Thousands will be out of work after insulation scheme backflip ($2.5B project - Garrett keeps job)

News.com.au ^ | 2/20/10 | Malcolm Farr and Alison Rehn

[Libloather]

Thousands will be out of work after insulation scheme backflip
Malcolm Farr and Alison Rehn
February 20, 2010 11:16AM

ENVIRONMENT Minister Peter Garrett will keep his job but thousands of workers will be sacked after the abrupt scrapping of the disastrous $2.5 billion household insulation scheme yesterday.

And Mr Garrett's own department admitted that as many as 80,000 homes across the country may have been left with insulation that does not comply with the official guidelines.

The announcement was a dramatic retreat from hardline Government support for the rebate project and a severe political bruising for Mr Garrett and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

The Government dumped the insulation scheme from close of business yesterday and said it and a solar hot water rebate scheme would be administered by a single new program from June.

It also finally tabled a damning, 12-month-old risk analysis into the home insulation program by consultants MinterEllison which warned of potential for fire, fraud and poor quality installation.

[Libloather]

Cold? You can always burn some midnight oil.

Midnight Oil singer in hot water over insulation deaths
By Philippa Bourke Feb 18, 2010, 7:30 GMT

Former Midnight Oil singer turned politician Peter Garrett is under fire after four insulation-related deaths in Australia.

The death of a 22-year-old man installing insulation on February 4 led to calls last week for Garrett to resign as Australian environment minister.

A senate enquiry into the deaths associated with the government insulation scheme started on Thursday.

Mitchell Sweeney died on the job in north Queensland. His mother Wendy told radio she had not heard from authorities in nearly two weeks since his death. She said her son and his two co-workers received only four days' training in how to install insulation.

Garrett, who has reportedly ignored calls to resign, phoned her yesterday but could not answer her questions about what action will follow.

'[Garrett] sounded genuine when he called and said he was sorry about what had happened,' Wendy Sweeney said. 'He offered his condolences, but said he couldn't comment on the investigation, so I still don't have any answers.'

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/people/news/article_1534534.php/Midnight-Oil-singer-in-hot-water-over-insulation-deaths

[HighWheeler]

“She said her son and his two co-workers received only four days’ training in how to install insulation.”

— — —

This mother’s “kid” couldn’t figure out how to install insulation in FOUR DAYS??

[dhs12345]

Didn't know that insulation could kill.

[hal ogen]

As usual, the government is incompetent in spending the taxpayers money. Can’t you just go to Home Depot or Lowes and learn how to install insulation in about 15 minutes max? These buffoons are spending multiple millions on something that almost anyone can do with little or no “training”. And...if it takes several days or more to train them, I wouldn’t want them to touch my property. More looniness.

[HighWheeler]

Insulation can kill due to overexposure-inhalation of the floating glass fibers. This guy probably wasn't wearing a respirator.

[Concho]

There is all sorts of insulation,,,,,as usual, this is sensational reporting, and, as ususal, you aint gettin the whole story.

[az_gila]

But the insulation rebate's axing left about 7000 companies urgently considering what to do with staff during the coming three months when demand for installations will plummet without the subsidies.

“We're looking at our short-term and long-term future. I don't know if we can last until June,” managing director of Sydney insulation company Demand Group Doug Mill said.

Under the new system, householders will pay upfront for insulation, and then claim the money - cut from $1200 to $1000 - back through the Medicare system.

The old system encouraged the use of untrained and shonky contractors but from June it will be the responsibility of householders to ensure guidelines are followed.

---

OK...

1 - It seems the insulation is not cost effective without the subsidy - surprise. Does that sound familiar?

2 - “Shonky” contractors... you just learn new words every day...:^)

3 - The whole program is a mostly useless “jobs bill” that is “green”.

4 - How the heck did the Aussie Medicare program get to administrate it?

5 - The fix is to put technical code responsibility onto the homeowner - I wonder how many folks can really handle that?

I think the Aussie folks and the Zero folks must be talking to each other.

[TStro]

Actually, fiberglass fibers are harmless. They are usually 20 microns diameter, and are captured in the naso-pharyngial tract. Workers in manufacturing did not develop any disease, when exposed for over 30 years without respiratory protection. Asbestos fibrils are 0.02 microns diameter. I have a number of friends with asbestosis (insulators in refineries).

