NSW Government logo NSW Government SafeWork NSW logo SafeWork NSW
  • About
  • News
  • Contact
  • Roadmap
  • Safety
    starts here
  • Your
    industry
  • Advice &
    resources
  • Legal
    obligations
  • Notify
    SafeWork
  • Compliance &
    prosecutions
  • Licences &
    registrations
  • Home
  • Advice & resources
  • Campaigns
  • Asbestos awareness
Share
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • linkedin
  • email
Print PDF

Asbestos awareness

Australia has one of the highest rates of asbestos-related diseases in the world.

Monday 23 November kicks off Asbestos Awareness Week and we’re calling on Australians not to be complacent about the dangers of harmful asbestos fibres.

With the theme ‘Asbestos lurks in more places than you’d think’, we’re joining many government and non-government organisations in encouraging Australians to be aware of where asbestos might be found.

It’s a fact of life that living in Australia means living with asbestos. For many years, Australia was one of the highest worldwide users of asbestos and, despite its use being banned since 2003, large amounts of asbestos are still present in many Australian homes, workplaces and the environment.

It’s estimated that 4,000 Australians are dying from asbestos-related diseases every year. At the height of its use, asbestos was in over 3,000 products and many of these products are still contained in our homes and workplaces.

Inhalation of asbestos fibres can cause a range of deadly diseases, including mesothelioma, a rare and aggressive cancer.  There’s no cure. Most people diagnosed with mesothelioma die from it.

While the work health and safety arrangements in place across Australia have resulted in strong protections for workers against the risk of exposure to asbestos fibres, it’s important we remain vigilant to its presence and associated dangers.

This is especially true for those in construction, maintenance and manufacturing, and for plumbers, electricians and car mechanics.

Work health and safety laws need to be strictly followed.

To prevent exposure to asbestos fibres, it’s crucial that workers don’t work with asbestos, except as allowed under the laws. Importantly, anyone handling asbestos in the workplace must be properly trained.

It’s also a timely reminder to make sure that workplace asbestos registers and management plans are up-to-date.

Asbestos Awareness Week is a chance for all Australians to become aware of where in the home or workplace asbestos could be, and to make sure they know what to do to avoid becoming exposed.

Key points

  • If you think asbestos may be present, stop work and call an asbestos professional. Find a licensed asbestos professional.
  • Don’t use high pressure water on asbestos roofs or products. See our video safety alert.
  • Remove asbestos-containing material before installing cladding to houses. See our position paper.
  • If you’re a tradie at risk of encountering asbestos on the job, complete asbestos awareness training and watch Lindsay Wall's important message for tradies.
  • If you employ asbestos removal workers or workers who may be at risk of being exposed to asbestos, you must tell them about the health risks and monitor their health before and during any work involving asbestos.
  • Wear personal protective equipment when working with asbestos. To ensure a proper seal between your face and the mask –  and effective respiratory protection – you should be clean shaven.

