welcome back to another session with q
and Allied my name is op alaras and
today we're going to be talking about as
best as containing materials and how to
test for them joining me today is an
industrial hygienist expert Derrick
Russell with patrion Environmental
Laboratories let's go on inside and take
a
journey here we are in a kitchen a fire
damaged kitchen we've got some suspect
as bestus containing materials so Derek
let's talk about why things have to be
tested it's a good question op
well to put it briefly the law requires
it right the Environmental Protection
Agency as well as the state of
California makes it mandatory to test
certain building materials before they
are Disturbed this is the case with many
different kinds of construction projects
and renovation projects espis is a
naturally occurring mineral that was
mined and used heavily between the 1930s
and the 1980s it's also a known
carcinogen is responsible for huge death
tolls in the United States alone that's
why it's regulated you bet now let's
talk about what sampling actually
entails okay it's really very simple we
approach the building material and we
try to find a place where we're not
going to create too much damage take a
small sample while we're spraying it to
reduce dust emissions put it into a
baggie and we transport it to our
federally accredited laboratory for
analysis this makes the turnaround time
way faster and within 24 hours we can
put a report on the desk to the people
that need to get involved with this
project make that project go faster make
that claim go faster but just remember a
State Certified inspector needs to be
sampling and doing this to stay in
compliance you bet you bet and getting
the report back within 24 hours is huge
it's huge for the the claim Handler it's
huge for the contractor for the bay
contractor so we appreciate that aspect
of it that's awesome now let's talk
about this other material here that's
obviously been Disturbed how does that
change your process well it does look
like this material was Disturbed to the
point of contamination there's no fear
for alarm the local EPA otherwise known
as the South Coast Air Quality
Management District does require a
protocol that is called procedure 5 work
plan it's a simple work plan that
includes photographic images and a site
plan which basically explains how the
contamination should be cleaned up and
how it should be handled this way the
abatement contractor can move forward
and know exactly how to handle these
proper materials the right way the first
time but be careful because if this
protocol isn't followed or written the
huge fees can be levied on all parties
involved including the homeowner and I'm
glad you mentioned that that's something
that as contractors we're so always
keenly aware of and we've got to be
careful of so Derek let's fast forward
you got the licens as best's contractor
has just completed his scope of work now
what's your process well the last step
to this process is the final clearance
now remember final clearance can also
only be done by State Certified
inspector the objective behind the final
clearance is to double check on the work
the batement contract performed to make
sure there's no residual ese containing
material Left Behind what this involves
is a visual inspection and an air
sampling of the work area to verify that
it's safe breathable and ready for
reoccupancy once these samples are taken
they're submitted to our federally
accredited laboratory the results are
then compared to a EPA standard and
that's how he stay in compliance awesome
so after that's done then we can come in
as general contractors and get things
started is that right exactly that's
awesome Derek thank you so much man I
really appreciate your time and to you
all I hope this has given you some
insight on what the industrial
hygienists do and the processes they go
through to give us the reports that we
need thanks a
lot