Centre for Excellence in Asbestos Health Risk Management

With over 25 years’ continuous experience in asbestos health risk management consultancy our team of Occupational and Environmental Physicians can justifiably claim that we are experts in this area.

As an employer, you are responsible to determine if the workplace exposure to asbestos represents a significant risk to the health of your workers. It is important to consider the OH&S regulations in your particular State. Some States refer directly to the National Model Regulations for the Control of Hazardous Substances (NOHSC).

Work activities that may represent a high-risk exposure

Asbestos is the fibrous form of mineral silicates belonging to the serpentine and amphibole groups of rock-forming minerals. The commercial types which have been used in Australia are the serpentine: chrysotile (white asbestos); and the amphiboles: crocidolite (blue asbestos) and amosite (brown or grey asbestos).

Examples of work activities involving asbestos which require special attention when assessing exposure include:

• asbestos removal and demolition work in buildings, power stations, boilers and ships
• maintenance workers, like electricians, and computer cabling installers and
  air-conditioning installers working in ceiling spaces of buildings where sprayed asbestos has not been removed, sealed or encapsulated.

In some industries, like mining and site excavation, for example during road building, amphiboles, like tremolite and anthophyllite, may be present as geological contaminants.

Asbestos health surveillance is required where a risk assessment, which has considered the specifics of your workplace, indicates that asbestos is a risk to your employee’s health.