Dealing with asbestos - what is it?

Asbestos is a naturally occurring fibrous mineral that is mined from the ground. It has many useful properties including heat resistance, highly tensile strength, acoustic insulation and good workability which make it unique.

Given these favourable qualities and its abundance and relative ease of supply, asbestos was used to make many different building materials and products, with over 3000 different applications.

These materials can range anywhere from pipe insulation to toilet cisterns, mattress stuffing to floor tiles, loft insulation to paper materials.

Dealing with asbestos - what risk does it pose?

Asbestos poses a significant and serious health risk - it is the single largest cause of death in industry in the UK. Currently, up to 4000 people are losing their lives each year as a result of being exposed to asbestos, and this figure is still rising.

Efforts are being made by the government to increase awareness of the dangers of exposure to asbestos fibres in both the home and the workplace. As a result many more people are realising that they need to take steps to protect their families, their workforce, their customers and themselves from the potentially catastrophic consequences of accidental exposure to asbestos, known as 'The Hidden Killer'.

Dealing with asbestos - identifying the risk

Identifying where the asbestos materials have been installed in your workplace or home is is a specialist operation. It requires sufficient knowledge and experience to know where to look for the materials, what they look like, and the specialist sampling and analysis techniques which will be used to positively identify the presence of asbestos within a given material. This is where we come in.

How can Scancross help you protect yourself and others?

Our surveyors are experience in locating and identifying asbestos materials. On completion, our survey findings are reported in a concise document outlining the dangers posed by the various asbestos materials. It gives specific detail on the materials identified and then provides recommendations on how to render the materials safe. Our survey will also provide a facility for the client to monitor and manage the materials themselves on an ongoing basis.