It’s good to know that asbestos is no longer used in the construction business – as a matter of fact, it has been banned since 2000. For good reason, in fact: asbestos creates a serious health problem. Asbestos is a hazardous material because small fibres, when exposed to the open air, can get carried around. When inhaled, these fibres can cause serious damage to our biological system – asbestos has been correlated with cancer, pulmonary diseases, and death.
Short-term exposure may not harm you at all, but continuous exposure surely will. It’s a real concern – a concern to any owner, renter, or person working in a building. Here’s what you should know about the risks associated with asbestos – and when you should be extra careful.
Refurbishment, construction, and renovation
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Exposure to asbestos happens most often in the following circumstances:
- There are renovations or construction in a property built before the year 2000.
- No risk assessment has been done before renovation or construction is about to begin.
- The people performing the renovation or construction do not have any training or knowledge about asbestos and how to handle the hazards in a safe way.
- The people performing the renovation or construction have been trained to work with asbestos but neglect to take proper precautions.
You are at risk when:
The following people are often at risk the most:
- Carpenters, joiners, and plumbers who need to remove or break walls
- Heating and ventilation engineers or repairmen
- Painters and decorators
- Architects, purveyors and other building professionals
- Roofing contractors, as well as people working with insulation
Points to note when it comes to asbestos
It’s important to remember that asbestos:
- Cannot be seen or smelled in the air
- Has effects that are not immediately noticeable
- That people who smoke are at a higher risk
- That there is no problem as long as the asbestos is located in a safe place
Here’s the positive news: there are simple things that you can do. There are plenty of surveyors out there who are willing to give your home or property a look – in fact, they may even decide to call in an expert on asbestos reports. This is truly the wise thing to do: not only does it allow you to find a problem (if there is one), it allows you to deal with it before the problem ever gets out of hand. And financially speaking, getting rid of a problem and having your property declared, in official terms, as asbestos-free, is something every responsible property owner should do – it makes financial sense. It’s about safety, welfare – and it makes economic sense as well.
Image attributed to Michelle Meiklejohn/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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When it comes time to build your new house, it takes a lot of forward thinking and planning to create something that has value and will last for decades to come. There are also hundreds of construction companies out there in the Toronto area that you can choose from to build your new home, but you need to be sure that you are hiring the right people for the job. Toronto and most of Canada is a great market for homes, but you need a company that uses great employees to build your new home with the highest quality materials for the job. There are many things to consider when you are building your home; here are are the top 3 things to consider:




