Asbestos exposure concerns unearthed at CITIC Pacific’s mega Sino Iron magnetite project near Karratha

There are fresh fears CITIC Pacific Mining’s Sino Iron magnetite project near Karratha has been potentially exposing thousands of workers to deadly asbestos without adequate health and safety measures in place, The West Australian can reveal. Fibrous minerals – including the deadly blue asbestos — is naturally occurring throughout the earth of the Pilbara region. The geological nature of Sino Iron’s magnetite iron ore means asbestos is particularly prevalent at the mine compared to most of WA’s other iron ore projects. China’s CITIC Pacific Mining, which owns the $23.5 billion Sino Iron mine 100km south-west of Karratha, has about 3000 direct employees and contractors. Following queries from The West, WorkSafe revealed 151 samples were taken from workers at Sino Iron to test for fibrous minerals this year, with 16 coming back as having “exceeded the workplace exposure limit”. In comparison, none of the 260 samples this year from WA’s largest iron ore producer — Rio Tinto — indicated exposure beyond the limit. WorkSafe chief mines inspector Martin Ralph told The West he has a high degree of confidence the exposed workers at Sino Iron were suitably protected by personal protective equipment. “All 16 workers at the Sino Iron operation were wearing an appropriate respirator that had been fit tested,” he said. However, The West understands that concerns have been raised internally this year at Sino Iron regarding the lack of adequate decontamination procedures for workers, given the high risk of exposure. This includes reports of workers returning to camp still wearing items of potentially contaminated clothing or without having properly cleaned themselves. Mr Ralph said CITIC was not required to report its decontamination process to WorkSafe when submitting its 16 samples that exceeded the exposure limit. Australian Workers Union WA secretary Brad Gandy said the union was aware of recent asbestos issues at Sino Iron. “CITIC Pacific does have an issue with asbestos in their ore body at the Sino Iron mine,” Mr Gandy said. “The AWU calls on CITIC Pacific to review their asbestos processes for contractors and employees immediately to ensure workers don’t contract life-threatening illnesses due to preventable exposure to asbestos. “I encourage all our members to register on the National Asbestos Exposure Register as there could be traces of airborne contaminants and other fibrous materials and dangerous dust on site.” A CITIC Pacific spokesman said its employees and contractors are “fully informed” as to how the company deals with asbestos issues “including ongoing personal and collective responsibilities”. “It is important to understand that our personal monitoring program for the period did not record any unprotected exceedance of fibrous material on the project,” he said. “The reported protected exceedances occurred within designated areas where the wearing of masks and other protective respiratory equipment is mandatory at all times.” The spokesman said all personal monitoring testing is conducted in accordance with a Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety-approved health management plan and is submitted to the department. “We regularly review the effectiveness of existing controls, including approved decontamination procedures, the provision of personal protective equipment for the access to designated areas and education and training systems,” he said. Asbestos concerns are not new to Sino Iron. In 2009, around 150 workers walked off the job amid fears of being exposed to the deadly mineral. Asbestos Diseases Society of Australia chief executive Melita Markey told The West she was concerned by the fresh reports of potential asbestos exposures. “History has shown the long latency period of the development of asbestos diseases can be a disincentive to workplace change as the management of today will be long gone when a disease may emerge in workers,” she said. “I would encourage workers to contact my office for lung health monitoring.” According to Healthdirect Australia, the severe lung diseases and cancers associated with asbestos exposure generally take between 15 years and 40 years to develop.