Air monitoring (asbestos)
Asbestos air monitoring samples airborne fibre levels by a licensed assessor during and after Class A removal; clearance needs a result below 0.01 fibres/mL.
Ask Chalkline about this →Air monitoring in asbestos work is the sampling and laboratory counting of airborne asbestos fibre concentrations during and after removal, carried out by an independent licensed asbestos assessor. It does two jobs: confirming that the controls (enclosure, negative pressure, wetting) are keeping fibres down while the work runs, and confirming the air is clean enough afterwards to support a clearance certificate.
For Class A (friable) asbestos removal, air monitoring is mandatory under the WHS Regulations: the assessor must monitor before removal starts, throughout the work, and before the enclosure is dismantled. The clearance criterion is a measured fibre concentration below 0.01 fibres per millilitre of air. Until the area meets that figure and passes a visual inspection, the enclosure stays up, the area is not reoccupied, and no clearance certificate is issued. For Class B (non-friable) work, air monitoring is not mandatory but is available, and a clearance certificate can be issued by a competent person.
Two kinds of monitoring run on a job. Control monitoring during the work flags whether fibre release is being contained, so a leaking enclosure can be fixed before it becomes a problem. Clearance monitoring at the end is the pass/fail test for reoccupation. Both are sampled and analysed by an accredited laboratory. The assessor must be independent of the removalist, which is the point: the people doing the work do not sign off their own air.
See asbestos removal pathways for the full Class A and Class B process and who can sign off each.
Also known as: Asbestos air monitoring, fibre monitoring, control and clearance monitoring.
Category: WHS / Asbestos.
Related
See also
References
- Safe Work Australia: How to Safely Remove Asbestos Code of Practice (verified 2026-05-07)
- Work Health and Safety Regulations 2011 (verified 2026-05-07)
Last updated: 2026-05-30. Verified: 2026-05-07. Quarterly review for currency.