Asbestos News
Workers sent home following asbestos find at Australian construction site
Coming shortly after it was revealed that a large amount of Australian construction workers may have been exposed to asbestos, everyone at the site was sent home.Tests revealed that asbestos was present at Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group's (NCIG's) coal-loader construction site, sparking fears that hundreds of workers may have been exposed to the carcinogen, according to the Newcastle Herald.
In response, around 300 workers were sent home to ensure they do not come into contact with the asbestos. Such exposure to asbestos has been proven for nearly 50 years to cause a range of diseases such as lung cancer, asbestosis and malignant mesothelioma, a rare and deadly cancer.
Unions recommended that a full audit of the construction site should be undertaken and that facilities be set up so workers could wash at work.
Industrial officer Peter McPherson said that workers who may have been exposed to asbestos are being offered health screenings.
"There’s been an agreement with regard to a testing regime for employees who may have been affected by the asbestos," he told the news source.
9/12/11
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