Road materials are safe
A report tabled to Shire of Campaspe Councillors this week states there is little evidence to suggest that road making material and the unsealed roads and road shoulders across the shire pose an unacceptable health risk to people.
Campaspe Mayor, Cr Leigh Wilson, said following community concern raised around silica levels and dust from unsealed roads, a highly qualified expert, Peter Attwod (BSc, BAppSc, MSc, CPMSIA, RSP (Aust), MAIOH) of HAZCON Pty Ltd, was engaged to complete an assessment of airborne road dust and potential silica exposure across the municipality. HAZCON, a specialist Health, Safety & Environmental (HSE) consultancy company works across Australia, providing specialist services for monitoring dust and measuring silica content within dust samples.
"The company took 29 dust samples from across our shire, from gravel roads and gravel road shoulders, containing a variety of road making materials," Cr Wilson said.
Expert observations taken during monitoring indicate that neither Mt Scobie, Nanneella nor other rock products appeared more or less "dusty". Irrelevant of the road material used, passing traffic on gravel roads all created some level of airborne dust, whilst unsealed road shoulders had minimal dust release.
Of the 29 results:
- 24 were below the level of detection for crystalline silica (0.02 mg/m3);
- 3 had low levels just above the level of detection thus subject to a 95% statistical uncertainty; and
- 2 contained levels of crystalline silica at 0.08 mg/m3 and 0.06 mg/m3.
"The results indicate that minor levels of identifiable crystalline silica exist on unsealed roads across the shire which the consultant reports is not unexpected and is consistent with roads across Australia," Cr Wilson said.
"Only two of the samples contained a level of measurable crystalline silica, at a rate that is very minimal to detect."
Silica is silicon dioxide, a naturally occurring and widely abundant mineral that forms 95 percent of most rocks and soils in Australia. Silica is found in varying proportions in aggregates, mortar, concrete and stone.
"This information now gives Council confidence that our quarry and road making staff are safe, residents who live in our shire and use our roads are safe, and users of our quarry products are safe, from dust and silica exposure from our unsealed roads and quarry products."
All samples resulting in identifiable crystalline silica content were rural gravel roads, with a speed limit of 100km. The roads where results with identifiable silica were obtained were constructed out of rock from Mt Scobie, Nanneella and Lake Cooper quarries.
A community group was nominated from a public meeting in October 2015, and Council staff will continue to work with this group to look at specific issues raised around a small number of local roads in Rushworth and options available.
The full report from HAZCON Pty Ltd will be available on the Shire of Campaspe's website and the Rushworth Customer Service Centre from Monday, 29 February.
Biography, Peter Attwood:
Peter Attwood (BSc, BAppSc, MSc, CPMSIA, RSP (Aust), MAIOH) is the Chief Executive Officer, Principal Consultant and Senior Hygienist of HAZCON Pty Ltd. He has degrees in Science, Environmental Health and a Masters in Work Environment Monitoring. He has more than thirty years’ experience including two and a half years at the University of Wageningen in the Netherlands.
His experience includes position of Principal Occupational Hygienist with the Victorian Health and Safety Authority and Principal Occupational Hygiene and Safety Adviser with the former State Electricity Commission of Victoria. Peter is fully certified as an OH&S Auditor for management systems and legislative compliance. He also holds a Certificate IV in Workplace Assessment and Training with extensive experience in all areas of OH&S training.
He is a Chartered Generalist OH&S Professional by the Safety Institute of Australia and a full Member of the Australian Institute of Occupational Hygiene (AIOH).