Another PCBU has faced court for hazardous-dust-related WHS breaches in the ACT, providing a reminder that duties in this area apply to multiple industries and are under scrutiny. The same jurisdiction has issued an asbestos-awareness-training alert.

One of the PCBUs—a sole trader who contravened asbestos regulations—failed to take “any steps to deal with the asbestos in a way that complied” with the laws.

ACT Work Health and Safety Commissioner and prosecutor Jacqueline Agius said, “The selfish neglect shown for the safety of other workers and members of the public, including home occupants in their own home who could have been exposed to deadly asbestos fibres, is utterly unacceptable.”

Benjamin Hannaford, trading as RnB Plumbing, was caught with an uncovered trailer full of asbestos corrugated roof sheets, which had not been properly wrapped, outside his residence at a caravan park in July 2022.

In the ACT Magistrates Court, he pleaded guilty to a category-2 breach of the Capital Territory’s Work Health and Safety Act 2011, exposing two workers who assisted him to asbestos inhalation risks.

The Court also took into account that he exposed “other persons” at the caravan park to the same risks.

Magistrate Ian Temby recently found the offending warranted a $10,000 fine, before reducing this to $8,000 to reflect Hannaford’s guilty plea.

He also directed Hannaford to perform 100 hours of community service work and placed him on a 24-month good behaviour order.

As reported by OHS Alert, on the same day, Magistrate Temby found a benchtop company and its director guilty of contravening the WHS Act through silica-dust failings (see related article).

In Hannaford’s case, Magistrate Temby heard the trailer and its hazardous load remained at the caravan park for three weeks before WorkSafe ACT inspectors arranged for the materials to be taken away by a licensed asbestos removalist.

Hannaford, who was not a licensed asbestos removalist, acquired the roof sheeting when he and an assistant replaced a garden shed roof for a client at a Narrabundah, ACT property.

Upon discovering the old roof sheets contained asbestos during the works, he allegedly left them on the ground beside the shed for a week, before telling the client he was arranging for them to be double-bagged and removed.

He submitted he “freaked out a bit” when he made enquiries and a removalist quoted a sum to remove the sheets that exceeded the quote he gave the client, and ultimately decided to deal with the sheets himself.

The Court noted he then “deliberately sought to deceive” another worker who helped him transport the sheets, telling him they were collecting an old fence and not commenting on the asbestos presence.

Magistrate Temby stressed that “the risk of inhaling airborne asbestos fibres from disturbed asbestos, and the significant health risks posed by exposure to asbestos… are notorious”.

“While Mr Hannaford submitted that he believed he had double-bagged the sheets in compliance with his regulatory obligations, that submission is not consistent with the agreed facts,” he added.

The Magistrate found the required safety measures “were not onerous, burdensome or costly”.

Hannaford simply needed to obtain a quote from an asbestos removalist and ask the client to pay the cost, he found, adding this was a request the client was unlikely to refuse.

“There is a need to make Mr Hannaford accountable and also to denounce his conduct… At a minimum, the victims are likely to have experienced some anxiety about that risk materialising.

“The penalty imposed in relation to this offence must provide for general deterrence”.

After Hannaford was sentenced, Commissioner Agius said this was “yet another troubling example of a trader taking dangerous shortcuts in a high-risk situation, showing a blatant disregard for legal obligations and the safety of people in our community”.

Agius v Hannaford [2025] ACTMC 19 (30 October 2025)

Asbestos training mandatory for over sixty occupations

WorkSafe ACT issued a safety alert on the Capital Territory’s asbestos-awareness-training regime after discovering some businesses are unsure of their applicable obligations.

“All workers who work in the occupations listed in the Minister’s declaration of occupations, regardless of how long they have worked in the job, their level of seniority, their qualifications and regardless of whether they are licensed or an apprentice are required to complete asbestos awareness training,” the alert says.

The Minister’s list contains more than 60 occupations and is available here.