Tradespersons still at risk of asbestos exposure

Safe Work Australia Chair Tom Phillips AM has announced the release of the report Asbestos Exposure and Compliance Study of Construction and Maintenance Workers.

The study aimed to determine the current levels of awareness, worker compliance with legislation, the attitudes of workers and exposure levels to asbestos in construction and maintenance workers.

Findings of the study include:

• Most tradespersons were aware of the potential health risks of asbestos.
• This high level of general awareness is not accompanied by the knowledge of how to recognise asbestos or control the risks when working with it. Although tradespersons believe they can identify asbestos materials, in practice their ability to reliably identify them was limited. This was generally because their identification skills were insufficient, asbestos registers were often absent or inaccurate and few premises had labelling of materials or areas containing asbestos.
• Almost all tradespeople surveyed thought they could protect themselves from the risk of asbestos. However, the overall level of compliance with safety procedures was much lower than was estimated by these workers.
• There was inappropriate disposal of asbestos and contaminated materials.
• Atmospheric monitoring of a limited number of selected work tasks showed that all exposures were below the workplace exposure standard.

Phillips added: “This study adds significantly to our knowledge of the awareness of and compliance with OHS legislation by tradespeople in relation to asbestos. It is concerning that, although tradespeople have a high level of awareness and confidence in being able to protect themselves, this is not matched with the use of necessary safety precautions when working with asbestos.

“The results of this study will be used to inform effective strategies to eliminate, or reduce, worker exposure to asbestos. Local, state and federal governments must work together to improve worker education and information on asbestos, particularly the development of practical advice on how workers can protect themselves from exposure to asbestos and on safe asbestos removal and disposal. This will help to reduce both individual suffering and the substantial cost to families and the community.”