What Businesses Can Do to Spread Asbestos Awareness

 
 

Most business owners understand that asbestos is dangerous. This natural mineral, generally found in building materials manufactured before 2000, is responsible for dozens of deaths in NZ annually. It’s also the single biggest cause of work-related deaths in the country.

While business owners know it’s dangerous, that doesn’t stop many from turning a blind eye to the danger and putting their employees at risk of developing asbestos-related illnesses. Fortunately, times are changing, and we are in a position to spread asbestos awareness and keep each other safe in some of the following ways:

 

Understanding the Dangers

Understanding the dangers can sometimes be the perfect way to ensure that business owners don’t put themselves or their teams at risk of asbestos-related illnesses. Knowing asbestos’s deadliness, the related diseases, and how many deaths it’s responsible for can be sobering enough to make you want to change your ways.

Asbestos is a proven carcinogen, with all forms posing a cancer risk. Most people are exposed to this deadly mineral by breathing in air containing asbestos fibres. Scientists have not identified a ‘safe’ limit, meaning no exposure event is without risks.

If you have been exposed to asbestos, you can be at risk of several illnesses, including:

  • Asbestosis – lung tissue scarring

  • Mesothelioma – malignant tumours around the intestine and lungs

  • Pleural plaques – Lung membrane thickening

  • Lung cancer

  • Larynx cancer

  • Ovary cancer

 

At least 220 people die each year from preventable asbestos-related diseases in New Zealand, while approximately 90,000 people die worldwide. At least 125 million people worldwide also remain at risk of occupational exposure.

 

Educate Their Employees

Most business owners are required to at least have a basic understanding of asbestos and its dangers. Even if they don’t work in an industry with exposure as a possible risk, many businesses are located in buildings containing asbestos, meaning they must have an asbestos management plan.

Businesses can be in a strong position to spread asbestos awareness by ensuring their employees understand how dangerous it is and what they should do when they encounter it.

 

Hire the Experts to Handle It

Spreading asbestos awareness and leading by example can be as easy as always hiring qualified experts to handle any asbestos you encounter in your line of work. While it might be cheaper, easier, and faster for your employees to take care of asbestos removal, it doesn’t set a good example for your business or your industry, nor is it the safest option for your team.

There have been many recent cases regarding businesses mishandling asbestos and being held accountable for their actions. For example, Inspired Enterprises Limited, trading as Harrisons Carpet and Flooring Christchurch West, utilised the services of a subcontractor trading as Simply Floors. The subcontractor uncovered old vinyl in a Broomfield home in 2021 and disturbed its backing while removing it. It was disposed of in an unsafe manner, and tests later showed that the vinyl flooring contained chrysotile asbestos.

The subcontractor and Inspired Enterprises were sentenced in the Christchurch District Court for health and safety failures, with the business fined $52,500 and the subcontractor fined $1,100.

Motueka company, Bay Boating Limited, was also fined $108,000 in the Nelson District Court in 2020 for unsafe asbestos removal. The company started demolition work in 2018 on a building with asbestos in its roof and walls. According to Robert Birse, the principal advisor for WorkSafe, the company was aware of the asbestos and carried out unsafe demolition work.

There can be dire financial and health consequences for trying to take care of asbestos removal yourself. Hiring qualified and licensed experts will always be in your best interests.

 

Attend Training

Training can be crucial as part of the new licensing system, whether your employees are licensed or unlicensed.

For workers to be able to undertake licensed Class A and Class B asbestos removal, they must receive specific training, which is available under the NZQA framework. Unlicenced workers can also require training. A person conducting business or undertaking (PCBU) must ensure their workers performing asbestos-related tasks or unlicensed removal work are trained in:

  • Identifying asbestos

  • Safely handling asbestos

  • Understanding the suitable control measures for asbestos and asbestos-containing materials

The level of training and the licences you require can depend on the type of work you’ll be performing. Workers performing asbestos-related or unlicensed asbestos removal work must receive training in asbestos identification and safe handling. Workers performing licensed asbestos removal must have Class A and/or Class B removal training, and supervisors must have Class A and/or Class B training as well as supervision training.

 

Hire the Experts and Keep Your Employees Safe

Too many lives are being lost unnecessarily due to a lack of knowledge and understanding surrounding asbestos. The more your business prioritises asbestos awareness and the health and safety rules surrounding it, the more lives can potentially be saved.

If you have asbestos-related concerns or require testing or removal, contact the trained and qualified asbestos removal team at Chemcare today.

Karan Kikani