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Form AR-VICField 3 of 6 · Doing it yourself

Removing asbestos from your own home in Victoria

Where your home is not also a workplace, Victoria’s workplace asbestos Regulations do not apply when you remove asbestos from it, and the Better Health Channel says householders may legally remove asbestos. Asbestos in Victoria, EPA Victoria and WorkSafe Victoria all say the work is best done by a licensed asbestos removalist.

General information, not advice for your job. Asbestos in Victoria and WorkSafe Victoria are the official places to check.

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  • The national asbestos agency says it is “not recommended that you handle or remove asbestos yourself”, and that a licensed asbestos removalist is the safer choice.
  • WorkSafe Victoria says exposure to every type of airborne asbestos fibre is hazardous to human health.
  • Asbestos fibres are most likely to be released when asbestos material is disturbed, for example by drilling, cutting, sawing or breaking it. Victorian guidance warns against power tools, abrasive cutting or sanding discs, compressed air, high-pressure water jets, and dry-sanding, wire-brushing or scraping a surface before painting it. WorkSafe Victoria’s flood-recovery advice adds that when you clean asbestos material that is still in place and not damaged, you should avoid high-pressure washers or water blasters, which can damage it and spread asbestos debris and fibres, and power tools or abrasive materials such as sanders. Better Health says never to saw, grind, drill or break asbestos with power tools, and to use hand tools if you must. The national agency adds that you should never clean asbestos with high-pressure water or anything abrasive, such as scrubbing, sanding or grinding, because it can spread contamination widely.
  • In Victoria, asbestos waste may go only to a site EPA Victoria has authorised to accept it, and EPA keeps the list of landfills licensed for asbestos waste. It must never go in a general, recycling or green waste bin.

3.1 What Victoria’s sources say about your own home

Where a home is not also a workplace, WorkSafe Victoria says the Occupational Health and Safety Act and Regulations do not apply, though a homeowner may have duties under other laws if asbestos fibres are released. Better Health says householders may legally remove asbestos, and recommends that only a licensed professional removes loosely bound asbestos. WorkSafe also recommends a licensed removalist for floor coverings with asbestos backing.

WorkSafe Victoria’s 2019 compliance code, Removing asbestos in workplaces, recommends using the code at home too. WorkSafe Victoria’s limits for unlicensed work, 10 square metres of non-friable material and 1 hour in 7 days, are written for employers and self-employed people (see the field on licence classes). EPA Victoria adds that domestic asbestos landfills accept only a small amount of household asbestos waste.

After a fire, Better Health says a licensed asbestos removalist should be arranged to clean up burnt asbestos material , and EPA Victoria publishes a fact sheet on asbestos hazards after a fire.

3.2 Before you start

Asbestos in Victoria asks anyone deciding to remove asbestos themselves to read its homeowner removal page before starting, and to read its do’s and don’ts thoroughly. It lists the safety measures the work should include: protective clothing and equipment, decontamination facilities, waste disposal procedures and an asbestos control plan. The aim it sets is removal that releases as few airborne fibres as possible , with thought for your neighbours and anyone near your home.

On breathing protection, Better Health says ordinary dust masks do not stop asbestos fibres and dust, and that respirators should comply with Australian/New Zealand Standard 1716. WorkSafe names a P2 respirator and rules out paper dust masks, handkerchiefs and bandannas.

Asbestos in Victoria says protective equipment should be worn during removal, and that any equipment used for the work that is likely to be contaminated needs to be either decontaminated before it leaves the work area, or put in a sealed container whose outside is decontaminated before the container leaves the work area. It adds two packaging steps that the procedures below do not repeat: let excess air out of each bag gently, in a way that does not raise dust, and write the asbestos warning mark on each package with a permanent marker pen.

3.3 Packaging: Victoria’s five procedures

For places that are not workplaces, Asbestos in Victoria publishes packaging guidelines based on WorkSafe’s compliance code. Each kind of material has its own procedure; follow the one that matches yours. Here they are in plain words, every step in order, from Asbestos in Victoria’s packaging page.

A Asbestos cement sheeting and asbestos cement pipes

  1. Wet the pieces thoroughly, and keep them wet until they are packaged for transport.
  2. Cut or break the pieces as little as you can while packing them.
  3. Lay two layers of polythene sheeting, about 0.2 mm thick, in the part of the vehicle that carries the load.
  4. Set the pieces down carefully on the sheeting, keeping the stack under 1 m high, and wrap them completely. Seal the wrapping with adhesive tape. Keep each package small enough to handle easily.
  5. Label the package with the asbestos warning mark.

B Lagged pipes, boilers, heaters and equipment

  1. Wrap the whole item twice in polythene sheeting about 0.2 mm thick, and seal it with adhesive tape.
  2. Label the package with the asbestos warning mark.

C Asbestos dust and friable asbestos

Either drums or bins

  1. Put the waste into a drum or bin lined with polythene, working while it is wet unless wetting it down is not practicable.
  2. Fasten the lid firmly with a suitable device, such as toggle clips, screws or a bolt.
  3. Label each drum with the asbestos warning mark.

Or double bags

  1. Put the waste into double polythene bags about 0.2 mm thick, no larger than 1200 mm long by 900 mm wide. Wet the bagged dust before the bags are tied, keep each loaded bag to 30 kg or less, and fill each bag only halfway.
  2. Tie each bag: twist the neck tightly, fold it over, and fix it with suitable adhesive tape (for example, a cloth tape with a plastic coating, which is easy to decontaminate).
  3. Label each bag with the asbestos warning mark.

D Slurry containing asbestos fibre and dust

  1. Put the waste into drums, as for dust above.
  2. Label each container with the asbestos warning mark.

Otherwise, use another method of packaging, transport and disposal that EPA has approved in writing.

E Tiles, gaskets, brake linings, clutch plates, acoustic insulation and non-bonded textiles, plus gloves, protective clothing and respirators

  1. Put the material into double polythene bags about 0.2 mm thick.
  2. Keep to bags no larger than 1200 mm long by 900 mm wide.
  3. Tie each bag: twist the neck tightly, fold it over, and fix it with suitable adhesive tape (for example, a cloth tape with a plastic coating, which is easy to decontaminate).
  4. Label the package with the asbestos warning mark.
  5. Put the packages into an enclosed skip to be transported.

The labels

The asbestos warning mark reads as below, and the page gives its size as about 75 mm by 90 mm.

Caution
Asbestos
Do not open
or damage bag
Do not inhale dust

For dangerous goods labelling, the page notes that packaged dangerous goods need only the UN number, the proper shipping name and the Dangerous Goods Class label, and it sets out the UN numbers for each type of asbestos in a table on the packaging page.

3.4 Taking it away

Packages go only to a site authorised by EPA Victoria to accept asbestos; check with the site operator first. The trip itself is covered in the field on waste and transport.

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Better Health’s advice for anyone who does not feel confident handling or removing the material safely is to engage a licensed asbestos removalist.