What’s going on in the asbestos industry?
Scroll through some of the headlines from here and around the world
Asbestos around the world
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Asbestos around the world 〰️
The Victorian Asbestos Eradication Agency - Australia
This is a proactive initiative by the Victorian State government to identify, register and manage and remove asbestos containing materials in all government owned buildings. The agency covers government offices, hospitals, train stations, community centres, prisons, education facilities (including schools), recreational centres and more.
Their work included consolidating asbestos registers and records, implementing their asbestos risk management model and prioritising asbestos containing materials for removal.
This programme is not new (they were established in 2016), but we are starting to talk about it more here in Aotearoa New Zealand. A similar proposal in the UK was recently discussed in parliament, but MPs voted against it at this stage.
Do you think something like this is needed here? Many think so. While it is a regulatory requirement for all workplaces that contain asbestos, or might contain asbestos, to have an asbestos management plan in place, the implementation of this is not consistent across the country.
So keep an eye out for discussions on this subject in the future and if you feel strongly about it, reach out to your local MP!
You can read more about the agency here: https://www.vaea.vic.gov.au/ and the UK group advocating for change here: https://uknar.org/ for inspiration.
Johnson & Johnson are ending the worldwide sale of talc baby powder!
In a move that comes decades too late for some, J&J have finally made the decision to stop using talc and transition to corn starch for their famous baby powder.
Talc is a very soft naturally occurring mineral. But is has long been known to be contaminated with asbestos and is linked to a number of cancers, including ovarian cancer and mesothelioma.
J&J have fought many law suits over the years and this decision has come after much campaigning by advocacy groups. J&J shareholders voted against withdrawing talc from the product recently, but it seems the company has decided to make the right decision and cease using talc at last.
New technique showing great promise for the future of mesothelioma treatment
The new technique involves delivering specific drugs directly to tumours to “teach” white blood cells how to destroy cancerous cells (very simplistically put, we aren’t experts in this field!).
While this is still in the very early stages of research, when tested on mice, the treatment eliminated the mesothelioma tumours in all of them.
Since mesothelioma is the biggest contributor to asbestos related disease and death in this country, we are hopeful that this will be a solution for people in the future.
In the meantime, we will continue to do the mahi with managing asbestos and educating people so the risk of exposure is reduced for all.
Australia’s asbestos mine to be sealed
Wittenoon was Australia’s biggest asbestos mine and it is where a lot of the blue asbestos (crocidolite) we find in our asbestos containing materials came from.
While the mine closed in the 1960, the legacy has continued for decades. Many of the workers and residents of the mining town developed asbestos related disease and have died.
Despite this, some people still chose to live there and people would visit the mine.
However, the asbestos wasn’t confined to the mine. It was used in the roads and buildings, plus the tailings from the mine are still there.
So the Australian government passed into law this year that the mine is to be officially sealed. The residents are currently being evicted and the contamination will be buried so the area is made safe.
Asbestos in Aotearoa NZ
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Asbestos in Aotearoa NZ 〰️
Building supply issues impacting the asbestos industry
Have you been trying to get a project across the line over the last year or two but struggled with getting building materials?
This is such a common story across the construction industry and the asbestos industry has not escaped either. While we might be looking to take asbestos out of buildings rather than put it in, the supply shortages have slowed asbestos projects down as there have been no non-asbestos materials to fill the asbestos-shaped hole! Many in the industry have commented about how GIB and cladding shortages have meant they have had to either wait or change the scope of work.
This also means that asbestos management has become a bigger requirement (see the next article) and PCBUs have had to rethink their strategies.
Do you need support with how to manage asbestos? Get in touch now!
Asbestos management when budgets are tight
It won’t be news to you that times are hard for many across the country at the moment. However, this is not an excuse to ignore your asbestos.
As stated above, is a regulatory requirement to have an asbestos management plan in place for most workplaces. But this process is not a one off task and done thing. Asbestos management is ongoing.
Reinspecting asbestos containing materials is something that needs to be done regularly (not every 5 years when you review your asbestos management plan!) and you still need to consider removing high risk materials.
When it comes to “making do and mending” your property, you need to make sure the people carrying out that work are not being exposed to asbestos or exposing others to asbestos. Good education and asbestos management goes hand in hand. Asbestos Refurbishment surveys must be carried out if you are renovating your building.
So get ahead of the game and contact us to discuss what you need to be doing with your asbestos.
SQN News
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SQN News 〰️
Reaching out to industry
Our training manager, Alannah, recently had the privilege to speak to the members of the Faculty of Asbestos Management Australia New Zealand (FAMANZ) at the beginning of August. She of course spoke about her specialist subject - asbestos training!
The session was via webinar and started with a talk from Charles Pickles, a very respected asbestos industry professional in the UK who now spends his time advocating for asbestos management best practice. His talk was insightful and shone a light on what can be and what needs to be improved to keep everyone safe from asbestos.
Alannah then followed on with her talk focusing on what great training can look like and what needs to change both in the asbestos industry and in the construction and demolition industries as a whole. Training protects workers and those around them. When people know better, they do better.
She discussed what the regulatory body, FAMANZ and other professional bodies can be doing to reduce the risk of asbestos exposure for all through good, trade-specific training. Her passion for this subject
If we get a copy of the webinar recording, we will share it to our YouTube channel, so keep an eye out for that.
