https://exchange.telstra.com.au/2013/05/29/a-note-from-telstras-chief-operations-officer-brendon-ril...
Good afternoon,
Earlier this month we received information from concerned residents about the way asbestos was being handled as part of work being carried out in one of our pits in Penrith.
As soon as we received the information we sent our team out to the pit to inspect the site and as a result immediately suspended the contractor from further work and safely secured the area. We also re-visited all sites remediated by this contractor to make sure the removal of asbestos was conducted in the appropriate way.
I ordered an urgent investigation into the incident and my team has been liaising regularly with the local residents including bringing in asbestos experts to talk to them. We understand this is a distressing time for the residents who have every right to expect that this type of work will be conducted safely and in accordance with the strictest of safety procedures.
Let me say from the outset that we are taking this matter extremely seriously. Leaving any amount of asbestos on site is absolutely unacceptable and we share the concerns of the community. The safe and proper handling and disposal of asbestos is an absolute and not-negotiable priority for our employees and our contractors and we have strict guidelines in place that are designed to get this type of work right every time and with zero-risk.
That is why last week, I also instructed my team to undertake an audit into the work practices of our contractors, in addition to Telstra’s already extensive contractor audit program.
We are conducting this audit to ensure the law and our own strict guidelines are adhered to at all times, and to provide the public with confidence in the safety of this process as it occurs.
We absolutely expect our contractors to get this type of work right each and every time, so we are extremely concerned proper processes may not have been followed on a small number of occasions.
I have also stopped all work on remediation of pits until the audit is complete which we anticipate will be this Friday. People may still see our field technicians out and about, but they will be working on things like connections and faults, not the remediation of our pits for the NBN.
In relation to Penrith specifically, since being alerted to the issue we’ve tried on a number of occasions to have an expert team clean up the site but to date have not been able to get agreement from the residents to proceed. We continue to work with them to help them understand fully what we are proposing to do, the urgency associated with this work and the safeguards we’ve got in place.
We have an obligation to the wider community to clean up these public sites as quickly as possible. We also have a directive from Comcare and a request from the Council to clean up the sites and we want to get crews on-site as soon as possible.
Service Stream have engaged an A Class asbestos removal expert to do the work, which will include alerting all residents in the vicinity about the work, erecting fully enclosed tents over the sites to ensure no airborne particles can escape and comprehensive air monitoring throughout.
We have also had claims that our contractors had dumped asbestos bags outside the Telstra Exchange building in Ballarat. Whilst we are still investigating, our contractors tell us that they were with the asbestos at all times and were waiting at the exchange in a designated area for secure bins to be delivered.
Having said that we understand the impact this can have on a community. We have a responsibility to ensure our contractors are complying with the national legislation as well as our expectations, which is why we took such decisive action last week. One incident like this is one too many and we share the community’s concern.
Telstra’s network was built over many years and historically, as with many other types of construction, some of our pits were manufactured from asbestos containing cement. The pits and ducts are underground and left undisturbed pose no risk.
There are strict guidelines in place for asbestos removal which require our employees and contractors to wear appropriate protective clothing and take appropriate safety measures consistent with Asbestos Management and Removal Codes of Practice which also ensures the safety of the public.
Should any resident be concerned about specific work being conducted in their area we encourage them to get in contact with us on 1800 067 225. At no time should a member of the public enter a worksite or collect debris at a worksite.
Brendon Riley.
