BHP gets briqubat for safety

Around 350 contractors have walked off the job at BHP's Hot Briquette 
Iron (HBI) plant near Port Headland, In Western Australia, over concerns 
that the plant may have been contaminated with a possible human carcinogen. 
Unions have accused BHP of ignoring the "safety first" principle by 
insisting that about 200 company employees continue to work in areas that 
may have been contaminated by fibretext rockwool particles.

Fibretex rockwool is a synthetic material fibre product used for sound 
dampening and fireproofing.

A material safety data sheet provided by the manufacturer suggests that the 
product is an "irritant" and advises "the use of safe work practices to 
avoid fibre generation and inhalation — rockwool is a reported experimental 
animal and possibly human carcinogen".

The World Health Organisation's International Agency for Research on Cancer 
has also classified the product as Group 2B — possibly carcinogenic to 
humans.

Workers became concerned early one morning last week when particles of the 
substance were detected being blown around work areas by cooling fans used 
in the HBI production process.

By 6am the emissions had become so bad that workers reported the area 
looked like a "snowfield".

Day-shift contractors refused to commence work and all 350 contractors on 
the site resolved not to enter the plant until BHP and the West Australian 
Department of Minerals and Energy could provide an assurance them the site 
was safe.

Despite a manufacturer's recommendation that workers involved in fibretex 
spillage "wear dust-proof goggles, PVC/rubber gloves, particle respirators 
and coveralls", BHP management sent workers from a labour hire firm into 
the work area to clean up the dust and particles unprotected and without 
properly informing them of the health and safety risks.