air sampling

In personal sampling the filter is mounted on the person close to their breathing zone and is carried out to:

• Check employees’ airborne exposure to asbestos;

• Confirm the adequacy of controls and RPE (ie whether the RPE chosen provides the appropriate degree of protection);

• Establish employee exposure records;

• Support current and future risk assessments.

Clearance Sampling Part of the 4-stage clearance process (stage 3) on completion of licensed asbestos removal work . The purpose of the test is to assess whether the surfaces inside the enclosure have been sufficiently cleaned to allow the enclosure to be removed with minimal release of airborne fibres.

Background Sampling To establish the prevailing fibre concentration. This is often carried out before an activity which may lead to airborne asbestos contamination. Background sampling gives a useful baseline with which other samples can be compared (eg leak and reassurance samples). The prevailing conditions may also need to be stated (eg whether the building or area is in normal use (occupied) or unoccupied)

Reassurance Air Monitoring Conducted in certain circumstances (eg after removal work) to confirm that the residual fibre concentrations are not elevated. There should be no suspicious visible dust or debris.

Reassurance sampling should be carried out only once the area has been confirmed as visually clean from debris and dust. If debris or dust is present then it should be cleaned up before sampling.

Leak Testing To assess the integrity of the asbestos enclosure to make sure it remains intact and that airborne fibres do not escape. These samples are typically taken by the on-site analyst to confirm that fibre concentrations outside the enclosure are not too high.

Near Source Static Sampling To assess the release and spread of asbestos fibre concentrations near sources (eg inside enclosures, work without an enclosure, near simulated disturbance activities in unoccupied areas, buildings and enclosures to represent typical release scenarios for normal occupation or maintenance activities, disturbance of asbestos in soil and made ground, or mineral processing etc) .

Far Source Static Sampling Conducted around the perimeter of the site where there may be other workers, public access or residential and commercial buildings.