An Insiders Guide to Asbestos Removal

Report:
An insider’s guide to
Asbestos Removal

AlertForce Pty Limited Suite 205, 24-30 Springfield Avenue, Potts Point NSW 2011

Page | 1 – AnABN: 61 571 082to Asbestos Removal in Australia
insider’s guide 880 PH: 1800 900 222
Email: training@AlertForce.com.au Web: AlertForce.com.au

AlertForce.com.au Ph: 1800 900 222

Contents
Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 2
About our organisation ...................................................................................................... 4
Fatal attraction .................................................................................................................. 5
A common story ................................................................................................................ 6
Serious about asbestos ..................................................................................................... 8
The new asbestos regime – how do we comply? ............................................................. 9
The Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency .................................................................. 9
National Strategic Plan for Asbestos Awareness and Management ............................... 10
Compliance – Commercial Buildings .............................................................................. 11
Asbestos survey requirements ........................................................................................ 11
Business opportunities .................................................................................................... 12
Licence process by State ................................................................................................ 14
How to get an Asbestos A or B licence in NSW ............................................................. 15
How to get an Asbestos A or B licence in WA ............................................................... 18
How to get an Asbestos A or B licence in ACT .............................................................. 20
How to get an Asbestos A or B licence in Queensland .................................................. 23
How to get an Asbestos A or B licence in Tasmania ...................................................... 26
How to get an Asbestos A or B licence in Victoria .......................................................... 29
How to get an Asbestos A or B licence in South Australia .............................................. 32
How to get an Asbestos A or B licence in Northern Territory .......................................... 34

Page | 2 – An insider’s guide to Asbestos Removal in Australia

Dear Colleague,

After years of experience in the industry and seeing the good, bad and the ugly of people trying to do
better in their health and safety career, I’ve put together this short report about the opportunities
currently available around Asbestos Removal. This report is designed as an educational service to
help individuals, and businesses, make the right choices in the Work Health and Safety field
(previously know as OHS) and maximise your chances of getting the best jobs and that next jump up
in pay.

For transparency, I declare that AlertForce is in the health and safety training business, specifically
Asbestos Removal Training hence the interest in the subject. Being successful at getting the job you
want is inevitably supported by quality training. If we can be of help with your career, we’re only a
phone call or email away, and, regardless of whether we can help you with your career or not, I wish
you every success with maximising your earning potential.

Sincerely,

Brendan Torazzi – CEO
AlertForce.com.au
Ph: 1800 900 222
brendan@alertforce.com.au


About AlertForce
AlertForce specialises in delivering fast, competency-based, online and face-to-face WHS courses to
mitigate risk and health and safety hazards in workplaces. Our customers range from individuals
through to international blue-chip companies such as Telstra, NBN Co, Ausgrid, ISGM and BHP
Billiton.

AlertForce are also a Registered Training Organisation (NTIS 91826). Accredited courses are
represented on our website where ever you see the Nationally Recognised Training logo on our
website.

About Brendan Torazzi
Brendan has 20 years experience in running small service-based businesses that service corporate
and government clients. After finishing a Bachelor of Commerce Degree (B.Comm UNSW), Brendan
successfully ran a translation agency business for 11 years before selling it to a larger concern in
2002. At AlertForce, Brendan brings many years of good old fashioned client-based service as well as
a love of quality education. He has recently, early 2013, finished a Masters of Business Technology
(MBT) at the University of NSW with a distinction average.


Fatal Attraction

Asbestos, once claimed to be the world’s miracle fibre and named from the ancient Greek word for
''inextinguishable'' is heat resistant, cheap, strong and flexible, making it the perfect material for more
than 3000 products, including insulation, vinyl /carpet underlay, brake linings, roof tiles and cement
sheeting. Asbestos fibres are up to 200 times thinner than a human hair. Because asbestos is such a
tiny fibre with barbs or hooks, it needs to be attached to something. When asbestos fibres are mixed
with other materials, it produces what is called an asbestos containing material or for acronym lovers
ACM. It was easily mined then combined, and Australia loved it. Now, for good reason, it’s called the
“Devils Dust”.

Any house or commercial building built before 2003 (when it was banned) is assumed to contain
asbestos.

Bill Shorten, the employment and workplace relations minister, drew the analogy:


"More people will die from asbestos in Australia than died in the
fields of Flanders in World War I”
There is a move for all home renovators to have their property assessed prior to renovations however
we are not quite there yet. The DIY home renovator phenomenon has exploded over the last 5 or so
years (everyone’s a builder now) but has anyone seen asbestos warnings or asbestos safety
segments on the TV renovation shows?

It is envisaged a third wave of asbestos disease affected people will start to emerge. It started with
miners, wharfies and all sorts of tradesmen and their family members.

