2023
This National Asbestos Awareness Week we’re asking you to "Be asbestos ready".
Danger from asbestos is far from over.
Australia has one of the highest rates of asbestos related-disease in the world and it is still present in one in three Australian homes, as well as in public and commercial buildings.
Be abestos ready
Asbestos is in 1 in 3 Australian homes
To stay safe at work, follow these simple steps:
Think ahead
If the home or building you are working on was built before 1990, then it is likely to contain asbestos. It was used in over 3,000 building products.
If you’re not sure whether asbestos might be present at a site, don’t do anything until you’ve had it checked by a licensed asbestos professional. You can check a licence is valid on Verify.licence.
If you’re working on a commercial building that was built before December 2003, ask to see a copy of the asbestos register before doing any work.
Never use high pressure water, a garden hose with a trigger attachment or compressed air on asbestos roofing or other products containing asbestos, such as fences, eaves, gutters and downpipes.
Friable asbestos can be found inside the ceiling cavity in the form of loose-fill asbestos insulation.
Plan ahead
Asbestos is dangerous when disturbed, so you shouldn’t remove asbestos yourself. Use the Planning Checklist to plan ahead.
Get a licensed asbestos professional
SafeWork NSW always recommends using a licensed asbestos removalist to remove any amount of asbestos.
You must use a licensed asbestos removalist to remove any amount of friable asbestos or to remove more than 10 sqm of non-friable asbestos.
If you are going to remove or work with less than 10 sqm of non-friable asbestos yourself, then you should always do so in line with the SafeWork NSW Code of Practice: How to safely remove asbestos (PDF, 2770.66 KB).
You should also watch our series of asbestos videos which demonstrate all the steps you need to keep you safe when working with asbestos.
Asbestos awareness and safety course
A new online and interactive asbestos awareness and safety course has launched. You will learn about identification, safe handling and controls of asbestos in the workplace and more. The course is is aimed at NSW tradespeople, demolition workers, renovators and handypersons.
Completion of this course does not allow you to remove more than 10sqm of non-friable asbestos or any amount of friable asbestos. In order to conduct this work, further training and experience in asbestos removal is required.
Resources for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) workers
Guidance material including fact sheets, flyers and posters are available translated into Arabic, Assyrian, Cantonese, Dari, Khmer, Korean, Mandarin, Punjabi and Vietnamese.
View translated guidance material
Our video explaining the dangers of pressure cleaning asbestos roofs is available in Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin, and Vietnamese.
Related information
For more information about asbestos safety, visit the SafeWork NSW asbestos page.
Read more about working as a licensed asbestos removalist.
For more information about how to apply for an asbestos licence, visit the SafeWork NSW licence page.