Comments on: Cancer data needs to start a discussion on effective controls

By: Charles Franklin

Charles Franklin — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 08:41:04 +0000

People are exposed to asbestos mainly by inhaling fibers in the air they breathe. This may occur during mining and processing asbestos, making asbestos-containing products, or installing asbestos insulation. It may also occur when older buildings are demolished or renovated, or when older asbestos-containing materials begin to break down. In any of these situations, asbestos fibers tend to create a dust composed of tiny particles that can float in the air.

By: Kevin Jones

Kevin Jones — Mon, 18 May 2015 01:44:59 +0000

Lindsay, your mention of Fiskville is timely as today is the first day of the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into Fiskville (http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/enrrdc/article/2520). I suspect that this inquiry will provide the best possible information on the firefighter risks you mention.

These sorts of inquiries usually post transcripts of public hearings the next day. This one would be well worth following.

By: Kevin Jones

Kevin Jones — Mon, 18 May 2015 01:38:54 +0000

Stephen, in response to your question “where would industry be?” I would ask where would workers be if we don’t start looking at the bigger picture? Any change to chemical exposure would be a massive task but the discussion needs to start, particularly if the social cost of occupational cancers continues to increase.

It also needs to start outside of the “traditional” context of public health and workers compensation, or to build on that context.

By: Lindsay Jahn

Lindsay Jahn — Mon, 18 May 2015 01:38:18 +0000

The biggest at risk workers for cancer exposure are probably fire fighters, not only because of poor resources (especially rural areas), but poor training and risk management. The number of exposures to toxic fumes is becoming a huge impost on the government agencies as these start to manifest as terminal diseases. UV exposure will increase owing to the increasing number of workers in the solar PV industry being exposed to direct and reflected UV radiation.
There is little recognition of the studies undertaken at Fiskville and the incidence of cancers during the training exercises whilst burning toxic chemicals. Even now the incidence of asbestos exposure is too high for fire fighters, with all the known dangers of exposures there are too few SCBA sets in outer rural areas.

By: Stephen Sandilands

Stephen Sandilands — Mon, 18 May 2015 01:26:25 +0000

Cancer Causing carcinogens – clearly no suggestions in the big picture as it might mean having to eliminate things like unleaded petrol with its diverse group of known additives that are already identified as cancer causing carcinogens – and then where would industry be? With unreliability of data I do have a problem with some of the estimates that are put out there and which gain credence sometimes as fact – bit like ATO estimates of the percentage of taxpayers not doing the right thing. However I do agree that we need, as safety professionals, to be more alert in identifying possible risk and ensuring solid evidence based risk assessments are conducted to identify and then mitigate the risks