Australia's asbestos safety watchdog wants an urgent program to remove high-risk asbestos from the nation's buildings after workers at the Sydney Opera House were potentially exposed to the deadly material.
The Electrical Trades Union on Tuesday moved to halt renovations at the Opera House after tests confirmed the presence of asbestos.
The 25 workers on the project were at risk from the asbestos for almost a week, the union said in a statement.
Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency chief executive Peter Tighe says the incident proves asbestos should be removed from buildings rather than managed.
The safety regime in place at the Opera House had clearly failed, he said on Wednesday.
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"It is unacceptable that 25 workers were exposed for a week before authorities were informed and steps put in place to protect the workers," Mr Tighe said.
"There is clearly a breakdown of the system and it has failed in the duty of care for workers at the Sydney Opera House this week. Next week it will be somewhere else."
Mr Tighe called for a removal program to be instigated across private and government buildings.
The union is angry it wasn't notified promptly of the seriousness of the discovery with the builder and electrical contractor reportedly first made aware of the issue on July 24.
Building company Laing O'Rourke insists a comprehensive asbestos management plan was in place.
"Work is continuing on site as normal," it said in a statement on Tuesday.
"The existence of asbestos in original structures of the Opera House was always planned for as part of these major works and we are taking every precaution and safeguard."
