OHS REPS @ WORK

Australia

• Code of Practice for the Safe Removal of Asbestos 2nd Edition [NOHSC:2002(2005)]  [pdf] and Guidance Note on the Membrane Filter Method for Estimating Airborne Asbestos Fibres 2nd Edition [NOHSC:3003(2005)]  [ pdf] (National Occupational Health and Safety Commission, 1988.) 
• A new publication from enHealth: Management of Asbestos in the Non-Occupational Environment [pdf]
  
• From WorkSafe Victoria:
• The Asbestos Topic information page
  
• a series of information bulletins on asbestos and include information for on how occupiers and employers can comply with their duty to identify, assess and control any risk associated with asbestos in workplaces, how to undertake risk assessments and control plans.  They are based on the 2003 Regulations, and are currently being reviewed and updated to comply with Part 4.3 of the 2007 Regualtions. 
  
• Recycling Construction and Demolition Material - jointly developed with and endorsed by the EPA and Sustainability Victoria, describes an auditable procedure to verify that asbestos-containing material has been removed from construction and demolition materials prior to recycling

• Asbestos and Chemicals - a webpage on the Victorian Government's Environmental Health website. A copy of a booklet on Asbestos in the Home can be downloaded here, as well as more information
• From NSW Workcover a new Guide: Working with Asbestos
• Asbestos Kills [pdf] - a publication from the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU)

International

• International Ban Asbestos Secretariat - Provides international news and updates on asbestos, information on asbestos related disease and links to other asbestos sites. It also has a number of publications, such as the November 2008 India's Asbestos Time Bomb [pdf]
  
• 'Asbestos: The human cost of corporate greed' [pdf] - a devastating criticism of the asbestos industry and its continuing promotion of the worldwide asbestos trade published by a group of Euro MPs from the European United Left/Nordic Green Left Group (GUE/NGL) for Workers' Memorial Day, 2006. The 40 page publication is also available in Spanish, Italian, French, Greek and Dutch on the GUE/NGL website  (note: there is currently a problem with the links here - July 2008)

• From the UK's HSE, a range of resources:
• A Short Guide to Managing Asbestos in Premises [ pdf] -  good information on where asbestos might be found, photographs and general advice. Note however: this guide is consistent with UK regulations, not Victorian ones.
  

• Asbestos the hidden killer, a web video, featuring a carpenter diagnosed with the terminal lung cancer.
  

• Asbestos kills: A quick guide to protecting yourself - [PDF 250KB] Pocket card for workers in trades, having contact with asbestos.  
  

• Asbestos kills: Protect yourself! [PDF 265KB] - Your future health is still at serious risk, guidance for those who work with asbestos.  

• New asbestos resources produced by the UK-based Forum of Asbestos Victim Support Groups. The podcast – an online, downloadable audio report - is narrated by Tony Robinson, a very popular TV and radio presenter in the UK, and a prominent trade unionist in his own right. The resources were put together as part of activities for the UK ActionMesothelioma Day, 27 February. This is a day of action to highlight the need for more research and prevention efforts on the asbestos cancer mesothelioma, which is now killing record numbers in the UK – the annual toll in now 2,000 deaths and is rising. While the figures may be different for Australia, the same messages and the same warnings apply. 
  
• Action Mesothelioma website
• Action Mesothelioma podcast
• Action Mesothelioma short film
• The Asbestos page on the Trade Union Congress OHS Website

• AsbestosNet - The purpose of this website is to provide the most complete and comprehensive single resource on asbestos-related issues available on the Internet. The website has been created by a dedicated team of researchers in the fields of law, medicine, history, journalism, industrial science and safety, chemistry and geology. The site has resources on asbestos and its history, healthy risks, etc, asbestos-related diseases, treatment options, current information and information on occupations, exposures, etc.
  
• The Asbestos Diseases Awareness Organisation (ADAO) - this independent US organisation funded through voluntary contributions and staffed by volunteers was founded by asbestos victims and their families. ADAO seeks to give asbestos victims and concerned citizens a united voice to help ensure their rights are fairly represented and protected, while raising public awareness about the dangers of asbestos exposure and often deadly asbestos related diseases.  
• Mesothelioma Web: a well-established and comprehensive sites on mesothelioma, providing facts about care, nutrition, and chemotherapy, as well as information on clinical trials. Mesothelioma Web is constantly adding new information and articles, including international news. Visitors can also sign up to receive a free information packet on asbestos exposure.
  
• The Asbestos Epidemic in America: this website provides the most thorough review to date of the size and scope of the public health tragedy caused by asbestos in the United States. It provides the public with new, localized information on asbestos-related diseases, deaths, and contamination sources. Original research is combined with a detailed list of products that expose the public to asbestos, a review of the failed 1989 attempt by EPA to ban asbestos, and an analysis of businesses with the most deaths from the asbestos cancer, mesothelioma. It also includes a discussion of asbestos diseases and how even short-term exposures can produce tragic outcomes.