Energy company invites former station employees to free asbestos checks

New Zealand: Energy company invites former station employees to free asbestos checks

New Plymouth, New Zealand – Contact Energy is giving all former staff members that worked at the New Plymouth power station the opportunity to be tested and monitored for possible exposure to asbestos.

The energy company published the announcement in all major daily newspapers in New Zealand. The invitation is also extended to all employees who worked for Electricity Corporation of New Zealand, the power station’s former owner before 1987.

Former employees are asked to write to Contact Energy if they believe they were exposed.

A Contact spokesman said the company was following good practice by being proactive with the situation. He added that they wanted to do right thing for their former employees.

Lance Snowden, a former employee, has criticized the company in the past for its method of dealing with former employees who thought they had been in contact with the deadly substance. After hearing the news, he now says he believes Contact is changing for the better.

The invitation stems from the discovery of asbestos in the building last September which led to the closing of the station. Workers found the hazardous fibers under insulation pipe lagging.

According to CEO David Baldwin, the company had a register from the previous owner detailing where asbestos was located at the plant, and that area was not on the list. The workers had not been wearing the proper protective equipment at the time. Contact Energy gave them all health assessments and vowed to support them and their families on a long-term basis.

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