2016 saw a substantial increase in participation in the National Asbestos Awareness Month (November) campaign with over 590 organisations including businesses, associations, individuals and councils registering their engagement with staff and communities providing important information on safe asbestos management.
100% of councils nationally registered their participation, the highest number of council participation since the campaign launched in 2012.
2016 BEST ASBESTOS AWARENESS MONTH CAMPAIGNER AWARDS
Business or Corporate: Height Safety Engineers
HSE were very proactive in creating awareness of the dangers of asbestos and conducted various activities during the month. Throughout the campaign they held:
- Tradies Breakfast
- Two Seminars on safe work with asbestos
- Hosted A Blue Day as a forum to host information sessions for staff, tradies and the wider community. They invited relevant speakers including an ADRI representative, safety company representatives, the local fire brigade and held a Blue Lamington Drive, silent Auction, raffle and sausage sizzle (with blue saussages). The event garnered extensive media coverage appearing in three local papers and 6 online sites. They sought prizes and raised $4567 for the ADRI.
- HSE created a video on activities
Government Department or Organisation: SafeWorkSA
The support of SafeWork SA for the 2016 National Asbestos Awareness Month Campaign was extensive and utilised the Betty Tour to maximum effect in educating communities.
From the outset, SafeWork SA provided:
- Guidance on the most relevant suburbs and regions where asbestos in domestic properties were most at risk which enabled effective planning to maximise Betty’s SA tour
- A state-based asbestos awareness campaign from October to December around Betty’s tour and the campaign’s key messages to leverage the Betty tour opportunity in SA communities
- SafeWork SA asbestos inspectors at the majority of Betty appearances throughout Adelaide to support the Crew and inform their communities
- Media support for the AAM key messages and Blue Lamingtons for the SA Betty tour launch event
- Conducted tradie breakfasts at Bunnings Warehouse stores including presentations from asbestos inspectors
- SafeWork SA’s website received a 20% increase in visits to asbestos pages on previous years
Individual: Morris Lamacchia
Bunnings Warehouse provides the AAC with a space to park Betty when on tour in regions where there are stores. Each year coordinating Betty tours with Bunnings Warehouse is extensive.
However, in 2016 the process was made far easier thanks to the high level of support provided by Morris Lamacchia, Marketing Services Manager SA/NT/TAS, Bunnings Group Limited.
Morris went above and beyond to ensure Betty’s Tour of the NT and SA was utilised to maximum effect through:
- Liaison with store managers to have asbestos personal safety equipment on display to inform customers of the dangers and correct safe handling of asbestos
- Ensuring AAC brochures were displayed in line with events and also enabled the display of SafeWork SA asbestos brochures in stores which was a first
- Conducting staff asbestos education forums so staff could then inform customers of what to look out for when renovating
- Assisting with all Bunnings Warehouse media events to provide communities with as much information as possible during Betty’s tour
- Arranging Tradie Breakfasts
- Morris also attended Betty’s SA tour launch event and ensured all Betty and Crew’s needs were met
Overall, thanks to Morris, Betty’s Bunnings Warehouse visits during her longest tour to date were among the most successful Betty events conducted.
Most Innovative Council Asbestos Awareness Month Campaigner (National): Cumberland Council
Cumberland Council, formerly Parramatta City, Auburn City and Holroyd City councils conducted extensive and varying activities within their community. Cumberland Council is at the forefront of asbestos education for their community and are consistently developing initiatives to increase awareness of the dangers and safe management/disposal of asbestos.
