Asbestos Risk in NIHE Homes

Asbestos Risk in NIHE Homes

Homes Too Dangerous Due To Asbestos

The NIHE Northern Ireland Housing Executive has recently been investigating asbestos riskĀ in Northern Ireland homes. 5000 homes are being checked while hundreds of properties have already been placed out of bounds due to asbestos contamination. You can read the full newsletter article here.

Asbestos Dangers

The NIHE said that it was in the process of having asbestos removed. Some tenants are barred from certain parts of their home due to health & safety legislation and asbestos risk.

Asbestos was once thought of as a wonderful material. It was fire resistant, strong, a good insulator and easy worked with. Asbestos was used in flooring, window and bath panels, ceiling artex, flues, down pipe and ceiling tiles. It was also used in boiler room lagging, insulation and roofing. It lurks in properties built on or before the year 2000 and anywhere else it may have been used after the ban came in.

Anyone can come into contact with Asbestos. Plumbers, contractors, cleaners, office workers, electricians, IT experts. It is everyone’s job to look out for workplace risks and report them to the Health & Safety Executive or your internal H&S officer.

Tenant Disruption

The NIHE is doing a good job at carrying out asbestos surveys throughout their portfolio of property. Some tenants are disrupted though, such as the 326 properties that currently have restricted areas due to asbestos contamination.

Asbestos must not be disturbed! The health implications include breathing problems, lung inflammation, Cancer (mesothelioma) and asbestosis (lung tissue scarring). These symptoms often only appear years after asbestos exposure.

Northern Ireland Asbestos Surveyors

We are your local team of Northern Ireland based asbestos surveyors. Ace Building Surveyors offer competitively priced asbestos surveys complete with a plain English report. We are on hand to help you with any survey query. Call Philip on 07702 332 333 today to find out how we can help you!

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