Why dust matters to the street
EPA Victoria lists construction sites among the main sources of dust, and names people nearby and homes among what poorly managed dust can affect. It explains that most airborne dust is coarse and generally cannot enter the lungs, while smaller particles, including those called PM10 and PM2.5, are easier to breathe in and more likely to reach the lungs. It names infants and young children, older people, and people with lung or heart conditions as more at risk.
In Victoria, the general environmental duty applies to activities that create dust, and EPA Victoria says a failure to control dust can lead to clean-up costs, fines and criminal charges.
Two sides of the hoarding
The left side lists what one council’s code asks of a building site. The right side is EPA Victoria’s general advice for people exposed to dust. Neither is a rule everywhere.
On the site
From the City of Melbourne’s code
- If materials must be cut on site, it happens in areas set aside for it, clear of property boundaries and public space, with localised dust suppression to stop dust leaving the worksite.
- Watering down follows set procedures and schedules, using recycled water wherever possible.
- Loose materials such as sand, soil and concrete should be dumped and double-handled as little as possible.
- Loose materials are kept from moving with wind and water, for example with stockpile areas, wind barriers, covers, binders or watering, and these must keep working when the site is unattended.
- The builder should consider filters on air intake vents of adjacent buildings close to the site, in consultation with the adjacent owners.
- Exhausts and ducts from plant point away from public space, air intakes and windows.
- The builder should regularly monitor air quality at sensitive places near the site, including nearby footpaths and private outdoor spaces.
- Vehicles leave with clean wheels and undercarriages, to prevent slip hazards on footpaths and keep the road clean.
On your side
EPA Victoria’s advice on dust
- When dust is polluting the air around you, stay inside with the doors and windows shut, and avoid high-impact exercise.
- In the car, set the air conditioning and heating to recirculate.
- For everyday dust, run air conditioners where you can, and clean their filters often.
- Dust can pollute water in tanks; a first flush diverter helps keep rainwater clean.
- If you are unwell or concerned about your health because of dust, EPA Victoria’s dust page links to who to contact.
The Melbourne code adds that the council may direct a builder to test and monitor air quality if it finds the project is adding to air quality that has become a nuisance.
Who takes a report about dust
The state pages below say who handles what.
| State | Who | What the page says |
|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | Local council, or the EPA for licensed premises | Air pollution from privately run premises without an environment protection licence goes to the local council. Air pollution from premises that hold a licence goes to the EPA, phone 131 555. |
| Victoria | EPA Victoria | Takes reports of dust from industrial and commercial sources, including construction, online or on its 24-hour pollution hotline, 1300 372 842. In the City of Melbourne, fumes or exhaust from a construction site can also be reported to the council. |
| Queensland | Local government | Most reports about nuisance such as noise, dust and odour from homes, commercial and industrial buildings are handled by local government, which should be the first point of contact. |
EPA Victoria asks that a dust report say where the dust is, when it happened, what caused it, whether it has happened before and how it is affecting you, and notes that even wind direction and speed can help. A dated note of each episode, kept as it happens, makes those questions easier to answer. That last point is the guide’s suggestion.
Asbestos is a separate subject with its own rules; this guide sets out only the basics, each from an official source. In New South Wales, the NSW Government points people concerned about asbestos removal and unsafe building sites to SafeWork NSW.
Nationally, the Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency’s advice for householders says it is “not recommended that you handle or remove asbestos yourself”, and in some places the law goes further: in the Australian Capital Territory any removal needs a licensed removalist, unless it is part of minor routine maintenance or other minor work, and in Queensland a home owner must be trained before taking out more than 10 square metres of non-friable material, and only a removalist holding a Class A licence may remove friable material. The agency adds that getting a professional to do the job is easier, safer and often cheaper. It also says that all asbestos waste must go to a landfill licensed to accept it, and that putting asbestos in a household rubbish bin can bring a fine.
SafeWork NSW says a licensed asbestos professional must always remove friable asbestos, and non-friable (bonded) asbestos of more than 10 square metres; for any smaller amount of non-friable asbestos it still recommends a licensed asbestos removalist. NSW Health explains that breathing in asbestos fibres can damage lung tissue and, over time, may lead to lung disease such as asbestosis, lung cancer or mesothelioma.
In New South Wales, asbestos waste may be taken only to a landfill that holds a licence to accept it, the state’s asbestos website says. EPA Victoria says asbestos waste must never go in general, recycling or green waste bins, only to a landfill authorised to receive it. Queensland’s government asbestos site says asbestos waste there is regulated waste that has to go to a landfill able to lawfully take it, usually one run by the local council, and that a domestic garbage bin is an illegal place to put it.
The national agency warns against using high-pressure water on an asbestos cement roof or anything else containing asbestos, and against cleaning such material by scrubbing, sanding, grinding or another abrasive method. Queensland’s government asbestos site tells homeowners and the public in that state never to use power tools on asbestos materials, power saws, drills, sanders and angle grinders among them, or high-pressure water blasters. Its tips for home renovators also list scraping among the things not to do, with sawing, sanding and drilling holes in asbestos materials.