Anyone who owns a home that was built on or before 1990 should have a conversation with their contractor before kicking off any form of renovations or demolition.
According to WorkSafe BC, asbestos is currently the top-ranked killer of workers in BC and can be detected in over 3,000 building materials during this time.
From 2007 to 2016, 605 workers died in the province asbestos-related exposure.
The numbers didn’t get any better last year when you break down the numbers.
“85 of the 144 deaths in this province were related to disease and predominantly asbestos exposure and that’s why this campaign is so important, to focus on prevention so that we can prevent exposure today to prevent the disease in the future.”
There is no shortage of materials that could contain the odourless substance.
“Things like vinyl tiles, linoleum sheet flooring, things like roofing felts and shingles. Often stucco and shingles on the outside of a home can contain asbestos, certainly, there’s pipe insulation and deck under sheeting,” says Al Johnson, Prevention Services vice-president.
Asbestos is a colourless, odourless gas that can be deadly if disturbed.
Last December, John Horgan and the NDP were in the early stages of putting in a registry as to where asbestos is in public buildings that might be putting workers at risk.
Only 51% of homeowners surveyed believe it is their responsibility to test for the substance when making renovations.
Just 36% of people who renovated a home built on or before 1990 in the past five years recall testing for the presence of asbestos before renovations.