Asbestos risk in Goodlife Health Club roof at Payneham was undetected for days

THE risk of exposure to asbestos at a popular gym in suburban Adelaide went undetected for days — but health authorities say there is little danger to nearby residents.

Gym members question a police officer outside the Goodlife gym at Payneham. Picture: Matt Turner

THE risk of exposure to asbestos at an Adelaide gym went undetected for days, but health authorities say there is little danger to nearby residents.

Environment Protection Authority investigators in protective Hazmat suits inspected the Goodlife Health Club on Portrush Rd, Payneham, after asbestos was found in the roof on Thursday.

The area was pressure cleaned on the weekend, but the EPA was not notified until four days later.

EPA chief executive Tony Circelli said the building owner had been slapped with a clean-up order.

“(There) are concerns of what actually happened ... quite an amount (of asbestos was) found in gutters and in areas around the gym,” he said.

“Part of the roof itself ... was made from old asbestos sheeting, and parts of the roof were pressure cleaned to the extent where particles and clumps of the roof had dislodged.”

A worker clears up the asbestos in Goodlife gym at Payneham. Picture: Matt Turner

He said there was no early detection of asbestos in the air or outside the gym, but they were investigating if any of the dangerous carcinogenic material got through the ventilation.

Goodlife Health Club rents the premises and it is believed the landlord had undertaken the roof cleaning.

SA Health Public Health Director Dr Kevin Bucket advised nearby residents not be too alarmed as asbestos exposure was “reasonably low”.

“The treatment of the roof was entirely inappropriate but it was a wet process,’ he said.

“The biggest risk of asbestos happens when water evaporates ... there was pretty heavy rain after the event, quite likely exposure would have been increased but not too significantly.”

Anyone concerned about their health should contact their GP.

SafeWork SA executive director Martyn Campbell said it was too early to tell if there was any breaches in work, health and safety laws.

“There is an asbestos register and the owner should be aware of that,” he said.

“High pressure cleaning on asbestos is not recommended (but) I don’t wish to comment too much on that.”

Residents said they remained shocked by the discovery. The gym will remain closed until further notice.

Originally published as Asbestos risk in Goodlife Health Club roof at Payneham was undetected for days