No one in Australia could have missed the dangerous pollution levels in Sydney and Canberra as a result of the recent bushfires. The Bureau of Meteorology, TIME Magazine and three former Fire Chiefs have all drawn the link between the bushfires, extreme weather events and climate change.
The extreme levels of pollution this last fortnight have seen some groups of workers stop work due to occupational health and safety risks. This includes a stop work by Maritime Union of Australian members at the Port Botany, as well as by construction and road crews in various locations in Sydney and Canberra.
This week project members Elizabeth Humphrys and Freya Newman — along with Natasha Heenan, from the University of Sydney — published an article with the ABC examining the risks to workers from particulate levels from smoke and heat stress, and the role of unions in addressing these issues, and you can read it online.
***
Image: Xavier Rizos. Bushfire smoke causes a hazy red sky over North Sydney swimming pool, December 19 6.30pm.