SafeWork NSW confirms friable asbestos found in Kathmandu store in Orange

The shop will be closed for about a month to allow for the asbestos to be removed and the building declared safe for the public to re-enter.

Friable asbestos is found in a powder form or what can be reduced to powder by crumbling with your hand.

It is most commonly found in pipe lagging, sprayed limpet and in asbestos cloths and ropes.

It is different to non-friable or bonded asbestos which is normally  found in fibro sheeting, cement sheets and floor tiles.

A SafeWork NSW spokesman said they had been notified about the discovery.

“SafeWork NSW has received a notification from a licensed asbestos removalist about friable asbestos removal from a commercial premises on Summer Street, Orange.

“SafeWork NSW is satisfied with the work, health and safety systems in place.”

The spokesman also confirmed that no loose-fill asbestos was found on the property.

Loose-fill asbestos was used for ceiling insulation in homes the 1960s and 1970s mainly by one ACT company, Mr Fluffy.

Homes placed on a loose-fill asbestos check list are being inspected by authorities.

A spokeswoman for Kathmandu, Helen McCombie, said there was no risk to staff, the public or to any of goods stored in the shop of being touched by dust contaminated with asbestos.

“There has been no risk at all to customers or Kathmandu team members,” she said.

“There is absolutely no risk to any of the goods.

“No Kathmandu product (at any time in the past) has been exposed to asbestos, no employees have been exposed to asbestos, no customers have been exposed to asbestos and no contractors (except the asbestos contractors themselves) have been exposed to asbestos.”

She said the store was due to re-open in mid-April.

A regular Kathmandu Orange shopper, who did not wish to be named, said she had been told that the asbestos was detected by an electrician intending to replace lights in the front of the shop.

She said it was most likely found in old pipe lagging in the building.

“I bought tents and sleeping bags and my concern, I’ve got young children, is that general store dust may have been in contact with them,” she said.

“I would ask can they guarantee they are 100 per cent free of any asbestos?

“I buy heaps of the stuff, I do a lot of camping,” she said.