Now a different generation of home renovators and others are being diagnosed with cancer after
exposure to asbestos. It’s called the “Third Wave” of asbestos sufferers. First came the miners, many
from the Wittenoom blue asbestos mine in Western Australia's Pilbara, which closed in 1967. Next
were the people who worked directly with asbestos, in factories, unloading it at the docks, or as
builders, plumbers, electricians and carpenters. Now, the third or ''third person'' wave is emerging and
includes wave two children and home renovators.

Asbestos, once claimed to be the world’s
miracle fibre is now, for good reason, called
the “Devils Dust”.


A common story
We own a humble Red Bricker (house) built in the 60’s – there’s asbestos on the kitchen walls behind
a renovation that was done some 8 years ago. Same for the bathroom – it’s behind the tiles after a
bathroom Reno' the previous owners did. There’s asbestos cladding in the laundry, under the eaves,
on the plumbing and get this – when we moved in we found something under the house that was big,
flat and wrapped in plastic, leaning against a brick wall.
Like all home buyers we paid for a building inspection before buying – not a word about asbestos.
But don’t worry – we got rid of the big flat plastic gift, gratuitously left by the previous owner (yes it was
cladding containing asbestos) and all other asbestos is “contained” (painted & sealed).


Serious about asbestos

Renewed awareness in the community brought asbestos top of mind with the recent furore over
asbestos disposal (Telstra pits) by NBN contractors and a timely reminder that the devils dust is a
clear & present danger everywhere.

Concern over the asbestos related disease fatalities and the Telstra pit episode has prompted
Governments in Australia to regulate everything “asbestos”. Before this it was slowly, slowly in terms
of training and documenting competency of asbestos workers but now it’s a matter of urgency.

Going back a little, there’s a new work health and safety regime (WHS Act & Regulations 2011) from 1
January 2012 and following on, a new asbestos regime. On July 1, the new Asbestos Safety and
Eradication Agency will begin work on a national strategic plan to remove asbestos from government
and commercial buildings, increase asbestos awareness and tackle illegal dumping of the toxic waste.
It will also oversee the National Asbestos Exposure Register, launched on June 7, which allows
everyone to record details of incidents where they may have breathed in asbestos fibres. This applies
to the NBN / Telstra pit incidents.


The new asbestos regime – how do we comply?
Some dry stuff, but you need to know this…. The Work Health & Safety (WHS) Act 2011 and WHS
Regulations 2011 took affect 1 January 2012. The Act & the Regulations include new requirements for
asbestos management including a focus on inspection, signage, planning and documentation. Chapter
8 in the regulations contains specific provisions relating to asbestos.
This chapter includes requirements for the
control of exposure to asbestos as well as
requirements for PCBUs (employers) who
have

management

or

control

of

a

workplace to manage asbestos. This duty
includes requirements relating to the
identification of asbestos, recording the
location of asbestos in a register, and
planning for the management of asbestos.
Chapter 8 also includes provisions for the
licensing of asbestos removalists and
asbestos assessors. Asbestos assessors

In addition to the WHS Act &
Regulations 2011 there are 2 new
Codes of Practice – These codes show
you how to manage everything
asbestos.
CODE OF PRACTICE
Ø HOW TO MANAGE AND
CONTROL ASBESTOS IN THE
WORKPLACE and
Ø HOW TO SAFELY REMOVE
ASBESTOS
Source: Alertforce.com.au

will be trainedre and licenced and only
asbestos

assessors

conduct

air

will

monitoring

be

able

and

to

issue

clearance certificates where friable (loose)
asbestos is being removed. Another key change in NSW is that applicants for a Class A (friable)
asbestos removal licence will need to have a certified safety management system. Transitional
arrangements for existing licence holders are in place (See the Alertforce website)
All states have pre-existing asbestos requirements with no significant barrier to compliance. While
Victoria and Western Australia have not immediately adopted the new Workplace Health & Safety
laws it is envisaged they will align to the new national standard in terms of asbestos health & safety.
Queensland is the only state with a formal grace period until January 2014.
A “quick look” summary by Jurisdiction is set out at the end of this report.

The Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency
On 1 July 2013 the Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency commenced operations as Australia’s
first national, independent agency dedicated to working with jurisdictions and stakeholders to create a
nationally consistent approach to the eradication, handling and awareness of asbestos. The Agency
will implement the National Strategic Plan for Asbestos Awareness and Management.


National Strategic Plan for Asbestos Awareness and Management
The aim of the Plan is to prevent exposure to asbestos fibres, in order to eliminate asbestos-related
disease in Australia.
Sadly, asbestos-related deaths are not expected to peak until
2020, and tragically, it has been estimated that another 3040,000 people will be diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases
in the next 20 years.

An additional $6.4 million is allocated for the new
Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency to implement the
National

Strategic

Plan

for

Asbestos

Awareness

and

Management. The additional $6.4 million will allow the Agency to
develop strategies for awareness raising, conduct research,
improve identification techniques and finding and sharing best
practice in asbestos management and handling. WA is not
supporting this initiative.

