It was June 2012 when I got the call no project manager in the restoration and remediation industry wants to receive. It was the type of call that immediately changes the course of your day and causes a sickly feeling in the bottom of your stomach. It was the shakiness in my lead technician’s voice that told me something went terribly wrong before he even had the chance to finish his first sentence. The call, as I was about to learn, was to tell me that we had accidently disturbed asbestos during a routine mold remediation project for a high-valued client.

Those of us that have spent any amount of time in the restoration and remediation industry understand that asbestos is all around us. It can be found in ceiling tiles, flooring tiles, pipe insulation, wall insulation, roofing shingles and in just about every other type of building material found in homes and commercial buildings. Time spent in the field allows good project managers to get familiar with the dangers and warning signs, but even with training and experience, accidents can still happen.