Friday 28th May 2021

Safety Industry News Roundup: Friday 28th May 2021

Welcome to our safety news summary for Friday 28th May 2021. Below, we cover two significant compliance stories from South Australia and New Zealand, highlighting enforcement action against an asbestos removalist and a new respiratory protection awareness campaign. For context on prior weekly updates, see our reports for Friday 21st May 2021 and Friday 14th May 2021.

Asbestos Removalist Faces Immediate Suspension of Licence

On May 10th, SafeWork South Australia commenced proactive compliance audits on licensed asbestos removal jobs. Since this campaign started, regulators ordered an immediate suspension of a Class B asbestos removal licence for failure to remove asbestos from a property safely.

SafeWork SA identified that the licence holder failed to remove all asbestos from a residential site, didn't decontaminate the work area, and didn't ensure asbestos waste was contained before removing it from the premises.

This incident shows the business wasn't complying with section 19 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2012 (SA), which requires operators to take reasonable care of workers' health and safety and ensure their activities do not adversely affect the health and safety of others.

"SafeWork SA continues to focus on ensuring asbestos licence holders are meeting their responsibilities in complying with asbestos regulations," said SafeWork SA Acting Executive Director, Glenn Farrell.

Full details on this enforcement action can be found on the SafeWork SA website.

'Life Shavers' Campaign Launched to Protect Respiratory Health

WorkSafe New Zealand has launched a new campaign to raise awareness of the need for workers to remain cleanly shaven when wearing respiratory protective equipment (RPE) on the job.

Shaving a beard could save a worker's life. Even a small amount of facial hair may prevent RPE from forming a protective seal. Without proper sealing, employees could potentially be exposed to a range of dangerous materials while performing their duties.

SafeWork NZ Manager Health, Health & Technical Services, Api Poutasi, explained the reasoning behind this initiative:

"We want to make sure all workers are looking after their health. Getting cancer or another illness because someone prioritised stylish facial hair isn't a good idea."

"Not every worker can shave. For some, facial hair forms part of their culture or faith. Businesses need to consider alternative protective measures for those workers – there are ways to prevent dust and materials being inhaled, or perhaps affected staff need to perform another role on site to avoid that risk."

Respiratory harm and cancers account for 31% of work-related health problems in New Zealand, according to WorkSafe NZ estimates.

The full media release can be found on the WorkSafe NZ website.

Why These Compliance Updates Matter

Both stories published today underline a consistent theme across construction, manufacturing, and healthcare sectors: regulators expect documented, verifiable safety practices, not assumptions. Whether managing asbestos removal or respiratory protective equipment, businesses need current safety data sheets and risk assessments to demonstrate compliance on any given date.

For safety professionals tracking industry developments, our news roundup published today, Friday 28th, offers a snapshot of enforcement trends worth monitoring. Check back regularly, as we publish updates every Friday, including our previous edition from Friday 7th May 2021.

These developments on Friday 28th reinforce why licence holders and equipment users alike must stay proactive rather than reactive when it comes to workplace health and safety obligations.