My situations is this, my house is approx 45 yrs old and has asbestos shingles on the outside... these have been painted and the paint is now peeling and some are broken from a recent storm... is it safe to sand these to repaint ? Or would covering these be better?

The hazards of asbestos are greatly exaggerated. Actually asbestos has been linked to one form of cancer that is almost unknown outside people that haven't had massive exposure to asbestos on the job. If you choose a sunny day for it, the sun may be a bigger risk than the asbestos. It certainly wouldn't hurt to wear a simple dust mask. If you can find coarse enough water proof sand paper, you could eliminate the dust by wetting things down.