The phase-out of asbestos in the Australian manufacturing environment

Our plain-English summary of The phase-out of asbestos in the Australian manufacturing environment, by D.A. Vallance (International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 2004).

The study

• Author: D.A. Vallance
• Journal: International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health
• Published: 2004;10(2):209-11
• Type of article: Review
• Cited by: 4 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

The importation of raw asbestos and asbestos-containing products into Australia was banned at the end of 2003. Despite a high incidence of asbestos-related disease, it was the threat of industrial action that eventually persuaded Australian governments to impose a ban. Significant government-sponsored reports in 1990 and 1999 had not convinced politicians that a phase-out of chrysotile was feasible. An impediment for government and industry was the risk of unemployment of asbestos workers. The threat of future asbestos exposures remains for maintenance workers. An example is given of the need for continued vigilance of workers and their unions before the manufacturing environment can be relatively asbestos-free.

In plain English

This article is an account, not a research study, by the National Health and Safety Coordinator of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU). It described how Australia came to ban imports of asbestos and asbestos-containing products. December 31, 2003 was the last day such imports were legal, with a few time-limited exemptions. The author reported that a 1990 Victorian inquiry and a 1999 federal report on chrysotile had not led governments to set a phase-out date. Using risk modeling, the 1999 report found very low risks under current working conditions, yet it recommended phasing out imports of raw chrysotile. A key concern was jobs: some union members' employment depended on annual imports of close to 2,000 tons of raw chrysotile in the 1980s and 1990s. In late 2000, wharf workers' union members said they would refuse Canadian chrysotile. Unions, industry and the Victorian government then agreed a phase-out timetable. The author also described new engine-plant machinery from Japan that contained some 1,900 asbestos-fiber gaskets. The author concluded that worker vigilance and organized labor had driven government and industry decisions.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Commentary or first-person account by a union health and safety official describing the policy history of Australia's asbestos import ban and one recent workplace dispute; not a research study
• Who was studied: Australian manufacturing and maintenance workers represented by the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), in industries where asbestos lagging and friction products were used; events from 1990 to about 2004
• Exposure: Imported raw chrysotile, close to 2,000 tons a year through the 1980s and 1990s, on which some union members' employment depended. Also covered: Australian manufacture of friction products such as brakes and gaskets, and asbestos-containing gaskets and friction products in existing machinery.
• Main results:
  • After a 1990 Victorian government inquiry, industry indicated it intended to reduce its use of chrysotile, but this did not happen
  • The 1999 federal Priority Existing Chemicals (PEC) report found, on risk modeling, that the risks of asbestos-related diseases under current working conditions were very low
  • The same PEC report recommended phasing out imports of raw chrysotile, but gave no timeline
  • The PEC report noted that labeling, employee induction training and health surveillance were inadequate in a number of workplaces where chrysotile was used
  • In late 2000 the Maritime Union of Australia announced that its wharf-worker members would no longer allow Canadian chrysotile into the country
  • By early December 2000, a process and timetable were agreed for phasing out imports of both raw asbestos and asbestos-containing products
  • The automotive aftermarket predicted it would take five years to phase out 90% of asbestos friction products
  • At a new engine plant, machinery being installed was found to contain some 1,900 asbestos-fiber gaskets
  • The plant owners had first agreed to remove only 300 of the 1,900 gaskets
  • The unions reached a compromise under which all readily accessible asbestos-containing gaskets would be removed before the plant was commissioned
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that the continued vigilance of workers, together with organized labor, had obtained decisions from governments and industry. The author also concluded that manufacturing and maintenance workers will need a high index of suspicion for years to come.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Chrysotile, Asbestos Exposure.

Related studies

• Canadian asbestos: a global concern — L. Kazan-Allen (2004)
• Asbestos banned in Argentina — E.J. Rodriguez (2004)
• Asbestos dispatches — L. Kazan-Allen (2004)
• Evaluation of exposure to the airborne asbestos in an asbestos cement sheet manufacturing industry in Iran — D. Panahi, H. Kakooei, et al. (2011)
• "Controlled use" of asbestos — B. Castleman (2003)
• Asbestos and international organizations — L. Tomatis (2004)

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