Asbestos Abatement
Did you know I almost started an asbestos abatement (removal) company back when I was doing my undergrad?
A friend of mine approached me with the opportunity. He knew a realtor who owned about 10 houses, all of which had asbestos. My friend wanted me to get certified to remove asbestos with him so that we could lock in those 10 jobs with the realtor. Asbestos removal is expensive as it requires a lot of special equipment and safety precautions. We estimated the value of the work on those 10 houses at $250K. So we thought we should get certified (very low barrier to entry) and do the work, make our money, and get out.
Well kids, here is where putting together a business plan and doing your market research is very important.
Firstly, the asbestos removal process is very intricate and requires lots of precautions and equipment. If WorkSafeBC comes on site, and sees you doing it wrong in any way, you could be fined upwards of $750K. I’ll detail more of the safety requirements later on as I think they are pretty interesting.
The disposal costs of asbestos are also really expensive. You have to use special garbage bags, double bag them, use special dumpsters, and then hire a company which drives the asbestos to Alberta, and dumps them down an abandoned mine shaft. I am not joking.
We called an owner of an abatement company who lived in a city a number of hours away. We explained that we were thinking of starting a business and wanted his advice. He basically told us it was not a good idea. The market was saturated, risks were high, and it was the asbestos testing companies that were making all the money, not the removal crews.
We also looked into and got quotes for liability insurance. Given the nature of the business, our insurance would have been a light $30K in the first year.
I’m very glad we sat down and did our research prior to getting to far down the road. The only money I lost was the few hundred I spent doing my certification, which at the very least made for an interesting half day of learning. Had we started investing in equipment, incorporation fees, liability insurance etc, we would have been out a lot more cash. We would have worked ourselves silly on those houses and probably come out with very little, if any profit.
Safety Procedures for Asbestos removal
First of all, I took this course several years ago, so I don’t know if some of this is outdated. Obviously my memory isn’t perfect either, so I may miss some stuff.
Asbestos particles are very small. Much smaller than the width of a human hair. So if you are wearing a makeshift mask, dust mask, or even a higher quality mask, it won’t be enough. You need a specialized mask with Hepa filters to avoid breathing in asbestos. Plus, if you have a beard and wear the specialized mask, you officially screwed yourself. Since asbestos is smaller than human hair, it will just slide right past your beard hairs and into your lungs.
When asbestos enters your breathing, it moves into your airways, makes its way to your lungs, and then just sits there. Your body sees the foreign substance and starts attacking it. But it is really hard to break down the asbestos mineral, so eventually it turns into scar tissue on your lungs. Scar tissue on your lungs is basically just a non-working part of your lung now, so the more scarring you have, the less effective your lungs. Asbestos has a 10-15 year latency period, so most people exposed to it, don’t start feeling the effects for that many years.
First things first, there are two certification levels. The first certification only allows you to remove items containing asbestos that are in tact, or aren’t currently releasing asbestos into the air. For example, some floor tiles used to be made with asbestos. Level 1 certification are allowed to remove those tiles. There is risk of them breaking of course, but that is why the safety procedures are all in place.
Level two certification allows you to remove loose materials that spread asbestos when handled like insulation.
When removing asbestos from a house, you need a special filter to bring into the house that filters the air and creates negative air pressure in the room you are working in. The room you are working in needs to be completely poly’d off to seal in any asbestos. Lets say you are removing drywall with asbestos in it. After your room is poly’d, and the filter is running, you need to spray the room with a sticky substance. This substance acts to catch the airborne asbestos and stick it to surfaces so that it doesn’t enter the air and get out in public once you un-seal the room. Everything you remove from that room is double bagged in special garbage bags. The bags are wiped off before leaving, and thrown into a special garbage bin. (The one that goes to Alberta eventually).
The whole time you are removing asbestos, you are wearing a full hazmat suit by the way, and the special Hepa mask I mentioned.
If you are removing piping with asbestos in it. You use special poly with arm holes in it. You put your arms through the wholes, cut the asbestos infected piping out, and wrap it in the poly that your hands are through. Then you double bag it and dispose of it as well.
Now, I mentioned certification. The truth is, there is no certification program for asbestos (at least here). Anyone can remove asbestos from anywhere without any official certification. The problem of course is that if you are caught doing it wrong, you get a massive fine. Having the “certification” is just another way to prove to WorkSafe that you know what you are doing should they inspect you. The certifications are also great ways for companies like the one my friend and I went to to sell you a piece of paper certificate for something you could probably have learned online.