The

Asbestos

Safety

and

Eradication

Council,

with

representatives from states and territories, unions, business and
community groups, will assist the Agency in its work.
The Agency also manages the first National Asbestos Exposure
Register. The register captures the details of members of the
community who think they may have been exposed to asbestos
containing

materials

(ACMs).

It

is

available

at

www.asbestossafety.gov.au

Steps to compliance
Step 1. Get a survey done
Go through your portfolio
and ascertain which
buildings were completed
before 1st January 2004).
Once you have the list
order an asbestos survey
as soon as reasonably
practicable.
Step 2. Act on survey
results
All surveys whether
asbestos or ACM are
found, must be kept onsite
and available.
If asbestos or ACM are
found you need to ensure a
new
compliant
onsite
asbestos
register
and
Asbestos
Management
Plan (AMP) is provided and
made available to those
who might be at risk. An
AMP should be developed
by professional Asbestos
specialists so it will tell all,
what they need to know.


Compliance – Commercial Buildings
All buildings that contain a common property workplace built before 1st January 2004 must comply.
The fact is while blue asbestos or Crocidolite (the most dangerous asbestos) was phased out from
1967 asbestos like Amosite were used until 1987 and not fully banned from use until 31st December
2003.

Asbestos survey requirements
There is a requirement to survey the building area and identify all loose (friable) asbestos as well as
stable kinds (bonded) found in building materials called Asbestos Containing Materials (ACM). ACM is
found in all kinds of building materials. In fact there are over 3000.
The most “at risk” people you deal with are your contractors. So ensure your engagement system
allows for trades & contractors; How?
Inform the contractor that there is an asbestos register onsite that they must consult before
conducting any work. Make sure you document this.
Keep the AMP and Register on site and provide the updated asbestos register and AMP to
contractors etc before starting work. The AMP & Register must be updated yearly.
If asbestos is found then the building needs to be regularly audited if the decision is to leave the ACM
onsite in a stable “contained” state rather than to remove it.
Asbestos is a serious health risk that must be managed. Immediate action to comply with the
legislative changes is advised.


Business opportunities
Things may be a bit slow in business land at the minute but the asbestos removable industry is a
cracker.

There is a short supply of people trained (and competent) in
asbestos

awareness

and

removal;

supervisors

and

assessors are much needed. I was a safety meeting recently
and talking with several blokes who were excavators. They
advised they were moving away from general excavation into
ACM (there’s that acronym again) removal. Same goes for
those who see an opportunity and a move from labour
intensive construction work to asbestos work. This is gaining
momentum in the construction contracting industry today.

Generally for Startup businesses or businesses that change
their business model, this sad “needles of death” business
presents a stable business outlook because even though
Australia stopped mining asbestos in 1983, phased out its
use in building products by 1989 and banned it entirely from
2004, it’s everywhere.

Penrith asbestos contamination
Mr O'Farrell said he arrived home
on May 8 to find workers - who
were
not
wearing
safety
equipment - breaking up asbestos
near his front yard. He saw the
dust spray all over his house and
front lawn.
WorkCover
suspended
the
subcontractor responsible. It is
believe the subcontractor had
worked on 20 other sites in the
Penrith region. A report from an
independent hygienist confirmed
three of the pits tested positive for
asbestos.
``The more I looked the more
asbestos I found. Then you think,
'Is it in my wife's lungs, my
children's lungs and my baby's
lungs?'."

NBN Co is the government-owned corporation building the
fibre optic network and its latest corporate plan says it will
complete the project by 2020 -21.

NBN Co itself describes its task as ''challenging''. By 2016 it
plans to be wiring up an extraordinary 6100 premises per day. If the schedule slips so that it finishes
four years later, in 2025, that’s a lot of asbestos to be removed over a long time.

Burdened by the asbestos incident at Penrith, Telstra has suspended NBN work when it was found
some contractors did not provide competent asbestos removal workers.
Asbestos is everywhere in Australia’s built environment so good work ahead for those who operate in
this industry.
A word of warning to those moving into the asbestos removal business. NBN contractors are sacking
workers across the state because it is unknown when Telstra will restart remediation work on

asbestos-affected pits. It has been 10 weeks since the Telstra remediation works stopped so careful
business and financial planning is required before throwing all your eggs into the Telstra pits.

For the full report visit:
http://alertforce.com.au/download-your-freeasbestos-report/

James Hardy
Meanwhile – a note on asbestos product claims. Claims against James
Hardy (the Netherlands based company – or is it Ireland now? anyway…
they were here in Australia) are increasing with the average claim higher
than first budgeted.
James Hardy assumed claims would peak in 2011 however are now
thinking the “peak” is somewhere in the future and they have advised they
are “keeping an eye” on the trend. With an increase in claims and the higher
average pay-out, there is pressure on the fund set up for compensation, for
those who have asbestos related diseases linked to James Hardy products.
James Hardie Chief said (of sorts) its profit was expected to remain steady
as housing conditions here and overseas improved. Phew!


An Insiders Guide to Asbestos Removal

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