Asbestos awareness and management conference in November

Melbourne will next week host the inaugural International Conference on Asbestos Awareness and Management, featuring leading international and domestic experts in asbestos management, health, advocacy and governance.

Organised by the Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency, the event brings together government, business, legal, medical, union and asbestos advocates to drive change to asbestos safety and management practices.

ASEA Chief Executive Officer Peter Tighe said recent high-profile cases, such as Mr Fluffy loose-fill insulation and the Wunderlich factory in Melbourne, highlighted the ongoing health risks posed by asbestos.

“For decades Australia was among the highest per capita users of asbestos in the world, with the carcinogenic fibre included in hundreds of products, many of which can still be found in homes, workplaces and utilities around the country,” Tighe said.

“The tragic legacy of this high usage is that cases of asbestos-related diseases are continuing to rise in Australia, with more than 1000 people dying each year as a result.

“The goal of this conference is ambitious - working towards an asbestos-free Australia - but it is a necessary step in reaching the ASEA’s eventual goal of eliminating asbestos-related diseases in this country.”

Tighe said that the conference - being held during National Asbestos Awareness Month - was also examining international efforts to ban asbestos, given the substance is still used in products manufactured by a number of Australia’s neighbours and major trading partners.

“Asbestos is a global problem and it requires a global solution,” Tighe said.

“The inaugural International Conference on Asbestos Awareness and Management is about bringing together leading experts from around the world, learning from each other and developing a coordinated response to asbestos that unites governments, businesses, unions, researchers and advocacy representatives to address the deadly legacy of this fibre.

“While the challenges are substantial, the development of nationally consistent practices for asbestos handling and management, improved public awareness, targeted identification and removal, and advanced medical research all have the potential to save countless lives.”

International Conference on Asbestos Awareness and Management

When: Monday 17 - Tuesday 18 November 2014
Where: Crown Conference Centre, Southbank, Melbourne
Program: asbestossafetyconference2014.org
Speakers include:

• Dr Richard Lemen, Assistant US Surgeon General (retired);
• Prof. Ken Takahashi, Professor of Environmental Epidemiology, Director of World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre, Japan;
• Laurie Kazan-Allen, Coordinator, International Ban Asbestos Secretariat;
• Linda Reinstein, President/CEO, Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization;
• Professor Nico van Zandwijk, Director, Asbestos Diseases Research Institute;
• Representatives of state and federal workplace safety agencies;
• Representatives from NBN Co, Ergon Energy and Brookfield Multiplex Australasia; and
• Leading Australian dust diseases legal practitioners.

The Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency was formed by the federal government in 2013, with bipartisan parliamentary support, and has been tasked with developing a national strategic plan with an eventual goal of eliminating asbestos-related diseases in Australia. ASEA is tasked with the development of a national strategic plan that focuses on increasing public awareness, developing nationally consistent practices for asbestos handling and management, coordinating research into minimising exposure risks, coordinating efforts to locate and record asbestos-containing materials in government and commercial buildings, and moving towards a prioritised removal program.