SUNSHINE Residents and Ratepayers Association has accused the Regional Rail Link Authority of putting people’s health at risk after asbestos was found during railway works.
Workers on the $5 billion RRL project last month made “a number of unexpected finds’’, according to a WorkSafe report obtained by Fairfax.
It is believed asbestos was handled by unwitting workers when contractors in Sunshine dug up fragments that were not identified before construction began.
The worst of the asbestos found was at Sunshine’s Anderson Road level crossing.
SunRRA president Darlene Reilly said the RRL Authority had been derelict in its duty to workers and had disregarded potential health hazards that could impact local residents.
“[We are] seeking specific information of the exposure not only of asbestos but of contaminated soil and the potential for airborne risks to local residents and local businesses,” she said.
“I’m concerned workers have been exposed to dangerous levels of toxic chemicals and asbestos previously identified in the soil along the rail corridor. Also alarming is the potential for health risks to local residents to exposure of airborne particles from the construction site.’’
It’s believed some of the asbestos came from a phone pit, although the authority said the work was not related to the removal of any telecommunications infrastructure.
Workers did not have training in identifying or handling asbestos, and WorkSafe was called in and work stopped after it was identified.
WorkSafe’s subsequent report said more needed to be done to stop workers on the project unexpectedly working with asbestos.
Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union national secretary Dave Noonan said contractors must establish a register of people exposed.
He said insurance companies acting on behalf of building firms “invariably deny liability’’, trying to argue workers were never exposed to asbestos.
An RRL Authority spokesman told the Weekly that a “very small quantity of non-friable asbestos” was removed by a licensed contractor as soon as it was found.
“Rail operators maintain asbestos registers, which record all known asbestos-containing assets.
“Due to extensive historic use of asbestos, and the fact that it is usually buried, discovery of previously unidentified asbestos containing material is expected and work package contractors are fully prepared for such discoveries.”
He said extensive soil sampling was conducted in consultation with the Environment Protection Authority before construction began.
— With Clay Lucas, The Age
