12:16 am, Saturday 6 August, 2011

WorkSafe has ordered that asbestos fears.

WorkSafe issued a prohibition notice on further demolition work on the building yesterday.

WorkSafe spokesman Michael Birt said all work at the site was halted to allow asbestos still in the building to be removed by approved specialists.

“We also want to see evidence of a proper demolition plan. And there are issues with electrical testing and tagging of contractors’ tools and the perimeter fencing to be attended to,’’ Mr Birt said.

“The council has to ensure a safe system of work by its contractors at the site.

“It needs to demonstrate to us it has taken all of these things into consideration.

“Until we are satisfied on all of these points, the prohibition notice will remain in place. We will have to sign off on it before work can re-commence.”

Mr Birt was unable to say how long this might take.

The building, on council land, was paid for by Cockatoo residents and sheltered 300 from the Ash Wednesday fires.

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09:57 pm, Tuesday 5 April, 2011

Rogue dumpers have infiltrated the waste disposal industry and are scattering hazardous waste across Sydney.

Asbestos and lead-contaminated soil is being tipped illegally on random sites. Among new discoveries by the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water is 1000 tonnes of sand containing asbestos fibre being spread across a soccer oval at Rockdale where children play.

The lure is the money – rogue operators avoid paying $3840 in fees to tip a truckload of waste at one of the state’s 24 legal sites.

Department specialised regulation director Craig Lamberton said investigators had conducted dawn raids across Sydney, seizing computers and records of businesses suspected of involvement in organised illegal dumping.

Some estimates put the amount of illegally dumped waste at up to 500,000 tonnes a year, legal operators say, but the department says it is hard to put a figure on it.

Last week the department sought a court injunction that could see Sydney’s worst serial dumper jailed if he was caught one more time. The defendant was fined $133,000 last year for four dumping cases involving asbestos.

Mr Lamberton said: ”All you need to get going with illegal dumping is to own a truck.” The department said it was strengthening operations for a crackdown on rogue operators.

Industry sources said some site owners were being duped into accepting contaminated soil; others were being threatened or offered cash to accept the waste. Recently uncovered cases included the toxic remnants of illicit drug laboratories.

Industry operators say fines are small and the consequences not harsh enough.

”It’s like getting a speeding ticket,” said a waste operator who did not want to be named. ”In a simple risk-and-reward trade-off. Unscrupulous operators accept they will pay fines and court costs in order to enjoy significant cost advantages.”

Asbestos Diseases Foundation president Barry Robson has long urged council tip sites to take asbestos waste free, particularly from households. He said the public health risks of illegally dumped material outweighed the cost to local government of its proper disposal.

Raymond Saadeh, president of St George United Soccer Club, which leases the oval where asbestos-contaminated soil was found, said he had ordered clean sand to prepare the field for top-dressing. He said he did not know who was responsible for the dumping.

In the past year in Rockdale, seven people have been fined $750 each for dumping offences and one company has been fined $5000. Six other cases are being investigated.

A Rockdale City Council spokesman said an estimated 582 tonnes of illegal waste, including 7.71 tonnes of asbestos, would be dumped by June, with the clean-up bill about $220,000. However, department waste management manager Chris McElwain said it had just had its best year in enforcement, conducting 730 inspections and issuing 42 clean-up notices, of which only 12 were outstanding.

Mr McElwain said NSW had the toughest fines in the country and the department would expand enforcement campaigns this year to the north and south coasts, up to the Queensland border. He said it was vigorously pursuing cases, including the alleged dumping of 200 tonnes of asbestos-contaminated soil at a property in Wollondilly Shire.

Wollondilly Council has taken civil action against a waste and recycling company and its director. Mr McElwain said the dumping was also the subject of a criminal investigation.

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09:34 pm, Saturday 2 April, 2011

Reinstating claims for injuries sustained during off-site recess breaks is among changes to Commonwealth safety, rehabilitation and compensation laws reintroduced into federal Parliament last week.

The Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2011 allows for a number of provisions, including  off-site recess injury claims.

Access to such claims was removed in April 2007. The reinstatement of such claims, however, was recommended in the ’2008 Review of Self-insurance Arrangements under the Comcare Scheme’.

Among other amendments, the Bill enables Comcare “to access the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) to pay compensation claims in respect of diseases with a long latency period (such as asbestos-related diseases) where the employment period was pre-1 December 1988 but where the condition did not manifest itself until after that date”.

A Bill to amend Commonwealth safety, rehabilitation and compensation laws (the Occupational Health and Safety and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2009) was initially introduced into federal Parliament in 2009, following the Comcare Review. However, the Bill lapsed in 2010.

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06:09 pm, Friday 25 June, 2010

A Rockhampton resident has won his case against the insurer of his former employer for asbestos exposure.

The 74-year-old central Queensland man said he worked at a Rockhampton power station in the 1960s for four years. He claimed he was exposed to asbestos during his stay at the now defunct facility.

Last month the man was diagnosed with mesothelioma, an asbestos-linked cancer.

He was awarded a six-figure amount due to his successful WorkCover claim.

He said he is concerned about the health of his former colleagues who worked at the same worksite.

“Occasionally a steam line would blow and even the workers that worked on the asbestos would hammer the asbestos and It would flake off,” he said.

“So you had all these fibres floating around in the area so they themselves would have been subjected to it.”

The man’s solicitor said the case highlights the dangers asbestos poses.

“Although the Rockhampton power station is no longer in existence this is a deadly legacy it’s left behind,” he said.

“We still see asbestos in buildings, business, home environments and schools.”

