Asbestos has been mined in South Africa since 1930 and was a popular material used in over 3000 different products in the building and engineering industries over more than a century. Asbestos exposure resulted in many deaths as a result of diseases such as asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma. Although the use of asbestos in new work has been banned in South Africa since 2008, there are many asbestos containing materials (ACMs) that are still in use today.

Employees may unknowingly be exposed to asbestos during maintenance, decorating, renovating or even demolishing of redundant plant equipment and buildings. Injudicious disturbance of asbestos may contaminate workplaces, which may present a serious health risk to employees, occupants or even members of the public.

Asbestos may, for example, be present in fibre cement products, roof sheeting, gutters, water tanks, decorative textured coating on ceilings, in boiler and pipe lagging, or as thermal, acoustic or fire retardant insulation.

The Asbestos Abatement Regulations, OHSAct (85 of 1993) requires, amongst others, the following:

• All materials identified as, or assumed to be asbestos-containing material, must be entered into an inventory of asbestos in place, kept at the workplace or premises and must be revised at intervals not exceeding 24 months.
• If asbestos is identified, an asbestos risk assessment must be carried out by a competent person at intervals not exceeding 24 months.

In order to comply with the requirements of the said regulations, AirCHECK can assist your company in managing asbestos by providing the following surveys:

• Asbestos Management Surveys. The purpose of an asbestos management survey is to locate the presence and extent of any suspect ACMs in the building which could be damaged or disturbed during normal occupancy and routine maintenance of the premises, as well as to assess the condition of the materials. Asbestos management surveys may involve a combination of sampling and analysis to confirm if asbestos is present or presuming asbestos to be present. AirCHECK has a fully-equipped Asbestos Laboratory to identify asbestos in bulk materials in accordance with the method prescribed in HSG 248 (2005), Asbestos: The analysts' guide for sampling, analysis and clearance procedures, HSE, United Kingdom.
  
• Refurbishment and Demolition Surveys. A refurbishment and demolition survey is needed before any refurbishment or demolition work is carried out. This type of survey is used to locate and describe, as far as reasonably practicable, all ACMs in the area where the refurbishment work will take place or in the whole building if demolition is planned. Refurbishment and demolition surveys are intended to locate all the asbestos in the building (or the relevant part), as far as reasonably practicable. It is a disruptive and fully intrusive survey which may need to penetrate all parts of the building structure.