The Minister for Employment and Workplace Safety has announced new laws that crack down on the handling of asbestos in the Territory.
The Minister, Rachel Stephen-Smith said that by changing the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011, the health and safety of workers encountering materials containing asbestos would be improved.
“ACT workers who are likely to encounter materials containing asbestos will now be required to complete an approved training course on handling asbestos safely,” Ms Stephen-Smith said.
“Asbestos is an ongoing risk to the community, and particularly the health and safety of workers. We must do everything we can to minimise the risk of serious disease to our workers from improperly handling asbestos.”
She said this included educating workers on the risks of asbestos and best practice for handling the material.
She said the ACT was already a leader in dealing with asbestos-containing materials.
“Under our workplace health and safety laws, asbestos removalists and asbestos assessors must be trained and licensed to undertake work with asbestos,” the Minister said.
“The expanded course requirements will support workers not involved in asbestos removal but who may disturb asbestos as part of minor or routine work, such as drilling into a wall to install a cable.”
She said the new training requirement would ensure plumbers, electricians and others who might disturb asbestos in the workplace knew what to do and how to protect themselves and their workmates.
