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Asbestos essentials

Asbestos Essentials is a task manual for building, maintenance and allied trades on how to safely carry out non-licensed work involving asbestos.

Asbestos essentials task sheets

For advice on when and how you should use these sheets make sure you printout and read A0 - Advice to managers and sole traders on 'Asbestos essentials’.

Work with asbestos cement (AC) (non-licensed)

• A9. Drilling holes in asbestos cement and other highly bonded materials
• A10. Cleaning debris from guttering on an asbestos cement roof
• A11. Removing asbestos cement debris
• A12. Cleaning weathered asbestos cement roofing and cladding
• A13. Repairing damaged asbestos cement
• A14. Removing asbestos cement sheets, gutters, etc. and dismantling a small asbestos cement structure
• A15. Removing asbestos cement or reinforced plastic product e.g. tank, duct, water cistern
• A16. Painting asbestos cement sheets
• A35. Replacing an asbestos cement flue or duct
• A36. Removing an asbestos cement panel outside, beside or beneath a window

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Working with textured coatings (TC) containing asbestos (non-licensed)

• A26. Drilling and boring through textured coatings
• A27. Inserting and removing screws through textured coatings
• A28. Removing textured coating from a small area e.g. 1 square metre
• A29. Cleaning up debris following collapse of a ceiling or wall covered with textured coating

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Strictly controlled minor work on Asbestos Insulating Board (AIB)

• A1. Drilling holes in asbestos insulating board
• A2. Removing a single (screwed-in) asbestos insulating board ceiling tile
• A3. Removing a door with asbestos insulating board fireproofing
• A4. Removing a single asbestos insulating board panel less than 1m², fixed in with nails or screws
• A5. Cleaning light fittings attached to asbestos insulating board
• A6. Repairing minor damage to asbestos insulating board
• A7. Painting undamaged asbestos insulating board

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Safe work with undamaged asbestos materials

• A8. Enclosing undamaged asbestos materials to prevent impact damage
• A20. Laying cables in areas containing undamaged asbestos materials
• A34. Removing pins and nails from an asbestos insulating board panel

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Removal and replacement of other asbestos containing materials

• A17. Removing asbestos paper linings
• A18. Removing asbestos friction linings
• A19. Removing an asbestos fire blanket
• A21. Removing asbestos-containing bituminous products
• A22. Removing metal cladding lined with asbestos-containing bitumen
• A23. Removing asbestos-containing floor tiles and mastic
• A24. Removing flexible asbestos duct connectors (gaiters)
• A25. Removing compressed asbestos fibre gaskets and asbestos rope seals
• A30. Removing an asbestos-containing 'arc shield’ from electrical switchgear
• A31. Removing a single asbestos-containing gas or electric heater
• A32. Replacing an asbestos-containing part in a 'period’ domestic appliance
• A33. Replacing an asbestos-containing fuse box or single fuse assembly
• A37. Removing asbestos-containing mastic, sealant, beading, filler, putty or fixing

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Fly-tipped waste

• A38. Making safe and collecting fly-tipped asbestos waste

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Equipment and method sheets

• EM1. What to do if you uncover or damage materials that may contain asbestos
• EM2. Training
• EM3. Building and dismantling a mini-enclosure
• EM4. Using a class-H vacuum cleaner for asbestos
• EM5. Wetting asbestos materials
• EM6. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
• EM7. Using damp rags to clean surfaces of minor asbestos contamination
• EM8. Personal decontamination
• EM9. Disposal of asbestos waste
• EM10. Statement of cleanliness after textured coating removal

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