Health monitoring is used to identify changes in a person's health status because of exposure to certain substances. Health monitoring can be useful following significant exposure to a substance and where there is an available valid health monitoring technique to detect adverse health effects from that exposure.
Under the Work Health and Safety (National Uniform Legislation) Regulations 2011 (the Regulations), a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) must ensure health monitoring is provided if the worker is either:
Failure to adequately control exposure to airborne asbestos fibres can result in effects on the human body such as pleural plaques, and diseases such as asbestosis, asbestos-related lung cancer and mesothelioma.
The dose of asbestos fibres causing each of these effects is different, and risk of disease is related to the:
Repeated occupational exposures to airborne asbestos fibres can lead to a substantial cumulative exposure over time, which increases the risk of developing an asbestos-related disease in the future.
Health monitoring is only useful where a valid technique exists to detect a known health effect. As asbestos-related diseases develop over a long period of time, current health monitoring techniques have limitations in providing early warning of these diseases.
Health monitoring for asbestos includes:
Health monitoring may include a chest X-ray if clinically recommended.
Workers carrying out licensed asbestos removal work must have initial health monitoring carried out before starting the work.
The medical practitioner providing or supervising the health monitoring will determine whether there is any need for future health monitoring for the worker, and if so, when this should be done.
If a PCBU is engaging a new worker to carry out licensed asbestos removal work and the worker has previously had asbestos health monitoring carried out, the PCBU can rely on the worker's previous asbestos health monitoring report if:
The PCBU will need to consider if their worker who will be carrying out ongoing non-licensed asbestos removal work or asbestos-related work is at risk. This means considering if the likelihood or potential for exposure to airborne asbestos fibres warrants health monitoring.
This would include taking into account factors such as:
By complying with control measures outlined in the WHS Regulation, How to Manage and Control Asbestos in the Workplace Code of Practice and the How to Safely Remove Asbestos Code of Practice, it is unlikely a worker carrying out non-licensed asbestos removal work or asbestos-related work from time to time would have a significant risk from exposure to airborne asbestos fibres and require health monitoring.
Some examples of workers that would fall into this category include:
An incidental exposure is where an individual may be exposed to a low level of asbestos dust for a short period of time (e.g. when a bystander is present when a worker disturbs asbestos containing material and asbestos fibres become airborne).
Health monitoring is not required for incidental exposures to airborne asbestos fibres. As asbestos-related diseases take many years to develop, there is no reason to subject individuals with a suspected incidental exposure to even small doses of ionising radiation from X-rays or CT scans.
Instead, NT WorkSafe recommends the PCBU record the incident and take steps to ensure there are controls to prevent or minimise this kind of incident occurring in the future. The worker can register their suspected exposure through the National Asbestos Exposure Register.
The incident does not need to be reported to NT WorkSafe as a dangerous event.
Where health monitoring is required, the licensed asbestos removalist must:
View the template for creating a health monitoring report.
The licensed asbestos removalist is required to:
It is recommended that workers also provide a copy of their health monitoring report to their own general practitioner.
Individuals who are registered for a My Health Record (the Australian Government's digital health record system) may be able to store their asbestos health monitoring report on this system. This requires the medical practitioner performing the health monitoring to be registered as a provider with My Health Record and the individual would need to give permission for the medical practitioner to upload the information to their My Health Record.
For more information about My Health Record, visit myhealthrecord.gov.au or ask the medical practitioner carrying out any asbestos health monitoring.
