Why it matters

Asbestos fibres are too small to see. You cannot smell them or feel them. Breathe them in and they lodge in your lungs for life.

The diseases come decades later. They include lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis, a scarring of the lungs. None of them can be cured. By the time a worker falls ill, the job that caused it is long forgotten.

Asbestos in good condition, left alone, carries little risk. The danger starts when someone cuts, drills, breaks or sweeps it. Renovation, repair and demolition crews are the people most at risk.

Where you will find it

Singapore banned asbestos in buildings in 1989, according to the WSH Council. Many older buildings still contain it. So do older ships, plant and machinery.

The law names six materials that must be checked before work on them: cable penetration insulation, fire protection boards and doors, gaskets, refractory linings, sprayed insulation, and thermal insulation on pipes, boilers and vessels. Asbestos also turns up in roofing sheets, ceiling boards, partition walls and old floor tiles.

Ask before you drill

Before any job that breaks into walls, ceilings, roofs or old pipework, ask the owner for the asbestos survey. If nobody can show you one, treat the material as asbestos until a test says otherwise.

Before work starts: the survey

The survey is the first control. The employer or principal appoints a competent person to inspect the building or material. That person takes samples and sends them to a testing body recognised by MOM.

The competent person must hand over the survey report and test results within three months of being appointed. The employer or principal keeps them for at least two years. Work on a specified material can skip the survey only if you hold documents proving it has no asbestos.

If the survey finds asbestos in a building due for demolition, it has to come out first. An approved contractor removes it before the demolition crew starts.

Order of controls

Go down this list in order. PPE comes last, not first.

  • Avoid disturbing it. Reroute the cable, move the fixing or change the design so nobody touches the material.
  • Leave sound material in place. Undamaged asbestos may be safer left where it is. Record it and label it so the next crew knows.
  • Remove it properly. If it must go, an approved asbestos-removal contractor takes it out under a written plan of work.
  • Keep fibres down. Soak the material with a wetting agent. Use local exhaust ventilation or a sealed enclosure under negative pressure.
  • Keep fibres in. Barricade the area. Switch off and seal the air-conditioning. Filter contaminated water through a high-efficiency filter.
  • Protect the person. A fit-tested respirator and disposable coveralls, worn the whole time inside the work area.

What the rules require

The Workplace Safety and Health (Asbestos) Regulations 2014 set the duties. They cover any use, handling, cutting, removal, storage or disposal of asbestos at a workplace.

  • A survey report from a competent person before building works on any building without a TOP or certificate of statutory completion issued on or after 1 January 1991, and before work on the specified materials.
  • Only an approved asbestos-removal contractor may do asbestos-removal work. The occupier of the workplace must make sure of this.
  • The contractor notifies MOM at least 7 days before removal starts and keeps a copy of the notification on site.
  • The contractor appoints a competent person, who writes the asbestos-removal plan of work and supervises the job. The plan covers location, asbestos type, removal method, decontamination, waste, air monitoring and emergencies.
  • Workers complete asbestos training within the 12 months before they start, then at least every 12 months. Training records are kept for two years.
  • Each worker gets a respirator and disposable protective clothing. The respirator is fit-tested before first use and at least every 12 months.
  • The work area is barricaded or enclosed, with warning signs. Only trained, protected workers go in.
  • Wet methods may not use high-pressure water jets. Decontamination facilities sit next to the work area, and the area is cleaned at the end of each day.
  • Waste goes in sealed, labelled bags or containers and is disposed of as soon as practicable.
Legal requirement

Under regulation 23 of the Asbestos Regulations, breaking the survey, control or approved-contractor rules can lead to a fine of up to $50,000, up to two years in jail, or both. MOM's notification page lists what the contractor submits before and after the job.

Protecting the workers

Training must cover the health effects, where asbestos hides, safe methods, respirator use and limits, decontamination and waste handling. A respirator only works if it seals on the face. Fit-test each worker on the exact model and size they will wear.

Workers exposed to asbestos need medical examinations by a designated workplace doctor. MOM requires a pre-placement examination within three months of starting the work, then one every three years.

Give workers a clean place to store their own clothes away from the work area. Nobody eats, drinks or smokes inside the barricade.

If you find or disturb it

Suspect material turns up on jobs that were never meant to touch it. A ceiling board cracks. Old lagging falls out of a riser. Act at once.

  • Stop work and get everyone out of the area.
  • Close the area off and put up a sign. Switch off fans and air-conditioning that serve it.
  • Do not sweep, vacuum with an ordinary vacuum, or carry debris out.
  • Report it to the site manager and the owner. Get the material sampled and tested.
  • Record who was in the area and for how long.
  • Restart only after a competent person says the area is safe.

Waste and clean-up

Seal asbestos waste in bags or containers, wipe the outside clean, then label them with the contents and a hazard warning. Plastic sheeting, tape, used coveralls and vacuum filters count as waste too.

The NEA requires a licensed toxic industrial waste collector to take it away. Waste goes to Semakau Landfill. Do not put the bags in a compactor truck, as it can burst them. After the job, the contractor sends MOM the waste disposal certificate and an air monitoring report.

Common mistakes

  • Starting a fit-out in an old building without asking for the survey.
  • Letting a general contractor "just take out a few boards".
  • Sweeping dust or using a normal vacuum cleaner.
  • Wearing a paper dust mask instead of a fit-tested respirator.
  • Workers with beards wearing tight-fitting masks that cannot seal.
  • Taking used coveralls home or into the site canteen.
  • Leaving bagged waste open or unlabelled at the loading bay.
Looks are not a test

You cannot tell asbestos by eye. Fibre cement, insulation board and old tiles look the same with or without it. Only a lab test on a sample gives the answer.

In other countries

  • Malaysia: DOSH's Guidelines for Asbestos Removal 2017 apply the USECHH Regulations 2000 to removal work. Before removal, the contractor carries out a hazard risk assessment (HIRARC) and a chemical health risk assessment by an assessor. The contractor submits its documents, including work flow, safe operating procedure, training and medical surveillance records, for DOSH acknowledgement at least two weeks before site preparation starts.

Use it on site: the asbestos checklist and the toolbox talk to brief your crew.

Sources

  1. Workplace Safety and Health (Asbestos) Regulations 2014, Singapore Statutes Online.
  2. About Asbestos, WSH Council.
  3. Notify for asbestos work, Ministry of Manpower.
  4. Medical monitoring requirements, Ministry of Manpower.
  5. Asbestos waste, National Environment Agency.
  6. A worker's guide to asbestos safety, UK HSE.
  7. Guidelines for Asbestos Removal 2017, DOSH Malaysia.

This is practical guidance, not legal advice. Laws and codes of practice change; always check the current official text and your site's own procedures.