Twenty years ago when I had to have made Asbestos Caution signs in 6 different languages for an Australian client in Adelaide I found that the Chinese don’t have a word for asbestos. So you can ask for written guarantees from importers till the cows come home if the suppliers don’t know what it is!- of course they’re going to say it hasn’t got any if they don’t know what it is…..The closest the translator got was “Caution cotton wool” which doesn’t really have the same effect does it?

It was funny at the time but it shows the practical aspects of Asbestos Management can be tripped up by the unexpected.