‘More needs to be done’ after asbestos detection at BHP Nickel West’s Mt Keith clashes with WorkSafe result

WorkSafe says asbestos levels at BHP Nickel West’s Mt Keith nickel operation do not exceed safe limits, but independent testing suggests otherwise. A former WA premier and the boss of the Asbestos Diseases Society of Australia both want the State Government to do more to protect thousands of mine workers from the deadly fibrous mineral. Various forms of asbestos are naturally occurring in the ground across large swaths of regional WA, particularly in the Pilbara, as well as chunks of the Mid West and Goldfields. Concerned contractors at the Mt Keith mine — located 85km south of Wiluna — provided ADSA chief executive Melita Markey with samples of the earth they were working in. Ms Markey submitted the samples to an accredited laboratory in Perth, which she says came back positive for a material level of white asbestos, a mineral which can cause cancer and lung diseases. A spokesman for WorkSafe — the State Government’s health and safety regulator — said in 2023 it was “notified” of 109 fibrous mineral air samples collected at Mt Keith. “None of the samples exceeded the workplace exposure standard for worker exposure to fibrous materials,” he said. A BHP spokesman acknowledged asbestos occurs naturally throughout the Agnew-Wiluna Belt, where Mt Keith is located. “Asbestos is a concern for everyone and needs to be managed carefully,” he said. “This is why we have comprehensive asbestos management plans, require our teams to use specialised respiratory protection and undertake regular testing and reporting as part of our health and safety controls.” Ms Markey said WorkSafe finding no dangerous levels of asbestos at Mt Keith, but an independent laboratory indicating otherwise, raised the alarm that the testing regime in WA needs to change. “We need more collaboration between workers and the regulators to ensure that the best safety levels can be achieved,” Ms Markey said. “There should also not be two sets of standards for contractors versus salaried employees.” Across December and January, The West Australian revealed asbestos exposure issues at CITIC Pacific’s Sino Iron project in the Pilbara. Concerns were raised from contractors at the project who, compared to CITIC’s own employees, had limited access to asbestos safety equipment. Ms Markey says contractors at other mine sites in the State came forward to her organisation expressing their own fears following The West’s revelations at Sino Iron. “The workers are concerned they are being told they are working with ‘fibrous minerals’, they want clarification as to what type,” she said. “They’re concerned they are not being given facilities to shower and remove the fibrous minerals from their person and are taking these back to camp in their hair, clothing, vehicles and on airplanes home.” She believes testing standards need to be reviewed and we should look to countries like France, which have more stringent testing methods with better accuracy in identifying dangerous fibres and their length. “The challenge as I’ve said before is the latency period of asbestos diseases of between 25 and 60 years, which is what regulators, employers and mine owners may rely upon, as they will be long gone when the diseases emerge,” she said. “So why rock the boat and make changes now?” Former WA Premier Peter Dowding believes his contemporary counterparts need to enhance their focus on potential asbestos exposure in the mining industry. After reflecting on his own career he feels there is a gap in the regulatory environment that still has not been filled. “In 1983 the Labor government was elected and I have to say with an apology that we acted on this issue of asbestos, but without the commitment and full power that we should have embraced at the time,” he said. “It’s an issue of great concern to me, I’ve spoken to the people in the Mines Department who’ve told me it (asbestos) is prevalent in the geology of WA’s iron ore deposits. “More needs to be done.”