[dhs12345]

Yup. Thought that that was common sense especially if you are in the business. It can give you a nasty rash, too if it touches your skin.... it can burrow into your bloodstream and to your brain!!!! OMG.

[VeniVidiVici]

“I’m from the government and I’m here to help”

[Fred Nerks]

ENVIRONMENT Minister Peter Garrett is under pressure to offer free safety checks for 37,000 houses with potentially deadly foil insulation installed under the government’s stimulus package, after he suspended the program today in the wake of four deaths.
And the Rudd government has ordered a second inquiry into a troubled program which offers cheap loans of up to $10,000 to “green” homes, conceding it is not working properly

On Monday, The Australian revealed an audit of almost 1000 homes in Queensland has found that in about 2 per cent of cases, foil insulation was installed inappropriately, causing the roof to become “live”.

This means that if home owners enter their roof space and touch the insulation, they could be shocked or electrocuted.

If the foil touches metal frames or pipes, it could cause other parts of houses, including taps, to become electrified.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/foil-insulation-program-suspended-after-deaths/story-e6frg6xf-1225828406965

[Libloather]

On Monday, The Australian revealed an audit of almost 1000 homes in Queensland has found that in about 2 per cent of cases, foil insulation was installed inappropriately, causing the roof to become “live”.
This means that if home owners enter their roof space and touch the insulation, they could be shocked or electrocuted.
If the foil touches metal frames or pipes, it could cause other parts of houses, including taps, to become electrified.

Shocker!

[Sawdring]

I don’t understand why the foil on the insulation is electrocuting people. Is it making its own current with the insulation or because they staple it to electrical wires?

[Fred Nerks]

http://safetyatworkblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/12/a-sparkys-take-on-roofing-insulation-risks/

Chris Lehmann of Tradesmen on Time submitted a letter to the editor of the Australian online newsletter Crikey. In the letter he wrote of how impractical the Federal Government’s audit of houses with foil insulation will.

Lehmann explained to SafetyAtWorkBlog that the insulation properties of foil insulation comes from being installed across the ceiling joists and establishing an air pocket between the foil and the ceiling. However, this installation covers all electrical work so the integrity of the cabling cannot be determined visually or easily.
Lehmann said that it may be possible to use a non-conductive material to achieve the same insulation benefits without the electrical and fire risks of foil. He recommended the use of insulation batts. Batts sit between the joists and do not obscure electrical work or, at least, make the cabling more accessible.

Below is Lehmann’s letter:

“Stopping the foil insulation rollout will not stop the danger from the insulation scheme, and safety checks will be next to useless.

Foil insulation and its installation method is inherently unsafe. It may very well have good insulating properties, but so does asbestos, and we don’t use that anymore and we remove it where we find it because it is unsafe.

Foil insulation will kill you a lot quicker than asbestosis will. Here are just a few likely scenarios that could evade Garrett’s new safety check.

•If there is rubber cable in a ceiling that deteriorates and comes in contact with the foil above it, the ceiling will be live.
•If a staple has gone through a lighting cable that is not regularly used (such as a pantry light, or an exhaust fan) the fault may not be present for many, many years until there is congruence of circumstances with that appliance being on and someone being in the ceiling.
•If you have vermin in the ceiling and they chew through insulation to expose the conductors and they come in contact with the foil, the ceiling will be live.
•If you have a recessed light fitting that develops an earth fault and the foil is resting on it, the ceiling will be live.
•If you have a fault caused by a burnt neutral, removed or missing MEN link in the switchboard and you have bare earths in the ceiling (very common in pre 70’s houses) there is a good probability ceiling will be live.
•Dad/handyman/electrician mount something on the ceiling with a screw and it goes through a cable and into the insulation 50mm above the gyprock, the ceiling will be live.
There are so many different likely scenarios it is scary. It is not a matter of possibility that a ceiling with foil insulation becomes live, it is a matter of real probability. I have already told our employees that we do not work in ceilings with foil unless the power is isolated to the entire house.

This also presents a very real maintenance issue: if you are tracking a wiring fault in a ceiling or installing new cabling, you have to remove or disturb portions of the foil to complete the work. The act of doing this could actually cause a fault that was not there before.

All invoices submitted by electrical contractors in Qld must have a “certificate of test” attached which makes them liable for the safety of that installation in perpetuity to the effect of the work they have performed, in this case the electrical safety of the installation with regards to the foil insulation. No responsible electrical contractor would put their name on an invoice. I believe there would be a very real, sleeping liability for anyone putting their name to such a safety check.

