I work in a building covered in asbestos?

[Summer9173]

Hi everybody, hope your all well  work has been going ok, however I noticed a sign when I was walking to the kitchen that said “Danger Asbestos above” I then asked my manager what that was all about, and he said to me, we’ll it’s an old building it’s made of asbestos, even our office ceiling is covered in it? Of course I began to freak out! That stuff is dangerous, right? He said it’s been checked out and is deemed ‘safe for now’ it is supposed to have checks every year, but for some reason I just can’t help but feel uncomfortable. I don’t know if this is my OCD talking or an actual worry, but isn’t asbestos dangerous?

[northpaul]

19 minutes ago, Summer9173 said:

isn’t asbestos dangerous?

Only if you start working on it, eg drilling or breaking it up and it causes dust.  If you breath the dust over a long period of time - that can cause asbestosis.  If it is on the ceiling and undisturbed I would not worry about it.

[Mini]

NorthPaul is right. Don’t worry- many buildings and houses have asbestos e.g our garage roof. My work building did as well and was regularly monitored.

[Handy]

There are asbestos OCD topics. 

 

[Avo]

my understanding is that Asbestos left undisturbed is harmless. its quite common in many buildings.

[determination987]

Yes, I believe artex was often combined with asbestos in the past. As long as you’re not drilling etc as noted above then it’s fine .

[howard]

16 hours ago, Summer9173 said:

Hi everybody, hope your all well  work has been going ok, however I noticed a sign when I was walking to the kitchen that said “Danger Asbestos above” I then asked my manager what that was all about, and he said to me, we’ll it’s an old building it’s made of asbestos, even our office ceiling is covered in it? Of course I began to freak out! That stuff is dangerous, right? He said it’s been checked out and is deemed ‘safe for now’ it is supposed to have checks every year, but for some reason I just can’t help but feel uncomfortable. I don’t know if this is my OCD talking or an actual worry, but isn’t asbestos dangerous?

I think it depends on whether you are just looking for reassurance, or do you have serious concerns about asbestos.

Because with old buildings that used a lot of asbestos before they realised the dangers, there are a number of questions. Type, age, location, any signs of damage or deterioration. Specialist companies can remove any that's potentially dangerous.  

[McW]

You have nothing to worry about regarding asbestos in building you work in. As other replies have correctly stated, asbestos only becomes harmful if it is 'friable' (easily crumbled), which then release asbestos fibres into the air. Even if you were to walk past some type of demolition work on the building you are working in and happened to breath in some sort of dust or loose fibres, it is extremely unlikely (extremely unlikely) you would be harmed in any way, as studies have shown it take 'a lot' of exposure to loose asbestos fibres in order to develop 'asbestosis'.... (I'm not advising this, just trying to put things into perspective a little)  I work in the building industry and have had to do courses on asbestos safety...  etc.  Another comment was entirely correct when they said asbestos used to be used in artex, it also used to be in plaster, which some people may not be aware of..?  You've nothing to be worrying about.

[howard]

Yes but you'd actually have to have knowledge of that building's history.

I used to work in a lab. We had these small devices that sucked air through a filter over a period of time. They were placed in older building to find out if the asbestos needed removing, because asbestos fibres were found on the filters.

I would think it's a health and safety issue.

[Handy]

Just another theme Summer. Treat like other themes.

[howard]

Well the consensus is 'don't worry about it', so great.

But I wonder about this, we all know too well what OCD is. But is there a difference between whether the obsession or worry is about something that is real or not real.

If it's not real then reassurance will help. But if it is about something real then maybe another more 'real' form of reassurance might be needed as well. It's not just all in our minds.

In this case there's a sign continually reminding employees. The company are having the asbestos checked once a year(I know what that indicates to me).

Health and Safety would have that info from checks and could install a meter to make sure it's a safe working environment.

 

[Getmeout]

47 minutes ago, howard said:

Well the consensus is 'don't worry about it', so great.

But I wonder about this, we all know too well what OCD is. But is there a difference between whether the obsession or worry is about something that is real or not real.

If it's not real then reassurance will help. But if it is about something real then maybe another more 'real' form of reassurance might be needed as well. It's not just all in our minds.

In this case there's a sign continually reminding employees. The company are having the asbestos checked once a year(I know what that indicates to me).

Health and Safety would have that info from checks and could install a meter to make sure it's a safe working environment.

 

Asbestos are everywhere. I would avoid it if I could. But if I had a work and got money from that job I would have to weight that against the risk of asbestos. The risk from asbestos if not moved is very small. That's the reality of everything. There are risks, accept it, is the general idea and what should be done if you don't want to get manic about these things.

[OCD_Guy_UK]

The latest bane of my life. This has become my theme in 2022 and paralysed me on several occasions this year. It doesn't help that our outside shed and garage have asbestos roof and where I was working was literally asbestos everywhere. That set me off and it's been downhill ever since. Left the job. Our outside garage and shed have become past their use-by-date too, with the odd hole, and part of shed roof got whipped up in recent storm and just today we had specialist come and remove that section. He did great job and said it's low level asbestos and nothing to worry about anywhere. Try telling that to an OCD person though.

I've known about the asbestos at home all my life and never had an issue with it until OCD kicked in on the theme late last year. I've worked on the shed myself over years, I used to play on the roof as a child! But now OCD is telling me it's the biggest issue in the world and I find myself avoiding places, and anything remotely grey or white on the ground anywhere.

If anyone has any specific OCD and asbestos resources out there, I'd love to see them.