ABOUT US

The Asbestos Institute is a complete training center, classroom, and information resource dedicated to the asbestos, lead abatement, and environmental hazard control industry.

We’re based in Phoenix, Arizona, and have called it our home since we started offering AHERA-accredited training in 1988. But we’re not limited to serving just the Southwest.

Since we’re accredited by the EPA and Cal-OSHA for our initial and refresher asbestos classes, it didn’t make sense to limit the reach of our experienced and well-respected group. That’s why we’ve provided training all of the world for Contractors, Supervisors, Building Inspectors, Management Planners, and Asbestos Abatement Workers.

And we’ve evolved with the times, offering not only live training courses, but also live webinar and online courses to satisfy regulatory requirements in the most user-friendly (and compliant) way.

Want to know more about the people who steer the ship at The Asbestos Institute?

LEADERSHIP

J Cavness

President

J has worked in the asbestos control and construction industry for over 20 years, starting out as a laborer and rising to the level of a general field superintendent and AHERA-Certified Supervisor, Building Inspector, Management Planner, and Project Designer. He supervised medium- to large-scale abatement projects in several states throughout the southwest, and even spent some time in sales with a major supplier to the abatement industry. He has also served as President of the Arizona Chapter of the Environmental Information Association and is currently the Treasurer of National EIA. J conducts training of all AHERA initial and refresher certification classes as well as OSHA asbestos and construction safety classes for The Asbestos Institute.

Andre Zwanenburg

EXECUTIVE MANAGER

Andre Zwanenburg is the executive at the Asbestos Institute’s Phoenix office. He has 31 years of experience in the hazardous materials industry in commercial operations as well as industrial hygiene. As a trained professional, he is intimately familiar with the safety, chemistry, and analytical techniques involved in all types of hazardous materials, whether chemicals or regulated building materials such as asbestos and lead. He performs thousands of building inspections, writes management plans (AHERA schools), and designs abatement projects. His experience as a Hazardous Materials Instructor makes him a valuable resource for education and quality control. With over 20 years training experience in both small and large classroom settings he brings a dynamic learning structure. The education provided has supported a range of clients, such as local firms and municipalities, medium to large national firms, and large international companies. His project management experience includes public facilities such as Sea-Tac airport, small and large public projects, and various large-scale military bases throughout the United States. These projects included hazardous materials surveys, project design, and potential oversight during removal/demolition.

Bill Cavness

DIRECTOR EMERITUS

Since its founding in 1988, Bill has been at the forefront of EPA-accredited and OSHA-compliant course development and coordination for The Asbestos Institute. Aside from serving as a speaker at numerous national conferences and being published in a number of Asbestos-related articles and papers, Bill has an extensive and impressive list of credentials that solidify his place as an authority in the industry.

Bill is the former national chairman of Environmental Information Association’s Asbestos Operation and Maintenance Committee and the Lead Committee.
He currently chairs the national Asbestos Committee.
Bill is the founding Director, past President, and Board member of the Arizona Chapter of EIA.
He is the former Vice President and Board of Directors member of the national EIA.
Bill serves on the National Institute of Building Sciences asbestos and lead committees.
He is a member of ASTM, participating in the asbestos standards task force.
Bill also served for many years on the Advisory Committee to the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Arizona OSHA).
Bill has developed and teaches the California Air Resources Board (CARB) 250 training course for asbestos demolition and renovation throughout California.

John Cavness

INSTRUCTOR

As an owner and operator of both general construction and asbestos abatement companies, John knows the ins and outs of the business. With almost 50 years of general construction experience (nearly half of which dealt with asbestos abatement), he has been at the forefront of refining many of the state-of-the-art procedures currently in use in the asbestos/lead abatement industry. John specializes in training Contract Specifications for the Contractor/Supervisor training and Building Systems for the Building Inspector classes. His credentials include: