This was published 6 months ago
Asbestos scare closes government biosecurity labs in South Perth
By Peter Milne
Laboratories vital to protecting WA agriculture from disease have been closed since Friday over asbestos concerns at the South Perth facility of the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.
The department restricted access to the site normally housing 300 workers as a precautionary measure, after the detection of asbestos that could crumble, making it more dangerous, a spokeswoman said.
The use of asbestos has been banned in Australia since 2004.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos
She said the department was cooperating with Worksafe and conducting further tests while it identified alternative arrangements for its workers. Some are now working at other locations, including the department’s office in the city, or working from home.
The department conducts comprehensive air monitoring every month and, to date, all results have been below the reportable limit of 10,000 fibres per cubic metre of air.
Normal background exposure is between 10 and 200 asbestos fibres in a cubic metre of air, according to the WA Department of Health, which is extremely unlikely to cause asbestosis.
The plant and animal laboratories in South Perth are used for research, testing for early diagnosis of notifiable diseases and verifying that products meet standards for international trade.
On Tuesday, staff will be able to safely access some newer laboratories on the site to allow some laboratory services to resume. Testing will be prioritised, and some samples will be sent to other laboratories.
Asbestos at the dilapidated South Perth facility built for the Department of Agriculture has been a long-term concern.
In 2021, about 500 workers moved to new premises in the city. In 2022 the state government committed $320 million to build a new biosecurity and research facility at Murdoch University to house more than 350 staff from 2027.
The new facility will replace the ageing buildings and labs on Baron-Hay Court in South Perth and free up 24 hectares of valuable inner-city land for up to 1000 new dwellings as well as commercial and retail developments.
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