
Issue No 88		16 March 2001

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News

Leichhardt Council Endangers the Public

By HT Lee

Residents at White Street, Annandle woke up on Tuesday morning to the tune of thumping and banging in their quiet neighbourhood as workers in some form of protective gears began their demolishing job on a vacant house.

As sheets of panelling were dumped onto the back of a truck, clouds of dust could be seen everywhere.

A local resident came out to investigate the raucous and was shocked to discover the workers could be involved in removing asbestos from the house. He quickly notified his neighbours and the constriction union--the CFMEU.

CFMEU Safety Officer Steve Keenen immediately visited the non-union site and found there was no compliance with occupational health and safety legislation or asbestos removal regulations.

The residents in the surrounding houses were not informed about the removal of asbestos nor were there any signs erected--indicating asbestos removal was in progress.

The CFMEU immediately closed down the site, made sure the council and the contractor has erected proper signs on the site and contacted the NSW WorkCover Authority.

The vacant house in question was to be demolished as part of Leichhardt Council's parkland plan in the area. N Mott & Sons Earthworks was contracted by the council to do the job.

The council's parks manager Vince Cufumano claimed the removal of the 'alleged' asbestos sheetings were done according to the code of practice and there was no dust in the air when he arrived at the scene. Mott according to Cufumano was not 'a fly by night' contractor and the council had used them before and were satisfied with their work.

However, local resident Kelly refuted this and said she could see clouds of dust in the air from her house further down the road.

'When I went down to the scene I had to tell them to cover up the sheeting in the truck,' she said.

When removing AC sheeting--they were supposed to damp it first and then cover them up. The contractor Mott did not follow those basic instructions.

The council and Mott also tried to claim the sheeting might not be asbestos but hardiflex and the residents should not be alarmed until independent test had been carried out.

The CFMEU also took a sample of the material and send it to the Workers Health Centre which specialise in occupational health and safety and has carried out numerous independent asbestos tests.

The test came back positive. The materials contains two types of asbestos--amosite and chrysotile. However, according to Cufumano, council's testing could only find one type of asbestos--chrysotile.

According to the residents no sampling from their property were carried--they want the council to check their property for asbestos contamination. But Cufumano said there were no traces of asbestos found in the neighbourhood.

The CFMEU has circulated a leaflet in the area explaining the situation. The leaflet said:

This type of cost cutting threatens the health and welfare of local residents. We are demanding the contractor be penalised and prosecuted.

We are also very concerned Leichhardt Council has not allocated adequate resources to monitor safety compliance--especially with its contractors.

The mayor of Leichhardt Council Maire Sheen and her media officer have refused to return calls to answer the following questions:

� Was there a work method statement for the demolishing of the building?

� Was a hygienist report done on the building and if there was why was the result of the presence of asbestos not being circulated to the residents and the proper procedure for the removal of the asbestos in place, and if there was no report done, why not?

� Why were the workers issued with protective gears if there was no asbestos?

� Why was a council representative not there to make sure the asbestos where removed in accordance with the code of practice?

� Why was there only one type of asbestos found by the council's test when in actual fact there were two types of asbestos found?

� Why were there no signs erected indicating asbestos removal was in progress?

� Why were the residents not notified about the removal of the asbestos?

Had the CFMEU not arrived at the scene, the demolishing and unsafe method of removing the asbestos would have gone on unchecked. Leichhardt Council should have made sure the removal of asbestos was properly supervised. It has failed in its responsibility and as a result has endangered the public.

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Issue 88 contents

Interview: Labor Law
Shadow Attorney General Robert McClelland outlines his plans for workers entitlements, legal aid and a Bill of Rights

Unions: Poetic Justice
The ACTU kicked off its 2001 Living Wage campaign this week with a new shock tactic: poetry.

Technology: Big Brother�s Legacy
Organisations with restrictive staff email polices risk locking themselves in the Industrial Age by treating their staff as units to be monitored.

Corporate: Scumbags Exposed
On the eve of the inaugural Corporate Scumbags Tour, we look at the worst of the worst from the Top End of Town.

International: Playing Away
Pat Ranald looks at a proposal to hold Australian companies to basic standards when they invest in developing countries.

Environment: Nuclear Titanics
The Maritime Union has joined Greenpeace in a campaign to stop our seas becoming a nuclear highway.

History: Out of the Bog
Neale Towart looks at the life of big Jim Larkin, one of the heroes of an Irish trade union movement that continues to thrive.

Politics: Westie�s Macquarie Street Alert
The Workers MLC, Ian West, provides the first in a series of regular rundowns on the upcoming Parliamentary session

Review: The Next American Century?
How will the United States maintain its global power in an era when the very notion of the nation-state is under challenge?

Satire: Dollar Crashes Through Psychological 0.00c Barrier
The bedevilled Australian dollar dropped below the crucial 0.00c barrier losing its battle to avoid the humiliation of being worth less than the commemorative Bradman coins distributed by the Sunday Telegraph last weekend.

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