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09:22 am, Monday 21 June, 2010

An independent audit and review have found that hazardous substance is managed.

Criticisms have been directed at the State Government for a lack of enforcement of its procedures on asbestos, with auditor John Gaskin making 13 recommendations.

Among the recommendation are compliance plan for contractors, and an incident management plan for schools.

Separate incidents at schools in Mackay and Indooroopilly had involved fears of asbestos exposure to students and teachers, including an instance where students had to shower in their uniforms after the collapse of a ceiling that contained asbestos.

“The issues that contributed to the occurrence of these incidents included lack of communication, poor understanding of DET (Department of Education and Training) policies and procedures, and non-compliance with Workplace Health and Safety legislation by contractors,” Mr Gaskin said.

“An area of risk which needs to be addressed is the contractors and others who may be employed to carry out normal maintenance work in schools, or do so on a voluntary basis, as asbestos issues could arise through these activities.

“Principals are to be aware of any contractors employed on a day-to-day basis who undertake building or maintenance-related works of any description.”

According to Mr Gaskin, there is currently no requirement for reviewing a contractor’s compliance with BSA (Building Services Authority) licensing or asbestos management qualifications.

Education Minister Geoff Wilson said all the recommendations will be adopted, including a lifetime ban for negligent contractors.

“Any individual or organisation found to have contravened regulations in relation to working with asbestos will be dealt with severely,” he said.

“This includes the option of being indefinitely banned from performing future work on, or in Department of Education and Training Facilities.”

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10:52 am, Wednesday 9 June, 2010

The Police Citizen Youth Club (PCYC) building in central Wagga Wagga will likely stay closed for up to eight weeks.

The Gurwood Street building was closed nearly a fortnight ago due to concerns of asbestos exposure.

WorkCover has been requested to have the roof removed.

Peter Cook, the local club manager, said most of the club’s programs are being conducted in different locations.

“We were lucky to get an alternative for our after school care from assistance from one of the local schools pretty much straight away,” Mr Cook said.

“We actually have a couple of options for our vacation care which will definitely go ahead. One we are still struggling for is boxing.

“Obviously boxing takes a bit more space, so we need some equipment to set up and if anyone has any area there that would able to help us out I would love to hear from them about that as well.

“So that is really our only one we are struggling to relocate. We’re aiming for this to be as short a term as possible.

“Obviously in that period while our building is closed there is some difficulties and some people realise it’s going to affect their activities slightly but certainly once we get through this period and the PCYC reopens again, all our activities will be back bigger and better than ever I would hope.”

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08:10 am, Monday 26 April, 2010

A contractor’s disregard for asbestos.

According to Public Works Minister Robert Schwarten, the contractor has been suspended from doing any work in Queensland schools following the blunder on Wednesday.

He said the contractor did not follow safety protocols in undertaking the work, including checking the asbestos register, consulting staff and drawing up a work plan.

Instead, the contractor simply entered a classroom and started drilling holes in an asbestos-lined ceiling while students were in the premises.

“They basically went into a classroom with children in it, and none of those things should have occurred,” Mr Schwarten said in an ABC Radio interview.

“This contractor has been provided with all the information of how they go about going into schools and from what I understand, they’ve thumbed their nose at it. It beggars belief … I’m flabbergasted.”

He said Workplace Health and Safety would look into the incident.

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08:59 am, Wednesday 31 March, 2010

Tasmania’s major cement producer intends to make contact with up to 1,500 former employees to have them undergo lung-health tests.

The plant in the north-west, which produced most of the state’s asbestos-related products from the 1940s to the 1980s, employed about 2,000 workers during that period. They could have possibly been exposed to asbestos.

The cement firm contacted 550 workers in writing, offering them free lung function tests. 320 have responded and have been tested so far.

The company’s manager of health and safety says they are planning to advertise in national newspapers.

“The next phase is about getting in touch with people on the mainland now and offering the same services to ex-employees who may be on the mainland,” he said.

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01:31 pm, Friday 26 March, 2010

More than a hundred workers at a State Government-owned power plant in Kwinana have been sent home on Wednesday after fears of asbestos exposure.

According to the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), tests found asbestos particles were scattered throughout the power station following recent demolition works.

An old part of the plant was being upgraded, which made the demolition necessary.

The demolition work had uncovered old pipes coated with asbestos, and had unleashed the fibres across the entire plant. Asbestos was found at 18 of the 30 test sites.

AMWU state secretary Steve McCartney said the plant operator had confirmed there were no safe areas for his members to work.

He said that testing had even found asbestos fibres in areas surrounding the rest rooms and canteen.

A spokesman for the company said the station continued to run without any threat to power supplies, and the company was cooperating with regulatory authorities.

“The contaminated area is being environmentally cleaned and monitoring by occupational hygienists is continuing,” he said.

An AMWU spokesman confirmed some employees carrying out essential work remained on site, wearing protective masks.

WorkSafe said the company followed the proper safety procedures after the discovery of the asbestos.

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12:20 pm, Friday 26 March, 2010

The Education Queensland (EQ) says Cyclone Ului did not disturb asbestos particles at schools near Mackay, in the state’s north.

EQ central Queensland regional director Wayne Butler says trees damaged the buildings at Mackay North and Mirani state high schools, but the buildings did not contain asbestos.

Earlier this month, students and staff at both schools had to be evacuated after ceiling particles that may have contained asbestos fell into classrooms.

Mr Butler says the schools have been tested and are safe.

“In relation to Mirani State High School, a tree did fall against a building and knocked the eaves to the ground and those eaves have also been tested and there is no asbestos in those eaves.” he said.

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