AIBU to be worried about this - DH says yes.

[WigglyWorms5]

We had a company round to take artex samples to test for asbestos and the surveyor said that he had to keep his shoes on. I was a bit apprehensive and said is he sure they're clean and he said yes because whenever he actually deals with asbestos he is covered up in a suit and over boots etc. I wish I'd been a bit more insistent though - all our results came back clear but I feel so worried about the fact that he walked around DCs bedrooms with his boots on - what if they were contaminated even slightly? My children (as with most) play on the floor. He walked everywhere in the house

When I had counselling for anxiety the counsellor said that people with anxiety are always looking for something to hang their anxiety on, and that was true for me. It's so hard.
One anxiety would just replace the previous one.

PLEASE can people just accept this one thing. You do NOT hoover up asbestos if you suspect you have any.

All this does is potentially disperse the particles around your home, into the air you are breathing, and make it more likely to be inhaled.

I can't believe people are suggesting you hoover it as if that's standard protocol for asbestos handling.

I don't know much about the stuff. And I don't want to deride those who are suggesting it but it it really is asbestos 101, so please NO ONE reading follow that advice.

I think in this instance hoovering is fine. The man would not have brought any asbestos in on his shoes.

We've recently had this done too, a man came in, took some small samples from the floors and ceilings and went on his merry way. There is no risk to me or my family from what he did or the fact that our guy left his shoes on too. Yes, you are worrying unnecessarily. If you are usually this anxious it might be worth seeing your GP for some help.

OP, it is unusual for asbestos surveyors to also be involved with actually removing asbestos ever. They are two separate jobs which require different qualifications.

The surveyors only ever take very small sample pieces of suspected materials (carefully and using all protective measures such as sealing patch back up afterwards).

The likelihood of him ever having worn those boots, uncovered, around asbestos in any form is slim to nil

Hope that helps ease your fears and as pp said, I would have vacuumed (normal shoe dirt) and thought no more about it, so please don't worry.

I suffer from anxiety and even though I know I do, when as a PP said I want to "hang" it on something, I don't tend to think "Oh there I go again with my anxiety habit". I think "Panic! Panic!" :o I have to remind myself and see what I'm doing, and sometimes it takes a gentle reminder from someone else like DP or the GP.

I've also had an asbestos panic after I found some crumbling white stuff in the back of a cupboard. It was plasterboard.

I think you are fine OP, you had an unnecessary worry, you can let go of it now but it is unkind for people to say "unclench" etc. Worry is a feeling, and you can't help how you feel, especially if you are a worrier.

YANBU. Not because there's really anything to worry about, but because he should have been professional (and courteous enough) to put some of those plastic shoes covers over his boots.

I wouldn't want somebody stomping around my house with work boots on.

Yes in this instance hoovering would be fine as there is no asbestos present.

In a situation where it may be present, don't hoover unless you have a special heavily filtered hoover, which most people do not own unless they work with asbestos regularly.

Yes, why did he have to keep his shoes on?

For what it's worth me and my then 2yo were exposed to asbestos by our crummy landlord getting his mates to install heating in our house, years ago. The ceilings were asbestos containing board. They drilled them with no precautions.

It still bothers me a bit but the environmental health people at the council have told me it was a minimal risk, and that involved quite a bit of dust hanging about, and hoovering, and no risk assessment at all.

He said that when I was a child, there would have been asbestos floating around in the air all the time, due to it being in car brake pads. So I should not lose sleep over this.

Probably had novelty/holey socks on.

Wiggly - I would look at it this way. This man deals with asbestos regularly and will know how dangerous it can be - and he will know how best to make sure he doesn't take asbestos from one site to another.

And if he did make a habit of getting his boots contaminated, his own home would end up most contaminated - far more than yours, because he's there every day, and was only in your house once - so you can rest assured he will be taking every precaution, so as not to put his own family at risk - and he will not want to put anyone's family at risk.

YANBU to be worried enough to ask the question you've asked here - frankly much better to ask, and get some reassurance, than to carry on fretting all day - and as someone who suffers from anxiety, and can fret for Britain at Olympic levels, I know how easy it is to let a worry get totally out of proportion.

I hope that what people have said here will enable you to stop worrying about this.

Just think about him for a minute. He works with asbestos all the time so he would clearly want to minimise his own exposure. He will want to avoid any asbestos contamination on him as it would risk his own health more than anyone elses. He had a direct interest in not carrying asbestos around on his shoes and clothes to protect himself (as well as others).

