Australian Apprentices Spot Asbestos in Workplace

The ACT branch of the Construction, Forestry and Mining Union has revealed that apprentices, as opposed to more senior workers, are usually the ones to identify asbestos in the workplace.

Various asbestos identification type training courses implemented in the recent past have resulted in the education of apprentices, allowing them to often identify dangerous materials such as asbestos more easily than their senior counterparts.

The ACT government is currently deciding when it will implement legislation to make such asbestos courses mandatory in the workplace, in an attempt to further educate workers on the risks of asbestos exposure, and how it can be safely handled.

Often apprentices are second or third generation building workers and have known of a family member or friend who has been diagnosed with an asbestos condition such as mesothelioma or asbestosis in Australia.

Asbestos compensation in ACT, including mesothelioma compensation in ACT, has eventuated from workers such as building workers being negligently exposed to asbestos in the past. The training of apprentices would be a positive step in the reduction of future asbestos litigation in Australia, which is expected by some experts to peak in 2020.

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