Asbestos Risk Analysis

Understanding asbestos as a risk factor begins with the analysis reports that Turkish regulations make compulsory in certain cases, and that must also be repeated at set intervals in industry and similar sectors where heavy manual labour is involved and the presence of asbestos is beyond doubt. On the basis of these reports the employer must train the workers who have to operate in the areas concerned, monitor the precautions whose application is mandatory, and inform those workers about the asbestos measurements that pose a risk to health. Sampling for the analysis is carried out at the intervals set by those regulations, by institutions and laboratories approved by the ministry in Turkey, and an asbestos risk analysis report is drawn up. Because that report works on a present-or-absent basis and carries no numerical values, it has to be assessed objectively. A further reason for that objectivity is that a positive result leads to asbestos dismantling and removal work at considerable cost.

Asbestos Measurements for Analysis

Samples are collected for the asbestos measurements before the analysis is reported. In Turkey this work is entrusted to laboratories authorised and accredited by the Directorate General of Occupational Health and Safety, and they carry out objective assessments. The procedure for the asbestos measurements that underpin the analysis is as follows:

• Taking the limit values as the basis, risk values must be examined before work starts, and asbestos samples must be collected regularly for fibre counting.
• During sampling for laboratory measurement, the safety of the person taking the sample comes first, and the probability of asbestos exposure must be reduced to the required levels.
• Sampling points should be chosen according to where exposure occurs, drawing also on information from the staff working there, and the samples should be taken from those areas.
• Samples should be taken in timed periods based on an employee's working hours, and the calculations should take the exposure durations into account as well.
• Measurements should use methods accepted by the World Health Organization, or methods that give equivalent results.

In industry and similar sectors where the presence of asbestos is beyond doubt, compulsory analysis reports must be obtained at set intervals. Within the scope of these reports the employer is responsible for training the workers who have to be present in the areas concerned for the sake of their occupational safety, for following up the precautions whose application is mandatory, and for providing information about the asbestos measurements that pose a risk to health. Sampling for the analysis is performed at the intervals set by the Turkish regulations, by institutions and laboratories approved by the ministry, and the asbestos risk analysis report is produced. Since the resulting report rests on a present-or-absent basis and carries no numerical values, it must be assessed objectively, and the fact that a positive report triggers asbestos removal work at serious cost is a further justification for that approach.

The Steps Followed in Asbestos Measurement

Sampling for the asbestos measurements precedes the reporting of the analysis. Laboratories authorised and accredited by Turkey's Directorate General of Occupational Health and Safety are appointed for this purpose and make objective assessments. The steps for the asbestos measurements that feed the analysis are these:

• With the limit values as the reference, risk values must be reviewed before the job begins and asbestos samples taken at regular intervals for fibre counting.
• While samples are taken for laboratory measurement, the safety of the sampler must be secured and the possibility of asbestos exposure brought down to the necessary levels.
• Sampling locations should be determined by the points where exposure occurs, using information gathered from the employees as well, and samples collected there.
• Samples should be taken in timed periods based on a member of staff's working time, with the calculations based on the exposure durations as well.
• Measurements should be made with methods accepted by the World Health Organization, or with methods that give equivalent results.

After a Positive Asbestos Report

If the asbestos measurement analysis reported by accredited laboratories shows results at a level that threatens human health, the workplace becomes subject to sanctions as well as to safety precautions it is obliged to observe and apply. These precautions must be followed up and carried out entirely by the workplace, without placing any extra burden on the staff who work there. Where the analysis produces a positive asbestos report, the first measures concern the employees themselves and the scheduling of the periods in which they may be present. Foremost among them, the asbestos zone must be marked with signs, and personnel who are not authorised and lack the necessary equipment and clothing must never enter it. Keeping the areas where people move about without masks well away from the asbestos zone is a mandatory obligation on the workplace.

Our other services in this field include asbestos analysis, the asbestos inventory report and independent asbestos supervision.