More information

For more information, see www.safework.nsw.gov.au/asbestos

Back to top
  • Safety starts here
    • Safety overview
      • First aid in the workplace
      • Emergency plans
      • If you get injured at work poster
      • Mandatory injury register
      • When an incident occurs
      • Health and safety training in the workplace
      • Workers compensation insurance
      • Return to work program
    • Safety support
      • Your rights and responsibilities for health and safety
      • Training & orienting workers
      • Getting workers to contribute to health and safety
      • Managing risk in the workplace
      • Workplace inspections
      • Investigating and reporting incidents
      • Supervisors
    • Building a health & safety culture
      • Building a high performing health &safety culture
      • Active health & safety management
      • Planning for health & safety
      • Leadership & commitment
    • Consultation@work
      • Your duty to consult
      • Consultation case studies and videos
      • Workgroups
      • Safety committees
      • Health and safety representatives
      • Safety complaints
      • Resolving issues
      • Consultation tools to help
      • Entry permits
    • Physical safety at work (the basics)
      • Emergency plans
      • Facilities at work
      • Instruction and training
      • Personal protective equipment (PPE)
      • Pregnancy
      • Sedentary work
      • Violence
      • Bushfire smoke
    • Mental health & safety (the basics)
      • Alcohol and other drugs
      • At risk workers
      • Mental health @ work
      • Workplace stress
      • Workplace bullying
    • SeasonalSAFE
  • Your industry
    • Accommodation and food services
      • Hospitality
    • Administrative and support services
    • Agriculture, forestry and fishing
      • Plant nurseries
      • Farming
    • Arts and recreation services
    • Building and construction
      • House construction
      • Construction work
      • Demolition
    • Education and training
    • Financial and insurance services
    • Health care and social assistance
    • Information media and telecommunications
    • Manufacturing
      • Leading safer manufacturing workplaces
    • Personal care and other services
    • Public administration and safety
    • Rental, hiring and real estate services
    • Retail trade
    • Transport, postal and warehousing
    • Wholesale trade
  • Advice & resources
    • Campaigns
      • SafeWork NSW Awards
      • Dust strategy
      • International Day of Mourning
      • Asbestos awareness
      • Mentoring program
      • Safe Work Month
    • Free advisory visits and workshops
    • Rebate programs
      • Small business rebate
    • Video library
    • Incident animations
    • Online safety webinars
    • SafeWork Wrap newsletter
    • Translated resources
      • Arabic health and safety resources
      • Chinese health and safety resources
      • Filipino health and safety resources
      • French health and safety resources
      • German health and safety resources
      • Hindi health and safety resources
      • Korean health and safety resources
      • Malay health and safety resources
      • Nepali health and safety resources
      • Thai health and safety resources
      • Vietnamese health and safety resources
  • Legal obligations
    • Employer and business obligations
      • Directors and officers
      • Due diligence
      • Primary duty of care
      • Duty to consult
      • Register of injuries
      • Injuries at work
      • Return to work programs
      • Managing hazards and risks
    • Worker obligations
    • Diversity
    • Visitor obligations
    • Contractors and labour hire
    • Volunteering
    • Strata title and body corporate
    • Legislation
  • Notify SafeWork
    • Incident notification
    • Asbestos notifications
    • Blasting notifications
    • Carcinogenic substances notification
    • Demolition notifications
    • Fireworks displays notifications
    • Hazardous chemicals notifications
    • Lead notifications
    • Notification of silicosis diagnosis
  • Compliance & prosecutions
    • Incident information releases
    • Improvement, prohibition and penalty notices
    • SafeWork inspectors
    • Enforceable undertakings
    • Prosecutions
    • Deed of agreement
    • Contact our Legal Services
    • Joint Taskforce: Food Delivery Rider Safety
  • Licences & registrations
    • Licences
      • Evidence of identity
      • Regularly check licences
      • Asbestos work licences
      • Demolition licences
      • Explosives and fireworks licences
      • High risk work licences
      • Traffic Control Work Training
    • Plant registrations
      • Plant item registration
      • Plant design registration
      • Cancelling plant registration
      • Changes to registration documents
    • Registered training organisations (RTOs)
      • How to become an approved RTO to deliver asbestos training
      • General construction induction RTOs
      • High risk work RTOs
      • HSR training providers
      • Traffic controller training
    • White cards
  • Resources
    • Hazards A-Z
    • Resource library
    • Risk radar
    • Speak Up Save Lives
Community
  • Events
  • Accessibility
  • Stakeholder Engagement Strategy
  • Order a Publication
  • Subscribe to the SafeWork Wrap
Legal
  • Privacy
  • Right to Information
  • Terms
  • Disclaimer
  • Copyright
Related sites
  • SIRA (workers compensation)
  • SafeWork Awards
  • TestSafe
  • Get healthy at work
  • Centre for WHS
  • icare

Contact

Contact us 13 10 50

Follow us

  • facebook
  • instagram
  • twitter
  • youtbue
  • linkedin
Send us your feedback

Follow us

  • facebook
  • instagram
  • twitter
  • youtbue
  • linkedin
  • Sitemap
  • nsw.gov.au
  • Ministerial media releases

A division of the Department of Customer Service

NSW SafeWorks logo NSW SafeWorks NSW SafeWorks logo NSW SafeWorks