 Asbestos is now prohibited in Australia, all forms of asbestos, however we still encounter asbestos containing materials and things such as asbestos cement sheet, vinyl floor tiles, some asbestos containing paints, certainly fire insulation often in switchboards and fire doors. Inhalation of respirable size asbestos fibres penetrate deep into the lungs and you can develop over a period of 20 to 30 years lung cancer, asbestosis or mesothelioma. The duty holder or the property owner has responsibility for ensuring that any asbestos containing materials within a workplace within a building is identified and maintained in a safe condition. There are five important things the duty holder must do to manage asbestos within the workplace. Step one is they must have an asbestos register which details the type and location of asbestos containing materials within that workplace. Step two is the requirement of the duty holder to prepare an asbestos management plan. The asbestos management plan is the way forward to manage asbestos containing materials within the workplace. The third step that a duty holder must do is to control and manage the asbestos containing materials within the workplace. So ideally elimination removal of the asbestos containing materials is the best option. However this is not always practicable and so we then follow the hierarchy so we may encapsulate the asbestos material. We may paint it seal the material and we drop down the hierarchy of control down to administrative control. So labelling of asbestos materials making sure the asbestos register and the plan are available to people. Step four for the duty holder is around training and licensing and it's really important that if you're going to remove asbestos from a workplace that you use a licensed asbestos removalist. Your work health and safety regulator can provide information and advice in regard to licensing and training. Step five for the duty holder is to monitor the workers health. So any workers who are involved in asbestos removal works or works involved in disturbing asbestos containing materials there is an obligation of the duty holder to monitor the workers health. There are two model codes of practice to assist you in managing asbestos within your workplace. You can obtain these codes of practice from the Safe Work Australia website or from the local health and safety regulator in your state or territory. If you suspect that there are asbestos containing materials within your workplace contact your local health and safety regulator. Contact details are available from the Safe Work Australia website.