Submissions to the federal government's asbestos management review have raised concerns about whether people who helped with disaster clean ups unwittingly put their lives at risk while handling broken asbestos.
Some of the 60 organisations, including trade unions, employer groups and academics, who made submissions have called for major disaster plans to include rules on how asbestos should be handled in the event of fires, floods, cyclones and earthquakes.
Chair of the review Geoff Fary said while bonded asbestos was safe in buildings, if a disaster struck the asbestos was likely to break up into tiny particles that could be life threatening to anyone who inhales them.
But because there is often decades in between when people inhale asbestos fibres and develop diseases such as mesothelioma, it could be years before those who lent a hand in recent disasters including the Queensland floods realise they may pay a deadly price.
"It's a bit of an awful lottery in that respect," Mr Fary said.
"So some of the submissions have called for some sort of asbestos strategy to implement as part of national disaster plans."
Australia has one of the highest rates of asbestos-related diseases in the world, mainly due to the extensive use of the building material between the end of World War II and the 1980s.
The first wave of workers to fall victim to asbestos-related diseases were miners followed by people who made asbestos sheeting and tradesmen who installed it in buildings.
The most recent wave has been home renovators, many of whom tore down asbestos in walls, roofs and fences without knowing the dangers of breathing in its dangerous particles.
Mr Fary, who is discussing the asbestos submissions at the current Clinical Oncological Society of Australia's annual scientific meeting in Perth, said experts feared the next wave would be people who helped in disaster clean ups.
In its submission to Mr Fary, Master Builders Australia said asbestos handling and removal should be a standard part of any emergency plan.
It said the Victorian government's use of a single asbestos removal contractor after the Black Saturday bushfires was highly effective and should be used as a model in future disasters.
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry also described Victoria's efforts as "exemplary", unlike the recent Queensland floods clean up when asbestos was removed and disposed of without appropriate risk controls.
Mr Fary has until June 2012 to come up with recommendations for the government to include in a national strategic plan for the management and removal of asbestos.
By Belinda Tasker
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