The Blue Mountains Council asbestos drama has reared its ugly head once again.

Last September, Ray Hadley revealed the council’s Springwood Depot was closed for a third time because of botched asbestos removal attempts.

Safework claimed the council completed the job “in accordance with appropriate removal and disposal methods”, but a day later Airsafe inspected the site and found a large amount of asbestos dust and debris.

Meanwhile, Blue Mountains Council called Ray a liar, saying the asbestos had been planted there.

Now, frustrated and concerned council workers have sent Ray Hadley CCTV footage of staff attending the workshop on a weekend to try and cover up the matter.

The vision shows staff illegally conducting asbestos removal works and failing to follow safety protocols while doing so.

Watch the CCTV footage below

Despite the footage, and a direction from Better Regulation Minister Matt Kean, Safework is still refusing to take proper action against the council, claiming the footage “is inconclusive”.

Statement from Safework to The Ray Hadley Morning Show

“Safework has watched the vision, and because the type of work being undertaken is inconclusive, Safework inspectors will make further enquires.

• The footage is low quality and appears to be filmed off a CCTV screen.
• The location of the filming is not shown or verifiable through the
  vision.
• A sign can be seen, which appears to read “asbestos works in
  progress”.
• However, it is not possible to see whether asbestos was being removed.
• The unverified vision purports to show two people putting on and
  taking off Personal Protective Equipment close to a metal structure and
  near a vehicle.
• Because of the low quality of the vision, and the metal structure
  obscuring most of the activity, it is not possible to see clearly what
  action is being taken.
• The vision has also been edited in parts.
• It is not possible to verify whether asbestos was removed from the site in
  a vehicle, as was suggested.

More than 18 months after Ray first started talking about the asbestos issues, and more than a year since Local Government Minister Gabrielle Upton issued the council with a performance improvement order… nothing has changed.

The Ray Hadley Morning Show has previously asked Blue Mountains Council for comment but has been directed to stop contacting their media officer.

Further statement from SafeWork NSW

“The vision appears from the date stamp on it that it was recorded on the 15th of September 2018.

SafeWork can confirm the site in the vision is the same site that was issued a Prohibition Notice on the 18th of September 2018, for matters relating to asbestos removal.

That Prohibition Notice is still valid and SafeWork NSW is continuing to monitor compliance with it.”