The recent prosecution of a Scottish health board after staff and contractors were potentially exposed to toxic asbestos fibres at a Glasgow children’s hospital has drawn renewed attention to the risks associated with the material.
Prosecution of health board
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde was fined GB pound 6,000 after it ignored warnings of deterioration in the condition of asbestos-containing materials at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children. Positive air and swab samples for asbestos fibres taken in a plant room in January 2011 were returned, putting the room at high risk, but no remedial action was taken.
HSE Inspector Eve Macready commented:
Glasgow health board failed in its duty to properly manage the risks of asbestos in its premises and as a result a number of employees and external contractors have potentially been exposed to harmful fibres.
Asbestos and fire
Although asbestos is one of the toughest and most fire-resistant substances known to man because it does not conduct heat or electricity, devastating consequences to human health can ensue when it is present in a fire.
Asbestos itself will not burn in a fire, but the two elements may interact in the following ways:
Types of asbestos
The three main types of asbestos that have been used commercially in the past are:
Extensive use
Asbestos was widely used globally as a fireproof building material in houses, buildings, and structures until the 1980s, when the devastating consequences of the inhalation of its fibres became widely recognized. It was once even incorporated into firefighters’ protective clothing.
Although the use of asbestos was banned in most industrialized countries from the 1980s onwards, it may still be present in the ceilings, walls, and floors of older buildings and homes in:
Some estimates put the percentage of buildings in the UK that still have significant quantities of asbestos in them at around 85 percent.
Devastating effects
Asbestos is usually considered safe unless it is damaged or disturbed and is best left undisturbed. But when asbestos materials age or become damaged, fibres can become airborne and be breathed deep into the lungs, causing possible harm. When high levels of asbestos fibres are inhaled, there is a significant risk of developing serious lung diseases including pleural thickening, asbestosis, and mesothelioma, a form of lung cancer, which has no long-term cure. The symptoms of these diseases take 20 to 40 years to materialize after exposure to the fibres.
According to the HSE, asbestos is the single greatest cause of work-related deaths in the UK, at over 4,000 deaths each year from previous exposure to the substance.
The importance of appropriate clean-up procedures
According to a report from the Health Protection agency (now Public Health England), large-scale fires involving asbestos-containing materials are a relatively common occurrence in the UK and can cause significant public concern.
However, the report points out that there is no significant risk to public health resulting from asbestos exposures from large-scale fires provided the appropriate clean-up operations are undertaken. It recommends that all Local Authorities should have a written policy for dealing with large-scale fires involving asbestos.
Clearly, professional and proper clean-up measures must be taken after any fire in which asbestos may have been present in order that the legacy left by the substance does not continue to wreck lives in the future.
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I’m sure that when asbestos insulation, siding and other products first hit the market there was a lot of talk about the number of lives it would save. Obviously it’s benefits made people overlook the possible downsides but it’s a good example of how good intentions can come back to haunt us if we don’t think a solution through fully. I remember the day I had to sit through a four hour Asbestos training class because I was working inside of a plant that had asbestos present. The chances of me coming in contact with it were almost zero but… Read more »