December 6th, 2006

James Hardie, the Australian building products manufacturer, has been at the center of controversy for some time over failure to provide victims and families of victims that were affected by exposure to deadly asbestos from its products. Just as the company had made some headway with regards to setting up a compensation fund, a fresh round of controversy has arisen.

Hardie has once again been found to have been exposing its employees to deadly asbestos, and as a result has had to close down its factory in Sydney. Around one hundred employees are thought to have been exposed, but despite this discovery Hardie reportedly tried to avoid closing down the factory until union officials intervened.

A safety inspection was carried out at the site in November this year, and at this time officials were made aware of the asbestos exposure. However, despite these warnings, the company allowed the workers to continue work for more than a month after the risks were made known to them.

Health officials claim that Hardie even cancelled a safety seminar for staff even though plant managers were aware of the risks. However, a Hardie spokesperson has stated that notification of the risks were only provided in writing less than a week before the plant was closed.