SafeWork SA will be targeting asbestos compliance this month after a similar successful campaign last year.
Inspectors issued 130 improvement and prohibition notices in 2022 for buildings that required an asbestos register.
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Of this number, 95 buildings were constructed before 2004 and 61 were sites slated for demolition or refurbishment.
Some of the major offenders included a failure to have an asbestos register (31) and develop an asbestos management plan after it had been identified (14).
Of 98 workplaces, 58 per cent failed to manage asbestos in accordance to regulations.
SafeWork SA inspectors will be detecting how asbestos is being managed in buildings build prior to December 31 2003. This will include ensuring asbestos registers have been reviewed or renewed prior to demolition or renovations.
South Australia’s asbestos safety regulations require buildings built prior to 2003 hold a register with labelled and recorded locations of asbestos.
It also requires a written asbestos management plan should asbestos be discovered and that the register is reviewed and revised.
Asbestos-related deaths are all too common in Australia, causing about 4000 deaths per year.
You can find more information here.