Welcome to Chemcare’s tools and downloads section. We decided to share these materials to help you achieve an understanding of what asbestos is and its possible impacts on human health.
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Learn more about asbestos and its safe removal
Asbestos in New Zealand
The adoption of asbestos in New Zealand to produce fire-resistant products, insulating materials and hardier materials such as underground piping infrastructure, basically followed the trends of larger developed economies.
Chemcare undertook an exercise in mid 2018 to try to identify what actual volumes of asbestos might be contained in New Zealand building and infrastructure to get a glimpse of the amount of asbestos removal work that needs to be done.
Inquiries to the six largest Councils of New Zealand as well as some regional health boards indicated that it would take thousands of hours to arrive at even an approximate figure.
However, it can be assumed that tens of millions of tonnes of asbestos- contaminated materials exist almost everywhere in the nation.
In New Zealand, the banning of asbestos in any construction materials, was imposed in the year 2000. This means that any buildings erected since then, are probably free of asbestos.
Sources have advised Chemcare that some asbestos materials may have been imported after this deadline but the ban has had a large effect in reducing the spread of asbestos.
By 2015, however, it was reported that over two million tonnes of asbestos were still being mined worldwide. Therefore, planning for safe asbestos removal over time will remain relevant even after the enactment of related legislation.
Why it’s important not to remove the asbestos yourself
Although Kiwis are known for their DIY enthusiasm, it’s very unsafe to do it alone and try asbestos removal by yourself. In fact, trying to remove asbestos may in fact make the asbestos airborne, which would contaminate your entire home.
There are also strict recommendations on how you should dispose of the removed asbestos, if not followed correctly, a removal company is not going to be legally allowed to remove it.
Therefore our best recommendation is to leave the asbestos removal job to the experts at Chemcare.
Read more information on why it's important not to remove the asbestos yourself
Outstanding services backed by certifications
Our ISO certifications demonstrate our commitment to industry standards. You can be assured that we carry out all asbestos removal jobs with the highest consideration for quality, the environment, and health and safety.
We hold the following ISO certifications:
ISO 9001:2015 (Quality Management System) - QAS International
ISO 14001:2015 (Environmental Management System) - QAS International
ISO 45001:2018 (Occupational Health and Safety Management System) - BSI Group