Category: asbestos

Asbestos prosecution highlights community risks

A recent asbestos-related prosecution by WorkSafe Victoria illustrates the prevalence of asbestos as an environmental, public and occupational problem.

According to a media statement on 5 November 2010,

“Joshua Luke Marshall, operating as Affordable Demolitions and Asbestos Removals, told two separate homeowners he was licensed by WorkSafe to carry out asbestos removal work, although he didn’t hold a licence….”

“…The first incident was in January 2009, when Mr Marshall was hired to remove asbestos cement sheeting from a house in Corio.

Mr Marshall was halfway through the job when a WorkSafe inspector arrived at the property in response to an anonymous complaint.

“What our inspector found when he walked onto the property was unbelievable,” Continue reading “Asbestos prosecution highlights community risks”

Army notice on asbestos bags is warning for all workplaces

Various sectors of the Australian media have been reporting on the potential use of asbestos-tainted sacks by Australian soldiers and Defence personnel.  Asbestos exposure is a recurring risk for the Australian armed services due to items in use, such as the dummy, and the existence of asbestos in various buildings.

The issue of asbestos persisting in sacks was given prominence in the last 12 months by ABC journalist Matt Peacock in his book “Killer Company”.  Peacock reported that inadequately cleaned sacks were reused as carpet underlay in Australia and for other purposes. Continue reading “Army notice on asbestos bags is warning for all workplaces”

The “Triffid defence” applied to asbestos

At the end of The Day of The Triffids, John Wyndham, had mankind living on the Isle of Wight, making sure that Triffids did not infest the island.  Tasmania has a similar mindset as can be seen by its diligence on keeping the land free of foxes but that is keeping out a hazard.  The greater challenge is renewing the land and removing a hazard that was allowed to grow and establish itself like triffids or, more realistically, asbestos.

SafetyAtWorkBlog has written elsewhere about the Australian Workers Union push to make Tasmania free of asbestos by 2020.  The signs are increasingly positive as the Tasmanian government issued a media release on 6 June 2010 that provides substantial impetus and legitimacy to the campaign.

The Minister for Workplace Relations, David O’Byrne, said today that the government will work with industry to develop legislative frameworks that provide a pathway for the prioritised removal of asbestos from Tasmania. Continue reading “The “Triffid defence” applied to asbestos”

Safe Work Australia releases official asbestos statistics

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

Small OHS issues may be controlled by big picture action

The continuing risks of asbestos are not nearly as noticeable on the radar of OHS professionals in the Western (or Minority) world as it used to be.  In many people’s minds, a ban on asbestos has removed the risk.  That is not the case, even if much of our attention is given to cleaning up the chemical’s dangerous legacy.

Asbestos is as big an issue in the majority world as it ever was in the West and, for those few who want to look at the global impact of asbestos, the risks are not hard to find.

Every so often, the reality of asbestos pricks the minds of the complacent West and a recent safety alert issued by one of Australia’s smallest OHS regulators is an example.  Northern Territory’s WorkSafe has echoed actions by WorkSafe WA and issued a safety alert on

“plant … recently imported into Western Australia and found to contain bonded asbestos gaskets.  The plant was imported from New Zealand and Thailand for installation at a major industrial site in that state.  Workers at the site were unaware that any gaskets contained asbestos.”

Risks associated with imported machinery and plant will increase for Australia as its own manufacturing capacity declines.  This economic reality and inevitability sets some challenges for OHS professionals who operate, principally, in only one jurisdiction. Continue reading “Small OHS issues may be controlled by big picture action”

Prominent unionist renews pledge on asbestos

SafetyAtWorkBlog asked Yossi Berger, National OHS Co-ordinator, Australian Workers’ Union, for comment on the relaunched Mesothelioma Registry.  His response is below

“The only known cause of meso is exposure to asbestos.  If you are diagnosed with it you have a 50% chance of surviving longer than 12 months.  Any lung physician will tell you that it’s a horrible way to suffer and die.  There is only one known preventative measure to meso – never be exposed to asbestos.

Whilst we know all of these facts we continue to see the numbers of meso sufferers increase – and they will continue to do so in the future.  All because generations before us failed to act responsibly.  They’ve left us with hundreds of thousands of tonnes of asbestos containing materials still in our workplaces and the community.

The time is well overdue to take proactive steps to get rid of asbestos once and for all.  We can not go on with this crazy reactive and lazy so called ‘risk management’ mentality.  If we do, other people’s children in generations to come will pay the price, and puzzle about this generation’s motives and morality.

The Tasmanian approach, with a move towards Prioritised Removal is the way to go.”

Kevin Jones

New Mesothelioma Registry and government answers asbestos questions

The Australian Workplace Relations Minister, Julia Gillard, this morning launched the latest Australian Mesothelioma Registry.  SafetyAtWorkBlog took the opportunity to ask Safe Work Australia some specific questions about asbestos and government policy.  Their responses are below.

The government has awarded the contract for the new Australian Mesothelioma Registry to a consortium led by the Cancer Institute of NSW. Continue reading “New Mesothelioma Registry and government answers asbestos questions”

© Workplace Safety Services P/L (ABN: 68091088621) and SafetyAtWorkBlog, 2008-2024. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Kevin Jones and SafetyAtWorkBlog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Concatenate Web Development
© Designed and developed by Concatenate Aust Pty Ltd