Industrial, Commercial and Residential

Asbestos Services

Serving Western Canada since 2002.

Testing & Assessment (How to submit a sample)

Finding Asbestos Containing Materials

Asbestos is a fibrous mineral that was widely used in both construction and Industrial materials from the early 1900's to the late 1980's.

Asbestos is directly linked to major respiratory illnesses and cancer. Current legislation requires that testing must be performed to ensure the health and safety of workers.

The properties of asbestos include, heat, acid, chemical, moisture and electrical resistance, strength and flexibility.

These properties are extremely useful and have been incorporated into many products. For example you can use the flexibility of the fibres and the heat resistance to manufacture flame and heat resistant clothing. Add asbestos fibres to plaster or drywall mud to give the matrix strength and or heat resistance.

Our inspectors use this background knowledge to find and sample suspected asbestos containing products in your building or facility and laboratory can confirm the presence of asbestos and percentage.

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The photograph shows asbestos blocks and parge coat used as insulation on high pressure steam pipework.

Removing the Risk

An Avoidable Danger

Exposure to airborne asbestos fibre is avoidable. It takes a sound knowledge of when, where and why the asbestos was used so that workers or occupants can avoid accidental disturbance of asbestos containing products.

Our goal is to assist you in creating a safe environment by identifying, controlling and managing your asbestos containing materials.

For planned disturbance of asbestos during renovations, maintenance or demolition, we can assist with developing an abatement strategy.

For buildings where asbestos remains, we can design, develop and help you implement an Asbestos Operations & Management plan as required by legislation.

The Alberta Infrastructure Technical Bulletin offers a good generic list of building materials that have or do contain asbestos.

The photograph shows corrugated asbestos cement panels.

Asbestos Analysis

RH Services Inc. offers in house analysis for asbestos in bulk materials and can undertake analysis at your facility or remote site.

Our analysists have been trained at the world renowned McCrone Institute of Microscopy in Chicago, Illinois and our senior analysts has over 30 years of experience.

If you want to have materials tested for asbestos content you can click here and learn how to submit your samples to RH Services Inc.

Chain of Custody

Actinolite / Tremolite Series asbestos in vermiculite insulation under the stereo microscope.

Actinolite / Tremolite Series asbestos in

1.605 HD dispersion oil.

Chrysotile showing positive sign of elongation.

Get started today

Let us handle your asbestos issues.

The asbestos abatement industry in the province of Alberta is highly regulated. The Alberta Asbestos Abatement Manual is the main reference document. Abatement Manual

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780-440-4880

List of Services

Asbestos Testing

In House or on site Analysis
Submit your own sample Click here

Asbestos Assessment

Baseline
Pre-Demolition
Pre-Renovation
Pre-Purchase

Asbestos Technical Specifications

Spec Writing
Tender administration
Pre-Tender site meetings
Bid Closing
Review of Bids

Asbestos Operations & Management Programs

Program design and preparation
- Program implementation
Staff training
Awareness training
Procedure and document production
Record keeping

For information on asbestos abatement supervision and management services that we offer click here

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How long does asbestos Analysis take?

Our typical turn around time for samples is 1-2 business days. Rush samples can be undertaken although there is a premium charge for this service.

Should you be in a position were your work crew is on standby waiting for asbestos results our Rush Service can help you.

Q: Do I need an asbestos Management Plan?

Yes. A management plan that is designed and initiated properly can help you avoid issues, plan and budget for future renovations, train staff so as to avoid accidental exposure and create a document trail for due diligence.

The Alberta Legislation requires asbestos containing materials that are left in place to be "Managed"

Q: Do I have to do anything if asbestos is not disturbed?

The Alberta legislation requires that any asbestos containing materials left on site require a management plan. Prudency dictates that you need to know where your asbestos is so that unintentional disturbance can be avoided.

Q: How is asbestos analyzed?

Asbestos in bulk samples is analyzed using polarized light microscopy (PLM). The asbestos is teased out of the bulk sample under a fume hood, the make up of the sample is characterized and fibres are mounted in dispersion oil for PLM. Results are definitive and are reported as the type of asbestos and the percentage range by visual approximation.

Q: How are asbestos airborne concentrations determined?

Asbestos that could be airborne (for example, during abatement) can be measured using Phase Contrast Microscopy (PCM). Samples are collected onto a filter medium, this is treated in the lab and the NIOSH 7400 counting protocol is followed to determine the number of fibres on the filter . A calculation is made to determine the concentration of fibre in the air (fibres per cubic centimetre F/CC). This can be compared to the allowable limits. The protocol is not definitive for asbestos but errs on the side of caution in that all fibres that are morphologically similar to asbestos are included in the count.