Australia Bans Asbestos!

Message from Truxon Sykes, Board Member
as reported to WLA by Laurie Kazan-Allen

News just in: yesterday (October 17, 2001), the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission (NOHSC) in Australia voted to ban the import and use of chrysotile within two years. During the phase-out period, the implementation of non-asbestos technology will proceed (especially in the changeover required for the production of brake pads).

The NOHSC estimates that between 1987-2010, exposure to asbestos will have caused 16,000 mesothelioma deaths and 40,000 lung cancer deaths.

In a press release issued by the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), Assistant ACTU Secretary Bill Mansfield pointed out the high price paid by Australian workers and their families for decades of asbestos misuse. He deplored the fallacy of the "controlled use" policy espoused by the asbestos producers saying: "The safeguards recommended for asbestos use have been too often ignored even after the deadly effects of the product were known... Corporations have failed to act responsibly in a number of cases to stop using the product when alternatives were readily available."