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Deadly risks add to flood woes

January 23, 2011

0bac9 891712 bernie banton Deadly risks add to flood woes

The late Bernie Banton speaks to the media in 2005. Picture: Rob Griffith
Source: AP




Could an invisible killer cause even more health concerns and heartache for Queensland’s flood victims and volunteers?


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Nobody could forget Bernie Banton, the courageous and dedicated asbestos awareness campaigner who took on James Hardie, the company that poisoned him and thousands of others by manufacturing asbestos products. Bernie tragically succumbed to an asbestos-related disease in 2007.

But his legacy lives on.

During the week, the Australian Workers Union issued a hazard alert for the thousands of workers who have begun the arduous task of rebuilding our devastated communities after the floods.

As thousands of Australians begin to rebuild their lives there is a lurking danger that could jeopardise their health.

It’s asbestos and it’s everywhere. It’s in the ceilings, walls and cavity spaces of thousands of homes. It’s in the rubble and the rubbish probably already piled high in deluged suburbs such as Ipswich and Rosalie.

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My mother-in-law, who lives in one of the affected suburbs in Brisbane, tells me that there are teams of workers already stripping houses in the suburb next to hers.

Already there are piles of refuse lining the gutters and mountains of building rubble on nature strips. Among it all are hordes of volunteers cleaning up.

On learning this, my thoughts immediately turned to the grey death — the shards and particles of asbestos — lying in all the mess. It is imperative these workers are warned of the dangers and wear protective equipment.

The AWU is lucky enough to have on staff one of Australia’s leading asbestos experts, Dr Yossi Berger, and he contacted me as the clean-up began to discuss the dangers posed. Most unionists have a creeping horror of asbestos and Dr Yossi is no different.

He is always among the first to pick up on a potential danger. So the AWU issued the hazard alert to warn workers of the dangers posed by the clean-up.

We know that people have to begin rebuilding their homes and their lives as quickly as possible. But we also know that any building erected before 1990 may contain dangerous fibres. Any demolition works, or demolition-like sites, are likely to be affected.

Of course, dangerous fibres such as asbestos won’t kill you immediately. They lurk instead inside your lungs and the symptoms may take many years to become apparent.

While everything is sopping wet, the danger is less. But as things begin to dry out, fibres such as asbestos, fibreglass, rockwool and, less likely, ceramic fibres can be very dangerous.

Asbestos particles are tiny — you can’t see them.

This danger is a reminder of why it’s important for the Government to make urgent the removal of asbestos from our homes, workplaces and schools, so no future generation suffers from the tragedy that has befallen Bernie Banton and his workmates at James Hardie.

Paul Howes, National Secretary, The Australian Workers’ Union

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