Yesterday the Asbestos Council of Victoria/GARDS (ACV/GARDS) brought together a group of supporters to join GARDS CEO Vicki Hamilton in raising awareness of the continuing impacts of asbestos and silica dust exposure on workers and their families across the state.
Approximately 4,000 people die each year in Australia as a result of exposure to asbestos and silica, with rising levels of young workers affected. And with an estimated 6 million tonnes of asbestos still present in the Victorian built environment (in homes, workplaces, community and government buildings), it is unlikely that we will see case numbers falling in the near future. Sadly, younger generations are the least aware of the hazards of this silent killer hiding in homes and workplaces.
Speakers at the ACV/GARDS Melbourne Awareness Day included biomedical researcher Dr Ellen Donohoe and postdoctoral researcher Dr Sakthi Priya Selvamani, both from the Asbestos and Dust Diseases Research Institute in Sydney (ADDRI), behavioural scientist Rebekah Bell from the Asbestos and Silica Safety Eradication Agency (ASSEA), Ben Davis CEO of the Victorian Asbestos Eradication Agency (VAEA), and Dr Gerry Ayers, OHS&E Director from the CFMEU.
Attendees at the event also heard directly from two victims of asbestos and silica dust, both of whom bravely shared some personal insights from their harrowing journeys in the wake of exposure to these two killer substances.
The ACV/GARDS has been operating since 1991 to support asbestos sufferers and has close associations with other asbestos and silica support groups in Australia and overseas - since 2020 they have also supported silica sufferers and their families.
An important role of ACV/GARDS is providing Asbestos and Silica Education and Awareness sessions to TAFE and VCAL students, as well as Universities – Medical students and Nursing students, Environmental Health Sciences, community organisations, workplaces and any groups of interested people wanting to further their knowledge on asbestos or silica.
ACV/GARDS, along with WorkSafe publish codes of compliance and a range of guidance brochures to assist anyone who may be concerned about asbestos or silica products in their homes or workplaces, for example:
· Compliance code: Managing asbestos in workplaces | WorkSafe Victoria
· Compliance code: Removing asbestos in workplaces | WorkSafe Victoria
· Asbestos | WorkSafe Victoria
· LVAT fact sheet – Was your home built before 1990?
· LVAT fact sheet – Protect yourself from Asbestos when renovating