SafeWork SA’s compliance campaign on asbestos safety has resulted in the immediate suspension of a Class B asbestos removal licence holder for failure to safely remove asbestos from a property.
SafeWork SA have identified that the licence holder failed to:
- identify and remove all of the asbestos from a residential demolition site
- decontaminate the work area where asbestos had been removed
- ensure that asbestos waste was contained before it was removed from the area.
The business failed to comply with section 19 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2012 (SA) to take reasonable care of their workers’ health and safety and to ensure that they do not adversely affect the health and safety of others
SafeWork SA Acting Executive Director, Glenn Farrell said this is the second time the licence holder has had their asbestos removal licence suspended within the last 12 months.
“SafeWork SA continues to focus on ensuring asbestos licence holders are meeting their responsibilities in complying with asbestos regulations.
Repeat offences such as this demonstrate complete contempt for health and safety and had the demolition commenced, it would have created a risk of exposure to asbestos fibres to workers and others”, said Mr Farrell.
A number of suspensions were issued to asbestos licence holders in 2020 including:
- A Class A asbestos removalist in September 2019
- A Class B asbestos removalist and demolition contractor in April 2020
- A Class B asbestos removalist in September 2020
- An asbestos assessor in August 2020
Further information on asbestos
Information on asbestos can be found on the South Australian Government asbestos website which provides practical information about asbestos, how to identify it, and how to have it safely removed.