On 12 May 2010, Safe Work Australia released the official statistics on on the number of new cases of mesothelioma. The report is entitled Mesothelioma in Australia Incidence: 1982 – 2006, Mortality 1997 – 2007.
More discussion on asbestos statistics and Safe Work Australia stance on asbestos issues is available HERE
reservoir, victoria, australia
On Tuesday evening as I drove home, I was listening to Background Briefing on ABC Radio National – the story of asbestos in Tasmania, and the role played by Goliath Portland Cement Limited.
Even with my fairly detailed knowledge of the history of asbestos issues in Australia, it was fascinating to hear first hand accounts of the workers still producing products and working unprotected into the 1980\’s.
Alex Walker, the Managing Director of Goliath Portland was well aware of the dangers in 1965 – his Personnel Manager advised that a report obtained \”…is merely one of many reports on world studies which have been conducted since 1935 when the association between the exposure to dust and carcinoma of the lung, mesothelioma of the pleura, tumour of the bladder and uterus and other fatal complaints, was first recognised.\”
Walker had correspondence with James Hardie management in that year. The advice given by the same personnel manager for Hardies was \”The best advice you can give your friend is to ignore the publicity. Dust is a fact. Denials merely stir up more publicity.\”
The audio download and transcript can be found at – http://www.abc.net.au/rn/backgroundbriefing/stories/2010/2890562.htm