Union raises alarm on NSW asbestos

28 Oct 2012, 6:39 pm   -   Source: AAP

A Sydney power company says safety remains its top priority after a union banned work on old electricity meters due to asbestos exposure fears.

A Sydney power company has defended its safety practices after a union banned work on electricity meters amid fears workers and householders may have been exposed to asbestos.

The Electrical Trades Union (ETU) has stopped working on electricity meters in homes built prior to 1983 after Endeavour Energy, which covers about 800,000 homes in western Sydney, the Blue Mountains and the Illawarra, issued a hazard warning to staff.

The ETU, whose officials are due to meet with Endeavour representatives on Tuesday over the issue, says the ban is to protect the health of the union's members.

In a statement released on Sunday, Endeavour defended its safety practices, saying the safety of its customers and workers remained its top priority.

"We issued a pre-cautionary safety alert to our workforce on Friday after one of our staff reported the presence of dust residues in customers' meter installations in older homes," Endeavour's chief operating officer Rod Howard said.

"Some older homes built before 1988 may have customer meter boards containing asbestos which is perfectly safe in its bonded form.

"If it is drilled, workers are required to remove any residue according to standard industry safety practices."

Mr Howard said homeowners were not at risk but that they should contact a licensed electrician "if they needed to access their switchboard".

In the hazard alert, Endeavour said it understood "that the composition of meter boards installed prior to 1983 includes asbestos".

The power company said there would be no work on or near contaminated boards and staff would have to wear masks when working on meter boards in older houses until a review was completed.

An Endeavour spokesman told AAP he did not know how many homes across its network had meter boards that contained asbestos.

ETU secretary Steve Butler said the work ban was imposed because its members regularly worked on pre-1983 meter boards.

"Obviously the ETU's concern is that our members may come into reasonably regular contact with this product," Mr Butler told reporters on Sunday.

The president of the Australian Asbestos Diseases Foundation, Barry Robson, called on the company to inform all of its customers that there was a possibility their power boards contained asbestos.

Ausgrid, another major power supplier, said asbestos was commonly used in Australian meter boards installed prior to 1988, but it was used in bonded form which didn't present a risk.

Essential Energy acknowledged that older meter boards might contain asbestos which could pose a risk during drilling.

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