Transporting Asbestos Waste Safely and Properly

Most people have a general understanding of how important it is to handle asbestos with care at a property. Trained asbestos removalists wear PPE and ensure that appropriate cleaning measures are put in place to prevent it from being a health risk during removal.

But what about transporting asbestos waste? The same care should be taken, and strict measures should be put in place to keep everyone safe.

Why is Safe Asbestos Transportation Important?

As convenient as it might be to transport asbestos waste just like any other waste, there’s a reason why so many industry guidelines for asbestos management are in place: it’s hazardous to health. Asbestos can become dangerous when the asbestos-containing materials (ACM) are damaged, and fibres become airborne.

These can lodge in your lungs and cause conditions like asbestosis, mesothelioma, and lung cancer. The more frequent the exposure, the higher the health risk can be.

What Does the Law Say About Collection and Transportation of Asbestos Waste?

According to The Dangerous Transport Rule: Dangerous Goods 2005 and New Zealand Standard 5433:2012, Transport of Dangerous Goods on Land in New Zealand, asbestos is a Class 9 dangerous good with special provisions.

It is the responsibility of the transport operator to assess the risk, and it’s recommended that it’s treated as a dangerous good, especially if the asbestos is in friable form. The customer should also confirm the waste to the transport operator – either Class A or Class B.

However, there’s more to the transportation process than simply declaring its type. Depending on the material, asbestos waste should be contained in bags, drums, bins, waste skips, or vehicle trays.

All asbestos waste should also be wrapped in heavy-duty and double-lined black plastic sheeting with a minimum thickness of 200 µm before being placed in sealed containers. However, non-friable asbestos waste can be placed directly into a skip or vehicle with plastic sheeting, as long as it’s kept damp to reduce the risk of airborne dust.

Same-day collection, transportation, and disposal are also crucial, or it should remain on the same site until the following day. Failure to follow these rules, such as what happened on a Tauranga road, may put the general public at risk.

Transporting a Dangerous Good Like Asbestos

All those involved with the transport of asbestos should abide by the Land Transport Act 1998. This means that you must have a Dangerous Goods endorsement on your driver’s license, a Dangerous Goods Declaration if transporting friable asbestos, and a placard for your vehicle.  

Before asbestos is moved offsite, the licensed asbestos removalist must fill out a Dangerous Goods Declaration, which both the removalist and transporter should sign.

Disposing of Asbestos Safely

Once asbestos has been safely wrapped and transported, it needs to be disposed of safely at an approved waste disposal area. Whichever site this is, it must have an Asbestos Management Plan to accept and manage the waste. 

The waste location should be away from standard landfills, and there must be appropriate signage to alert workers and visitors to its presence and location. The asbestos waste should also be buried in its plastic wrap to ensure airborne fibres aren’t released.

Even though the waste is wrapped at this point, all those workers in the disposal site must be wearing appropriate PPE at all times. If loose ACM is discovered, the area and materials should be dampened to reduce the risk of airborne fibres before the asbestos is buried.

What Happens If You’ve Been Exposed to Asbestos?

With so many regulations for transporting asbestos waste and handling it, it becomes apparent just how dangerous this material can be. So, what happens if you’ve been exposed to it? 

When an asbestos spill was identified on Chadwick Road, Fraser Street, and Oropi Road in Tauranga, most likely caused by an insecure load, asbestos removal specialists were brought in to clean it up.

They spent over three hours picking up the pieces and dry-vacuuming the particles. Asbestos exposure can also happen in other situations, such as when a load is tipped with someone nearby or a bag of friable asbestos breaks.

In that case, there are many appropriate steps to take next. Wearing PPE before an exposure event can reduce the risk of exposure. Decontamination, health testing, and isolation of the material all then need to take place.

Control measures to limit further harm and a clean-up then occurs. Finally, the person or persons exposed will need to be placed on the National Asbestos Register.

Stay Safe Through Education

Unless you’re taught about asbestos, you may not know that this deadly material is hiding in the average Kiwi home and business built before 2000. Education is the key to safety with removal, transport, and disposal.

The more you know, the easier it can be to stay safe. Contact trained asbestos removalists to take the lead if you’re ready to remove and dispose of asbestos safely.