The Australian Services Union has raised concerns that Ballarat council workers may have been exposed to silica dust during the Bridge Mall redevelopment.
Lead organizer at the union, Clay O’Brien, says street cleaning workers contacted the union about the issue after not getting a satisfactory response from the City of Ballarat.
Crystalline silica can be found in engineered stone, granite and sandstone pavers and can lead to a number of deadly diseases if inhaled.
In a statement, City of Ballarat CEO, Evan King, says council contractors and management have implemented controls to reduce the risk of dust exposure to workers and the community during construction.
He says WorkSafe has attended the Bridge Mall site and reviewed these controls and will continue to work with the authority into the future if required.
Mr. O’Brien says the union believes WorkSafe conducted testing, but they don’t believe the testing happened whilst the workers were performing their duties.
“From what we understand of the situation, it’s a bit disingenuous from the employer to say that WorkSafe has been in and signed off on anything relating to those duties,” he said.
The union has made another referral to WorkSafe in response to the employer’s alleged failure to respond to their correspondence.
