New Zealand Asbestos Guide Aims to Reduce Deaths

New Zealand has a new guide for managing and removing asbestos in the workplace. The “Approved Code of Practice for the Management and Removal of Asbestos,” or ACOP, was designed to complement the Health and Safety at Work (Asbestos) Regulations 2016. Described as the first for the country, the new guide hopes to cut asbestos-related deaths in half by 2024. The new code took effect Nov. 3. Approximately 170 people in New Zealand die each year from asbestos-related diseases. Asbestos is the single greatest cause of death from work-related diseases, according to WorkSafe New Zealand, the government agency that released the guide. “[ACOP] is meant to be a comprehensive resource for PCBUs [persons conducting a business or undertaking] that have, or are likely to have, asbestos in their workplace, as well as PCBUs who remove asbestos or conduct asbestos-related work,” Julia Paterson-Fourie, a senior communications advisor for WorkSafe, told Asbestos.com. On Oct. 1, it became illegal to import asbestos-containing products into New Zealand, which joined 57 other countries that already banned the toxic mineral. Deaths related to asbestos exposure are expected to continue for decades in the Southwest Pacific country because of the long latency period associated with asbestos-related diseases such as mesothelioma. “New Zealand’s efforts to reduce asbestos-related deaths by 50 percent by 2040 will primarily be achieved through a substantial reduction in workplace exposures...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: asbestos dangers asbestos guide asbestos in new zealand mesothelioma in new zealand new asbestos guide new zealand asbestos guide occupational exposure to asbestos Source Type: news