Asbestos Testing and Assessment

Name: Ruddlesden Geotechnical
Price range: $

Ruddlesden geotechnical carries out testing of asbestos in soils to allow asbestos risk assessments to be undertaken (by other specialist asbestos contractors/ consultants) in accordance with the Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR, 2012), to ensure the protection of workers and end users from asbestos.

The term 'asbestos' refers to several fibrous minerals regulated under UK law that are known to cause serious health effects, including lung cancer and mesothelioma, when inhaled. Asbestos containing materials (ACMs) were widely used in construction. ACM fragments in soil and made ground can be difficult to detect by the naked eye and free fibres in soil are generally not visible.

Asbestos quantification testing, together with other factors, including asbestos type, asbestos condition, soil type, exposure duration, exposure method and environmental conditions, allow assessments to be carried out to ascertain whether work with the asbestos containing soils (ACS) is licensed or non-licensed work and allow appropriate remediation/ protection measures to be provided.

In conjunction with Ruddlesden’s waste classificationand/ or human health risk assessment consultancy services, the most viable remedial solution can be ascertained, whether this be removing the identified area of asbestos-contaminated soils (ACS) or ‘capping’ the ACS to protect end users.

Case Study

Asbestos Testing Allays the Concerns of Locals

As part of a larger contamination investigation and assessment for the residential development of a former power station, asbestos testing was undertaken. Anecdotally, asbestos containing materials (ACMs) arising from the decommissioning of the former power station had been encapsulated in a buried concrete chamber. Concerns were raised by locals and the local authority about how safe this was and whether the proposed development would endanger the general public, end users and construction workers. Intensive asbestos investigation and assessment, undertaken in accordance with the Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR, 2012) and which included asbestos quantification testing, identified that the proposed remedial strategy to mitigate other contaminants at the site, which included raising the site levels and capping with inert soil, would also protect from the low levels of asbestos recorded in the soil., with no further measures required protect end users. The asbestos testing also enabled safe methods of working to be determined for construction workers.