This week is Asbestos Awareness Week. It is an opportunity to highlight the significant risks associated with working with asbestos and how to work safely with it.
Asbestos is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. Its use gained popularity in the 1960s and 1970s in the Australian building industry, particularly as ceiling insulation. It was considered to be a versatile product which could withstand heat and decay and had fire and water resistant properties.
The danger of asbestos is that if it is disturbed it can release dangerous fine particles of dust containing asbestos fibres. If breathed in these fibres can cause asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma. The symptoms of asbestos related diseases usually do not appear for 20-30 years after the initial exposure to asbestos. This is particularity concerning given the home renovating phenomena which swept the country in the 1990s.
Asbestos was not just used in the building industry and a review of government safety alerts over the years reveals that asbestos has been discovered in empty sea containers; quad bikes; mineral kits imported by schools; imported crayons and the list goes on.
A complete ban of asbestos and its products came into effect in Australia in 2003.
The Queensland Government has a very informative website, click here, which has pages dedicated to asbestos news; alerts; Codes of Practice; safe work procedures; podcasts and guidelines for working safely with asbestos.
If you need advice about asbestos related disease, Kare Lawyers can assist.
