Asbestos is a mineral which was mostly used before 1990 for construction reasons. This is due to it having great resistance to fire and heat, as well as chemical and electrical damage. When asbestos is non-friable and also in good condition, it has less risk of being dangerous.

But when it is friable, easily crumble, then the asbestos can be extremely harmful to people. Knowing the condition of whatever object has asbestos is important to make sure that the asbestos is removed/ worked on safely.

Electrical switchboards are what transfer electricity from one main point to smaller points in a building. With electrical switchboards, the ones which were built before 1990 are more likely to contain asbestos. These are commonly black in their colour and are made from either asbestos or asbestos coal tar pitch. Likewise, some switchboard manufactures who used asbestos includes Asbestos, Zelemite, Lebah and Miscolite, the label should be stamped on it.

With these, they often will be more brown/ black colour wise, have a strong smell of tar or bituminous and have smooth finished surfaces. Even though the switchboard might not have a label saying it is made of asbestos or made of non-friable asbestos it can still be dangerous. For instance, if unsealed holes are present, all precautions and steps on older switchboards should be made to know if they are made of asbestos.