In 2016 their activities included:
- Free domestic collection of non-friable asbestos (taken up by 57 residents)
- Free asbestos inspections for homeowners (taken up by 7 homeowners)
- Community Workshop about asbestos in the home (attended by 28 people)
- Community displays
- Extensive social media activities and media engagement
Most Improved Council Asbestos Awareness Month Campaigner (National): Wollongong City Council
Long term supporter of the AAM campaign, Wollongong City Council undertook an extensive advertising and marketing campaign during November 2016 with:
- 2 prominent outdoor banners
- Advertising: radio (116 plays of the CSA), online and newspaper
- Print run of 3000 AA cobranded WCC flyers to all hardware stores, libraries, community centres etc in region
- Promotional displays in council and shopping centre
- Media stories/interviews on local radio and newspapers
- AAM messaging in Council Newsletters
- Extensive social media
- Held two Blue Lamington Drives
- General Public: held at local Bunnings with a SafeWork representative assisting to advise the public
- Internal: held to educate ALL staff about the importance of asbestos awareness in the workplace and the home
MOST ACTIVE COUNCIL ASBESTOS AWARENESS
MONTH CAMPAIGNER (By State/Region):
NSW METRO: Cumberland Council
See Council Innovation Award above.
NSW REGIONAL: Wollongong City Council
See Most Improved Council Award above.
NORTHERN TERRITORY REGIONAL: Alice Springs Town Council
- Alice Springs Town Council went to great effort to support the Betty 2016 Tour. Annually the council has supported the campaign through promoting the AAM messages throughout November. However, in 2016 activities included Council providing:
- Support for the Betty tour in assisting with liaison with other councils in their region inviting their support for Betty’s tour
- Asbestos management representatives attending Betty’s appearances to be on hand and speak with community members about asbestos in Alice Springs and the surrounding districts
- Undertook extensive pre and post promotion of Betty’s tour to Alice Springs including media, social media, posters, flyer (distribution) and council newsletter
- Mayor and Deputy Mayor gave their full support to Betty’s visit to maximise awareness of the dangers of asbestos among their community including attending Betty’s visit to highlight its significance in Alice Springs
City of Playford receives Betty Award for Best SA Metropolitan Council
SOUTH AUSTRALIA METRO: City of Playford
The City of Playford hosted Betty at the Elizabeth Shopping Centre. They undertook extensive promotion of Betty’s visit to their community through media and social media and had representatives from council attend the visit. They coordinated the venue and promoted asbestos awareness to staff through inclusion of information on their intranet, poster and flyer distribution
SOUTH AUSTRALIA REGIONAL: Wakefield Regional Council
Wakefield Regional Council are committed to educating their staff and community about the dangers of asbestos in and around the home. They hosted Betty in Balaklava and held a media event and staff information session and Blue Lamington Drive. The promoted Betty’s visit extensively through details on council’s website, social media, intranet and created a front foyer display for the month of November. The Mayor was actively engaged in the campaign and spoke to media about the importance of the community being aware of the dangers of asbestos in and around the home.
TASMANIA METRO: Glenorchy City Council
Glenorchy City Council focused activities on internal asbestos education for staff. Information was also included with the Waste and Recycling Services Guide which was issued to 45,000 residents and at waste management facilities. Council developed an asbestos Policy, guidelines, checklist and register and re-evaluated council properties.
TASMANIA REGIONAL: Latrobe Council
Latrobe Council participated widely during Asbestos Awareness Month utilising a variety of supplied resources across internal and external communication streams and created a dedicated asbestos education doll house display. This display was a very innovative and informative visual tool for creating domestic asbestos awareness. Local and regional media utilised it in educating the community about the specific locations asbestos can be found and it appeared in several newspapers and online media outlets and was on display at council for the general public throughout November. Council held a Blue Lamington Morning Tea as an information session for staff also raising funds for ADRI.
VICTORIA REGIONAL: City of Bendigo
City of Bendigo focused their Asbestos Awareness Month campaign activities on staff and contractors:
- They revised and relaunched their Asbestos Management Policy,Hazard & Incident Notification Policy and procedures
- Conducted training sessions for
- Contractors (60 people attended and over 30 businesses)
- Staff – over 80 staff were trained by external provider. Now over 200 staff are trained in asbestos awareness with positive feedback
- Launched a QR Code Asbestos Register for all council owned properties ensuring any contractor or member of the public is aware of ACM on site.
- AAM materials (email signature, posters, flyers etc) were widely used within Council and included in the goodie bags distributed at training sessions.
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