Safe Work Australia has released three new reports on the dangers of exposure to some of the most dangerous carcinogens to which workers are regularly exposed.
The reports cover the following carcinogens:
Safe Work Australia commissioned Elmatom Pty Ltd to produce the reports using data from the 2011–2012 Australian Work Exposures Study (AWES) to:
- estimate the prevalence of work-related exposure during relatively common workplace activities
- identify the main circumstances of those exposures, and
- identify the use of workplace control measures designed to decrease those exposures.
The reports are designed to help inform future work health and safety policy development for workplace chemicals. They do not specifically focus on high risk industries or industries where high levels of exposures might occur.
There are common findings in the three reports. For example, many of the AWES respondents who had probable exposures to these carcinogens:
- were male
- worked in technical occupations, and
- worked in the construction industry.
However, a high proportion of AWES respondents probably exposed to PAHs were farmers burning wastes, repairing farm equipment or clearing fire sites.
Where information on the use of controls was collected many respondents reported using respiratory protection equipment (RPE) or reported not using any controls to prevent exposures.
Based on the results presented in the reports, task-based exposures to carcinogens could be lowered by using well-known and readily available controls like safer alternative products or engineering controls.
Cancers (including skin cancer) is a priority disorder of the Australian Work Health and Safety Strategy 2012-2022.
You can access the following reports from the Safe Work Australia website:
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