Employees at Australia’s Gold Coast Airport are concerned about the potential of asbestos exposure during an extensive airport renovation project even though officials tell them there are no health risks involved.
An article in the Tweed Daily News explains that the potential risk was discovered when a memo to certain employees was leaked to the newspaper. After being approached by the paper, airport officials confirmed the presence of asbestos in the terminal ceiling, which will be disturbed when reconstruction work on the terminal begins in about six months.
The Transport Workers Union of Australia (TWUA), which represents more than 50 baggage handlers at the airport, said they were unaware of the situation until contacted by the newspaper. Union officials say they will remove the handlers from the airport if they suspect asbestos contamination is an issue.
“We are going to pursue it. We will have one of our officials investigate it,” said Hughie Williams, branch secretary of the TWUA Queensland. “The airport will have to take absolute total care, or we will not be having baggage handlers at the airport if there is any chance they will be exposed.
“If there is asbestos then we will be addressing that with the airport. No one should be allowed in the terminal,” Williams added, noting that he was already concerned for the workers’ safety.
“We have a lot of members at the Gold Coast Airport. We will take it up with the Gold Coast City Council and make sure that our people in there are safe,” he said.
Gold Coast Airport chief operating officer Paul Donovan, however, maintained that there would be no risk to passengers or staff.
“No one is at risk. There will not be two million people affected by this,” Mr. Donovan said. “We will be removing it after hours so that neither staff nor passengers will be introduced to it.”
Employees and the general public have not been notified yet, Donovan explained, because it will be half-a-year before the project gets started. Notifications will go out as the renovation nears.