Council settles with worker

Asbestos whistleblower case resolved

THE Chronicle understands Toowoomba Regional Council has settled out of court with a worker who claimed he was sacked after alerting authorities to asbestos on the city’s waste facilities.

The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union lodged the complaint with the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission on behalf of Craig Tanswell in the wake of his dismissal last year.

A previous court filing reveals the union was aiming to have Mr Tanswell re-instated, alleging he was “unfairly singled out” due to making “high profile complaints” to workplace health and safety officials about ongoing issues involving asbestos at council waste facilities.

It is now understood the parties reached a private settlement agreement after months of discussions.

Last June, the council was hit with four improvement notices after breaches at the Greenmount dump were confirmed by Workplace Health and Safety Queensland.

Those breaches included TRC “failing to have a safe system of work in maintaining an environment for workers and others from exposure to asbestos”, failing to have an asbestos register and a lack of barricading of detected asbestos from the public.

Last May, council waste spokeswoman councillor Nancy Sommerfield said illegal dumping at facilities and the risk of exposure to staff was a “main concern” for TRC.

Toowoomba Regional Council has also previously stated it would install CCTV and body-worn cameras to stop the illegal dumping of material potentially containing asbestos.