Carleton’s Department of Facilities Management and Planning is continuing to track asbestos in 24 of the buildings on campus, according to the department’s vice-president, Darryl Boyce.
Asbestos, a building material that poses health risks when its fibres are inhaled, was widely used until the late 1970s in building construction. It is present in most of the older buildings on campus, including the Tory Building, the University Centre, Athletics, and most of the residences, Boyce said.
Asbestos can be found in a variety of building materials, including pipe insulation, drywall, vinyl floor tile, and ceiling tiles.
“Safe materials have been developed that replace asbestos and they’re used. But asbestos in those days was relatively inexpensive and very effective, and that’s why it got used so much,” Boyce said.
When the material’s fibres are inhaled, asbestos can cause cancer and other serious health effects, which is why it was eventually banned for use in Canada, according to the Health Canada asbestos website.
The material still remains inside Carleton’s buildings, but the only time it poses a real health risk is when it’s disturbed, usually through renovations. In order to avoid accidental disturbance, Carleton has always kept a detailed list of buildings known to have asbestos, Boyce said.
The inventory has been updated after an update to the Occupational Health and Safety Act was passed in Ontario in 2012 that required more stringent tracking of asbestos.
“It’s something that needs to be considered and managed,” said Mark Fai, president of ECOH Management Inc., a consulting firm that did testing for asbestos on campus two years ago. “Most buildings in Ontario will have some form of asbestos in them.”
While inventories are required by law to avoid disturbing the material, because dormant asbestos poses no risk to building occupants, it isn’t usually actively removed.
“There is no regulation that says you must remove it if it’s in good condition and not being disturbed,” Fai said. “So you can certainly leave it in your building but the minute it starts being a headache, a renovation for example, it becomes practical to remove it.”
David Hunt, the manager of university operations safety, said the inventory is now up to date and mostly adjusted to access condition and account for the removal of asbestos.
Carleton’s Asbestos Management Program outlines specific procedures for the removal and containment of asbestos during renovations.
“We do a designated substance analysis before every major renovation project in a building,” Boyce said.
Most major removals cannot be completed by members of Carleton staff and require the university to hire trained professionals.
According to both Hunt and Boyce, because asbestos is only dangerous when disturbed and serious health effects are associated with repeated exposure, it’s of most concern to those interacting with the substance, rather than staff and students working in the building.
“There’s policies on access to maintenance areas and ceiling spaces, and generally as long as people don’t violate those policies it really only shows up during renovations,” said Boyce.
“It’s not really a concern to students because it’s generally behind ceilings and behind walls. Just being in the building is no risk really to any of the occupants,” he said.
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