Asbestos guides launched for tradespeople

Asbestos is the number one workplace killer in New Zealand. If you’re a tradie, the asbestos management plan is one of your greatest tools to stay safe when you arrive at a new worksite. If you’re going to a site where you know or suspect there may be asbestos, ask the client to see their management plan. If you manage or control a workplace and have identified asbestos, then you will have to prepare an asbestos management plan setting out how the risks can be managed.

WorkSafe have put together some guidance Do you need an Asbestos Management Plan? which looks at what needs to be covered in an asbestos management plan, what to do if you share a building and training your staff to identify asbestos.

WorkSafe have also put together four quick guides aimed at helping to ensure builders, electricians, painters and plumbers know what their responsibilities are when it comes to asbestos and can manage the risks so they go home healthy and safe from work.

The guides contain all the critical information that the individual trades need as a one-stop resource covering:

• the risk of working with or near asbestos
• the difference between friable and non-friable asbestos
• where asbestos is likely to be found in New Zealand homes and other buildings
• the key ways to protect yourself when working with asbestos
• how to dispose of asbestos waste
• workers’ rights and responsibilities.

Please see our Asbestos page for more resources.