For one man who spends his days demolishing houses, his work is close to his heart.
ZKL Asbestos and Demolition Services director Zachary Love lost his grandfather to asbestos.
Now, he focuses on getting rid of the deadly pre-1980s building material, and eliminating it from our suburbs.
The Logan man is consequently joining a nationwide chorus, warning people – especially anyone living in houses built before the early 1980s – to take greater care to guard against exposure to asbestos.
“I lost my grandfather to asbestos,” Mr Love said.
“So we really want people to remove it properly.
“We really want to raise awareness because of the fact that people are removing it the wrong way.”
Mr Love said he is often called to “clean up the mess” after people without licenses have attempted to remove the fibrous substance incorrectly.
“We get a lot of people that try and do the job themselves because obviously they think it’s going to be cheaper in the end,” he said.
“We’ve had probably four this month that we’ve had to go clean up because someone else has done it incorrectly.
“We get a lot of demolition companies crushing asbestos houses without removing the asbestos properly.
“We recently had one about a week ago, where a demolition company without an Asbestos License or a Demo License went in with a client and charged them over $20,000, and we had to charge the client $38,000 to clean the property up.
“All they did was they stuck an excavator straight through it without getting an Asbestos Clearance Certificate, and then they just dumped it all over the ground.”
Mr Love said he’s been in the industry for nearly six years, and he sees clients “anywhere in the thousands every two to three months”.
“We just want people to start doing the right things– like wearing their masks and wearing their suits properly.”
According to government statistics, it is estimated that 4,000 Australians die each year from asbestos related diseases.
That’s more than twice as many deaths as the national road toll.
Last week, Workplace Health and Safety Queensland hosted a free live streamed asbestos safety session to deliver important safety messages and share tips on how to work safely with asbestos materials.
Industrial Relations Minister Grace Grace said if you’re working on a property that was built or renovated before 1990, it is likely to contain products with asbestos in them.
“More than 3000 asbestos containing materials were used in construction of residential homes in that time,” Minister Grace said.
“Always play it safe before carrying out any renovation work or cleaning the exterior of a home.
“Asbestos products in good condition are not a risk, but if they are disturbed, broken, sanded, blasted with high pressure water or cut, they can release asbestos fibres into the air, putting the health of yourself and others at risk.
“Asbestos fibres are invisible to the naked eye, but they are still dangerous.”
