminated Sites Act 2003 and other frameworks. Failing to meet those requirements will lead to approval delays and additional scrutiny.
What to do instead:
At WSW, our consultants know WA regulations like the backs of their hands. They’ll design remediation projects to align with all relevant standards and prepare documentation to be “regulator ready”.
At West Soil and Water, we support WA projects at all stages of asbestos treatment. Our consultants conduct site investigations, plan and implement remediation or removal programs and offer independent verification of other companies’ asbestos remediation efforts.
When conducting remediation works, we combine our 13+ years of local experience with NATA accredited laboratory testing to form an objective understanding of each site. We then develop robust plans that respond to site specific risk, regulatory constrains and project goals.
Read more about our investigations and advisory services.
Asbestos management requires careful planning, implementation and verification to achieve success. These five mistakes have caused countless WA projects to take on unnecessary risks and costs.
WSW is committed to providing thorough investigations and oversight to ensure remediation is carried out effectively and compliantly on your site. For more information or to speak with a member of our team, click here.