You cannot see any of the cabling in these type of installations as the foil is put over the top of the ceiling battens. Therefore you cannot put your hand on your heart and say it is safe unless you pull the insulation up again and inspect the condition of the cabling, connections, and light fittings underneath. My very real concern is that people will pay money to a sparky (unscrupulous or foolish enough) to tell them it’s OK, and give them a false sense of security.

Foil insulation should be removed urgently. I am not being alarmist when I say that it is a certainty that more people will die. The victims in the future will not be 16 or 18-year-old installers — they will be plumbers, electricians, or dads putting the camping gear or the Xmas lights up in the ceiling.

This will be a deadly legacy of this stimulus package that will kill people 20 to 30 years into the future unless the foil insulation is removed and quickly. To be fair, it was installed previously and there was an Australian Standard for its installation. However, the flood of unskilled and inexperienced installers into the market, armed with nothing but a Stanley knife, staple gun, and a roll of glorified alfoil made installation standards plummet. What was previously an el-cheapo, less safe product for insulating a home became a deadly, unsafe product.

Chris Bowen repeatedly defended Peter Garrett on Lateline this week by saying Garrett had sought “expert advice”. A warning from the peak Electrical Contractors body in the country surely has to be considered “expert advice”. They had no axe to grind in issuing a warning about the safety of the foil insulation, other than the protection of life and property. This was an entirely foreseeable tragedy, expected and witnessed by people like myself who make a living by managing, preventing, and correcting electrical risk every day.

If Garrett wants to get on the front foot with this, he should announce that foil insulation method is banned, and instigate a policy of removal immediately. Putting all politics aside, as a bloke who is climbing into another ceiling tomorrow and sending people out to do the same on my behalf, I want to make sure we all have a better chance of going home safely

[Sawdring]

I worked on a job once where the metal soffit outside was live. Nobody got shocked but it was quite a puzzle for the electrician to figure out. This whole problem is predicated then on the failure of the insulation on the electrical wire or putting a screw or staple through the electrical wire. Perhaps they should have to just ground the insulation if they want to use it.

[Fred Nerks]

I am under the impression the government wanted to spend the stimulus money as quickly as possible, safety guidelines were ignored, there were not enough inspectors available to assure the installation was carried out correctly. The rebate offered by the government unleashed a frenzy of telephone marketing, I received at least ten telephone calls a week during the drive to install roof insulation; the number of unqualified operators who suddenly appeared on the scene as a result of the government initiative simply had to result in danger to the consumer. Installers were hired after a few hours of ‘training’ and many of them were ‘apprentices’ - school leavers aged 17 or 18.

The government has no buiness being in the roofing insulation business IMO. If I want my roof insulated, I can arrange that for myself.

The endless telephone marketing calls made me feel very uncomfortable about the entire issue. Turns out it was nothing but part of the ‘global-warming’ scam. Four people dead so far and numerous house-fires has been the result.

[Fred Nerks]

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/roofs-to-remain-live-for-months-20100211-ntxo.html

Incorrectly installed foil insulation also has caused about 100 ceiling fires since March last year, Mr Tinslay said.

Three of the four people killed in relation to the rebate program were from Queensland.

On October 14, a man installing insulation at a Brisbane home was electrocuted after a staple used to fix foil in the roof space pierced an electrical cable that electrified the foil.

A month later, 16-year-old installer Rueben Barnes died after receiving a fatal 240-volt shock in the roof of a home in Stanwell, south of Rockhampton under the same circumstances.

A third Queenslander, a man aged 25, was electrocuted in the roof of a Millaa Millaa house last Thursday.

The government’s grand plan to insulate 2.7 million Australian homes was supposed to help boost the country’s economy and add to its green credentials.

[dhs12345]

Lol! Yikes.

At least they aren't using CFLs. Oh wait, I bet they are.

Actually, they should be able to manage it. Metal ducting is used in homes in the US... a perfect conductor if someone wires AC to it.

[Libloather]

...the Australian online newsletter Crikey...

Is that for real? Kinda like the American newsletter 'Just Damn'?

[Fred Nerks]

http://www.crikey.com.au/

Who’s gonna save him?
Crikey / 20

With news that Garrett only saw a damning risk assessment of the roofing insulation scheme 10 days ago;despite it being sent 10 months ago is this the final tipping point for Garrett?