Very gentle YABU.

He said that he had to keep his shoes on_

Yes, why?

In case he dropped something or someone trod on his toes?

It would be outside dirt that I would be thinking of more than asbestos so I would expect him to have shoe covers to put on.

Hi OP, we had asbestos in our old house; in the back of a cupboard with our electricity meter and fuse box were mounted onto it. It came up on the survey and so the first thing I did after moving in was get someone round to look at it. We were advised to leave it and not disturb it; apparently asbestos undisturbed and in good condition poses no risk.

From a guidance leaflet: Don’t panic. Asbestos materials in good condition are not a health risk and should be fine if you leave them alone. Just check their condition from time to time to make sure they haven’t been damaged or started to deteriorate.

The chap who came out to us was not personally involved with the removal of asbestos and was mainly doing visual inspections of materials that might contain it. Due to his heightened awareness of asbestos and the fact that he would suit-up for any site where the potential asbestos is reported as being disturbed, I would guess that he was very unlikely indeed to end up with asbestos fibres on his shoes or clothing. It's also worth remembering that it is constant exposure to asbestos fibres that damages health and that the ban on asbestos and the current regulations and guidance around asbestos were brought in with the primary aim of protecting workers (i.e. tradespeople and those involved in the manufacture of asbestos products) as occasional exposure to asbestos poses hardly any risk for the general population

All that said, I would feedback to the company/surveyor that you would have appreciated shoe covers; not so much as a risk-prevention measure, just as a common courtesy.

What diddl said
OP he probably needed to keep his shoes on because of other H&S risks such as dropping sometging on his foot or treading on something sharp. As others have pointed out he would wear protective clothing to test for the asbestos which you now know you dont have, and woild not be walking in any asbestos dust from anywhere else due to the protective clothing.

In the nicest possible way, YABU. I'd worry too though, because I know bugger all about asbestos, and get anxious very easily over anything involving DC. Ignore all the snarky posts, if they're lucky enough not to experience this anxiety then good for them but there's no need to be mean.

as other, far more knowledgeable posters than I have said, DC will be fine.

I have anxiety disorder. I read your OP. And it felt like I couldn't breathe, and its not even my house.

YABU, but I completely sympathise, because anxiety isn't reasonable.

Thanks for the replies. I'm so annoyed with myself that I didn't insist that he take them off because I'm sure it was more because he didn't want to. Annoyed that I let someone who works with asbestos and goes round taking samples of the stuff walk round my children's bedrooms in his boots :-(

I really don't think it was necessary for him to take them off, Wiggly - if he was being careless and picking up asbestos on his boots, he would be at much greater risk than you or your dc, because it would build up in his home, car etc, and he would be exposed to it over and over again, as it built up.

He will know this, and he won't want to take any risks with his own health or that of his family - so he will have taken every precaution to ensure no contamination of his boots at all. And the precautions he will have taken to ensure his safety will also have ensured your safety and that of your dc.

I honestly don't think there is any risk at all that he has brought asbestos into your home.

I work as a professional in construction and would never take my shoes off in a clients house. I'm sorry but I don't know whats on your floors.
But I also have several pairs of site boots and shoes, I would never wear contaminated (with anything bar normal pavement/road dirt) inside an occupied home.
Those of us who come in contact with asbestos through our work are only too aware of the risks and tend to err on the side of caution.
There will be no risk from asbestos, maybe a bit of dirt from outside. That's where my run the Hoover over the carpet comes from.
You and your family will be fine.

In the nicest possible way, you are not listening OP. It may be worth getting some RL help with your anxieties.

So the fact that he also took his fleece jacket off and threw it over the back of a kitchen chair next to where the kids sit and eat would also not be a concern?

You sound really anxious which is not a happy place to be in.

The likelihood of abestos transfer is minimal but if you're concerned have a good Hoover.

Seeking reassurance is not going to help it's the nature of anxiety unfortunately. Have you spoken to anyone about how you're feeling?

Wiggly there is no way anyone in the know about asbestos (which this individual certainly was) would be contaminated in any way or going around shedding asbestos fibres like dandruff.

I work in an associated area and we take exposure to asbestos very seriously.

There are however different types of asbestos and there are allowable exposure levels.

The general public tend to be a little hysterical about it (with good cause as before it was identified as the hazard it is 1000's of people were exposed). However most people dying of asbestos related diseases now were exposed at great levels in mining or construction and they tend to be elderly people.