Companies involved with Tasmania’s National Broadband Network (NBN) have been asked to stop working as asbestos concerns have been raised regarding Telstra’s pits.

Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union (CEPU) representative David Mier has suggested that around eighty five percent of the people employed to work in the pits have not received adequate asbestos safety training.

Mier has urged the contractors to stop working on the pits until they have received the required training. This is to ensure the safety of not only the workers, but the general public as well. Mier has stated that “Kids wagging school or little kids just playing, they just jump in [the pits] thinking it’s a sandpit.”

Comcare, the workplace safety “watchdog”, has confirmed it is currently investigating asbestos-related issues for the Telstra pits. Comcare is collaborating with NBN and Telstra to ameliorate the safety of workers and to increase asbestos awareness issues.

Any exposure to asbestos can result in the development of asbestos related conditions. There have been cases of where persons who cut telephone asbestos conduits going to develop mesothelioma. Mesothelioma in Australia is a real threat and to decrease the chance of someone developing mesothelioma in Australia, precautions should be taken to ensure exposure is prevented, or at the very least, minimized.

The clean up of the asbestos contaminated Denison Country Caravan Park which was destroyed by Mulwala’s March 21 tornado has been delayed and is not set to start for weeks. This delay is due to tender documents being produced for the clean-up work.

Other areas in the Corowa Shire that were damaged by the tornado were cleaned up weeks ago. However now the major task is on rebuilding the homes and caravans at both the Denison County Caravan Park and Sun Country Holiday Village. While Sun Country is undertaking their own repairs, Denison Country is not because of the presence of asbestos at the site.

WorkCover NSW has confirmed the site to be hazardous; this is because exposure to asbestos can lead to people contracting asbestos related diseases many years later. These diseases include asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma.

The project has now been handed over to the New South Wales treasury as the resident’s insurance was not enough to pay the cost of clearing all the toxic asbestos. The work is expected to start within weeks and once started is going to be a quick process. The removal of asbestos is extremely important as Australia has one of the highest rates of asbestos related diseases in the world.

With the help of legislation in many Australian states including NSW, Victoria and South Australia, people suffering from asbestos related diseases in Australia have been able to receive asbestos compensation. Included in this compensation are claims for asbestosis compensation in Australia and mesothelioma compensation in Australia.

Mark McCabe, the Australian Capital Territory work safety commissioner, is pushing for on-the-spot fines to be introduced for any person who is caught illegally removing asbestos. McCabe has confirmed this has been a serious concern with the number of builders not safely removing and disposing asbestos increasing.

The only punishment for these builders at the moment is court action against them and McCabe thinks on-the-spot fines will be more effective in putting a stop to this behaviour. He has said these fines should be up to $5,000. This is because if these fines are only small, builders are likely to choose to take the risk and remove asbestos illegally rather then spend the money on getting licensed removalists to dispose of the asbestos.

There are a huge number of houses in Australia that contain asbestos but this is safe when the asbestos is not disturbed. However when these houses are renovated, knocked down and rebuilt, and asbestos is not managed appropriately, this is when asbestos may pose a health risk. People who are exposed to asbestos maybe diagnosed with an asbestos related diseases years after. Some of these diseases include asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma.

There have been many cases of builders in Australia who go on to develop asbestos related conditions such as mesothelioma and asbestos related pleural disease. Home renovators are also at risk. Mesothelioma in Australia is a real concern, and it is hoped that home renovators and builders are aware of risks of asbestos to ensure the appropriate safety measures are implemented.

Queensland authorities worked hard over the weekend to clear asbestos in the Airport Link tunnel in Brisbane, Queensland. Emergency services have said a car carrying a trailer full of asbestos sheets lost its load in the tunnel on early Saturday afternoon. Before the tunnel was closed many cars drove over the asbestos sheets causing the asbestos to break up into pieces.

In order to reduce the threat from the asbestos, firefighters used water and foam and an asbestos removal company was contacted to clean up the asbestos. Police are now undertaking an investigation into the situation and trying to identify how the asbestos was contained in the trailer. The tunnel remained closed for several hours on Saturday afternoon and night in order to ensure nobody else was exposed to asbestos.

Exposure to asbestos is a serious health concern as it can result in people contracting asbestos related diseases such as asbestosis, lung caner and mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma in Australia is a problem that state and federal governments deal with. Unfortunately, there have been many people who develop asbestos related conditions in Queensland such as mesothelioma in Queensland.