BACKGROUND & CLEARANCE MONITORING 

CES carries out Reassurance, Background, Leak and Clearance monitoring throughout Wellington and New Zealand. 

What is Clearance Monitoring?

When an asbestos removal specialist carries out any asbestos removal at a house, or commercial or industrial premise, they should be carrying it out in accordance with legislation and codes of practices which aim to protect the public and ensure the site is free from asbestos after the removal is complete. Clearance monitoring is asbestos air monitoring carried out at the removal site after the job has been completed and the removal specialist has cleaned the area. In many cases it is a four stage process involving inspection and testing even before the removal has started.

What about Background and Reassurance Monitoring?

Background monitoring and Leak monitoring can also be carried out during and throughout the removal process. Leak air monitoring occurs outside the 'enclosed removal area' to determine whether the area is secure and that no asbestos fibres are escaping during the removal process. Background monitoring occurs in the vicinity of the removal site.

Reassurance monitoring occurs in buildings and locations where asbestos is present but there has been no removal works carried out and the area or workplace remains occupied. Air monitoring in such areas can help to reassure occupants of the air quality. 

What is a fibre count?

When carrying out air monitoring we use small air pumps which draw a known quantity of air over a known period of time over a membrane or SEM filter. We can conducted High volume sampling or 4 and 8 hours sampling periods. The filter traps fibres, which can then be counted under a microscope. The number of fibres on the filter is an indication of whether the air in the tested enclosure or area is satisfactory or not. The MFM fibre count does not identify asbestos, the count records the number of respirable fibres. 

We are now accredited to identify the fibres on a filter as asbestos. The respirable fibre is identified using our accredited method. If you have a high fibre count on a MFM filter, we can re-analyse using PLM and provide a count of only asbestos respirable fibres. Read More...

How it works...

Complete the online request for  ASSESSOR WORKS BOOKING form or RESIDENTIAL REQUEST form via our website email. Feel free to call us to discuss your monitoring requirements.

What is a Fibre?

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CES Assessors and Surveyors

Worksafe provides guidance on independence and competence.

Under the new regulations, an asbestos assessor must be ‘independent’. What does ‘independent’ mean in this context?The requirement in the regulations is intended to ensure there is no potential for a conflict of interest when carrying out air monitoring or clearance for licensed asbestos removal work. For example, there is a conflict of interest where the assessor is an employee of the same company or business group that commissioned or conducts the removal.

Or, there could be a potential conflict of interest where an asbestos assessor is contracted to provide other types of services to the business doing the removal work (ie. the assessor has another type of business relationship with the removal business).

Worksafe also specify requirements for Surveyors

An asbestos surveyor needs to have sufficient training, qualifications, knowledge, experience and ability to sample and identify asbestos, have sufficient knowledge of the tasks required and the risks the work will involve, demonstrate independence and use a quality management system.