Canberra’s tradespeople will ultimately pay the highest price for exposure to Mr Fluffy asbestos, according to the Construction, Forestry, Mining, and Energy Union.
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But mandatory tags on homes would at least prevent further exposure, with union secretary Dean Hall welcoming the ACT government’s decision to enforce them after January 1, 2015.
ACT Chief Minister Katy Gallaher announced on Tuesday that Canberra’s 1049 Mr Fluffy homes will be required by law to have high visibility tags in their meter boxes to protect the health and safety of tradespeople and others who may come into contact with loose amosite asbestos still present in homes.
Their placement in meter boxes will be enforced by ACT WorkSafe which will have the power to fine homeowners without tags up to $3300 if they refuse to adopt the measure.
Made from an industrial strength self-adhesive vinyl, the tags will be required to be affixed to meter boxes with distribution starting in September and must be in place by January 1, after which time it will be an offence not to have one.
Mr Hall noted the tags would also assist firemen and emergency services workers who may be called to homes where asbestos may be a clear danger – such as in a fire or storm where amosite may be released into the air.
“It’s an important temporary measure to protect a range of people – not just the tradies – but also any person who is called to a home for whatever reason who will be able to find out quickly and easily what they are walking into.”
Mr Hall said Canberra tradespeople had unwittingly been subjected to decades of exposure to deadly asbestos and the union was dealing with more members notifying them they had contracted asbestos-related diseases.
“Obviously we feel for all the homeowners suffering from Mr Fluffy, but there is also a huge amount of fear and anger in the industry at the situation that so much exposure has occurred over the past decades.”
Fluffy Owners and Residents’ Action Group founder Brianna Heseltine said homeowners welcomed the tag system as a way to support disclosure until the homes are phased out.
“Andrew Watson of A+N Building deserves credit for the idea, which he raised with me in May as a way of meeting the interests of protecting workers as well as the privacy of owners,” Ms Heseltine said..
She noted that at the time the unions were arguing strenuously with the ACT government for the publication of the list of homes.
“The fear of further persecution caused a lot of anxiety to homeowners, who were already being denied services and being accused of withholding knowledge on their homes which they didn't even possess. It's pretty hard to tell a tradesperson your home is affected if you've never even heard of Mr Fluffy.”
She said the tags had emerged as “a practical solution that met the interests of all affected. I think we all owe Andrew a vote of thanks for taking the heat out of the problem and solving it without harming anyone in the process.”
Ms Heseltine said the group of more than 400 families opposed the publication of the list of affected homes.
“With more than 35 family homes now vacant, many people have legitimate concerns about their homes being targeted by vandals. One displaced family has already had plants stolen from their garden. I could just picture some bored elements doing drive-bys on listed homes to find vacant properties to trash.”
She also called on the ACT government to give an assurance that once homes are demolished and soil is decontaminated - all references to Mr Fluffy are expunged from land records.
“A public list would bring a permanent mark of stigma, and that's precisely what we're hoping to address. We want Canberra to be free of this wretched issue once and for all.”
