Asbestos Awareness Training

Asbestos has always been looked upon as a useful material and its uses in the construction field are many. When it comes to buildings it can be used for insulation, sound proofing, and fire proofing the house or a commercial establishment. Due to the fact that it still is put to use even though it has many harmful effects it becomes a necessity that people have asbestos awareness as asbestos has been found to produce lung diseases which are chronic and at times prove to be fatal. Cancer cannot be cured easily and asbestos has been found to cause lung cancer amongst regular users.

Chrysoslite which is the white colored asbestos is the most commonly found, and there are others that can be found like Amosite having a brown or off white color, Crocidolite to name a few. Apart from using asbestos separately it is also used mixed with as much as three thousand products now. It is much preferred for its insulating properties. Even floor tiles contain small amounts of asbestos. The amount of asbestos in a asbestos containing material (ACM) is calculated as a ratio and when the asbestos is in high quantities it causes health issues which are not easy to deal with. Asbestos awareness is a must as the micro thin asbestos fiber can enter the human body through air and the body finds it difficult to break down this fiber. By repeated exposure the fiber is hard to break and once it gets lodged in the lungs it is difficult even through medications to remove it.

Asbestos has many uses in floor tiles, insulating walls, insulating pipe lines, brake linings, compounds, and roof and wall structure at homes. Due to this wide range of uses the population at risk from prolonged use of asbestos is on the increase. The sad thing is you cannot easily identify is asbestos has been used as a mixture in tiles for example with the manufacturer label or by looking at it. It can be only determined by laboratory assessments and as this is not feasible for all the only way asbestos mixture can be stopped is by passing a law against use of it and making the public have awareness about the harmful effects of repeated exposure to asbestos. Asbestos becomes harmful when it starts releasing dust or fibers into the air which are so thin that they can be inhaled or ingested. Asbestos awareness makes the person look for asbestos content in the products he is using and thus it makes him more aware and he is better prepared in case of an asbestos health issue.

The asbestos fibers are very small and not visible to the human eye, they can stay in the air suspended for days together making inhalation a greater probability. The asbestos fibers are hard to destroy as they have inherent fire retarding properties. They are also resistant to chemicals and heat and so even if they are exposed to harsh conditions they are not easily disintegrable. They are not broken down by natural forces like air, water, rain and so they do not disappear in due course of time. Once the particle comes out it remains suspended in air and the person in close proximity under repeated exposure will have a very great chance of inhaling these asbestos fibers. Prior to the awareness about asbestos they were used commonly in buildings for roofing, tiling, and insulation lining purposes. They are preferred for insulation on doors, pipes and boilers which are a great fire risk. It is now mandatory that buildings having asbestos in their building components have a mandatory sign warning the residents of presence of the harmful asbestos.

Asbestos is not harmful as long as it does not settle down on the lungs. It enters the body mainly during inhalation. Most of the fibers are caught by the mucus membrane in the nose and they can be removed easily but if they are ingested and settle down in the lungs then it becomes difficult to remove them and they settle down in the lungs causing health issues. The asbestos containing material starts to release the asbestos fibers in the air when it is damaged only. A person having asbestos awareness will be conscious of its ill effects and change the tiles or the door fire retarding materials immediately when he spots the damage made on the material. If left unnoticed the fibers will be in huge quantities in the air and it is impossible to remove them. So keeping a close watch and general inspection of asbestos containing materials is a must. There is usually a protecting canvas surrounding the pipes in which asbestos is used for its fire retarding properties. Only when this canvas is damaged the asbestos fibers are released into the air. So keeping a note of the canvas can help prevent the ill effects of the asbestos.

Aging, drilling, sawing are some of the ways the asbestos containing material might be damaged. So care must be taken while working with materials containing asbestos. Asbestosis, lung cancer, Mesothelioma is a few diseases that are caused due to repeated exposure to asbestos. All these diseases are chronic and treatment available which can cure the disease is a prolonged one. Even lung cancer can be caused by repeated inhalation of asbestos fibers. It is very important that employees and workers working with asbestos containing materials have a good asbestos awareness, how to handle materials containing asbestos and what to do in case of a suspected exposure. The more a person is exposed to asbestos the more likely he is susceptible to asbestos related diseases. Smoking and repeated exposure can cause very harmful effects in comparison to a non smoker. The smoker is more likely to develop a lung cancer than a non smoker. There are various organizations involved in spreading awareness about this harmful chemical like OSU wellness centre, National Cancer institute, and American Lung association to name a prominent few.