Scroll down to read what Alannah recently wrote for the FAMANZ newsletter about their “What would you change in the regulations and why….” segment.
National Association of Women in Construction event
We are pleased to be co-hosting, with Besafe Training, a hands on event for NAWIC Auckland members.
We believe health and safety training is not just getting a ticket and checking a box. Training should be hands-on and interactive. It should give people the opportunity to make mistakes and learn in a controlled environment, not something that can happen usually on a work site.
NAWIC is a wonderful organisation open to all who want to include and support women in the construction industry. So we are looking forward to hosting the group so they can experience our practical training scenarios.
If you are interested in coming along, you can book tickets here.
NZQA asbestos unit standards review
As NZQA unit standard training providers though our partnership with Besafe Training Ltd, we are pleased that we have been invited to participate in the Toitū Te Waiora and Waihanga Ara Rau Workforce Development Councils unit standard review.
This is a great opportunity for us to discuss what is and isn’t working with the current unit standards and hopefully push for more practical and competency based training framework for all asbestos units.
Do you also want to contribute? Contact Asher asher.sexton@toitutewaiora.nz by Friday the 17th of September to register your interest.
Watch this space!
Upcoming public training dates
The schedule has been published until the end of October. Click below and filter “asbestos” in course type to see what is available.
Can’t see what you are looking for? Contact us now to discuss your needs.
Goodbye to Stuart
Recently, our Auckland operations manager, Stuart, left us and took a job with Auckland Transport as a compliance auditor. We are grateful for the work Stuart has done for us over the last 2 years and we wish him every success in his new role. He is learning lots and really enjoying the new challenge.
Alannah’s article for FAMANZ: What would you change in the regulations and why….
Anyone who knows me will not be in the least bit surprised that I am submitting my “one thing I would change about the regulations” i.e. my 2 cents on training requirements!
There is a lot I would change about the minimum requirements, but the three main areas that would bring vast improvements to our asbestos industry in Aotearoa NZ would be:
Mandatory asbestos awareness training for all asbestos-related workers;
Assessment of competency and/or minimum duration training;
Professional accreditation for asbestos trainers.
Yes, I am squeezing in 3 changes, but hear me out!
So asbestos awareness training, presumably we are all going to be on board with this, will provide greater awareness of the risk of asbestos, whilst understanding the consequences of asbestos exposure. The acquired knowledge of asbestos-containing materials will help keep workers safe as well as everyone around them.
As an asbestos trainer in my line of work, one of the key things I want my students to leave my sessions with is that the work they do can put everyone at risk, not just themselves. It is surprising how few people doing asbestos-related work appreciate this. Plus, the training needs to be specific to the type of work my students will be doing. General asbestos awareness is important, but being able to set up work scenarios that they may come across will help them engage with the training and gain a deeper understanding going forward. Tradies, facilities maintenance, builders, demolition, etc all have different priorities, procedures, and work environments.
The added bonus is when people know what the right process is, they will (hopefully) be calling SQN up to do surveys, sampling and clearances!
This leads me on to the duration of the training and assessing competency. This comes down to what our clients really need, and it is currently up to individual trainers to decide. Clients will usually go for the shortest and cheapest course because they want their people back on site as soon as possible.
But why are we accepting this box-ticking approach?
It is tough when we are in a competitive market. But we need to convey our experience and generate an understanding of the subject. Is a 1 or 2 hour session good enough? Well, perhaps it is if we are doing a toolbox talk session, or an introductory session, or even refresher training. How can we assess competency in this time? But ensuring we are meeting the requirements stated in the ACOP for what must and should be in true asbestos awareness training courses will take longer than 2 hours (trust me, I have tried!).
What about asbestos removal training? Class A & B asbestos removal works training courses are really at the bare minimum timewise thanks to industry pressure, and there is no formal way of measuring competency other than a trainer witnessing students do a series of tasks in a controlled environment. We can do better, but it takes more than one person to implement change because we are pushing against a well established wall of resistance.
Industry wants the “ticket” of the unit standard and then will complain that the standard of training is awful. Personally, when we have been approached by the asbestos removal companies to outline what we could be doing better, the conversations fizzle out for some reason…. Is it the complexity of rolling out competency based training? Or do they not want to spend the time or money on anything more than a day of training?
This is where having a better regulatory structure for the minimum course duration and/or how we can assess competency correctly will keep us all honest.
So how about professional accreditation for asbestos trainers? This is an idea that I only started thinking about recently. I met with someone who asked if we had something like UKATA (UK Asbestos Training Association), which we don’t.
As an assessor for NZQA unit standards, I have had to prove all my knowledge, qualifications and experience to NZQA so I can assess people doing asbestos awareness, asbestos removal works and Licenced asbestos assessor training. But here in NZ, we don’t have certified asbestos awareness training at present and we also accept Australian unit standards for asbestos removal works and Licensed asbestos assessor training.
I don’t think we need another organisation, we already have a lot going on for such a small country (even when we share with Australia). How about, instead of reinventing the wheel, we use a similar model to the UK and have it as a pathway through FAMANZ?
I see it as strengthening the FAMANZ community for influencing industry standards and will give our clients more confidence in the quality of trainers.
This is all my own opinion, so please feel free to get in touch and let me know what you think. Do you see a space for this? Can you see the benefits of what I have put forward? Let’s talk and do something about it! And if any of you are interested in my views on improving asbestos training standards in New Zealand, I am always happy to discuss.