Toxic vapors threat

Toxic vapors threat

By Paul Jones

BRISBANE — Despite a legally binding notice of improvement being served on the Royal Brisbane Hospital (RBH) by the division of workplace health and safety, the spills of liquid mercury coming from hundreds of broken thermometers and blood recording machines remain where they were two weeks ago. Patients and staff are left to breathe in the dangerous vapours discharged from the spills.

Green Left Weekly has discovered that the RBH plans to spend thousands of dollars on an elaborate and expensive spill procedure at a time when a superior and less expensive means of taking temperatures is readily available. Green Left contacted thermometer manufacturers and found them reluctant to supply mercury-based thermometers because of fear of future litigation. Digital thermometers can take temperatures in three seconds and are superior in terms of cleanliness and environmental waste. In some wards, nurses spend six hours each day taking temperatures.

The financial needs of the giant Cheseborough-Ponds, who manufacture the thermometers, are clearly more important to the Goss Labor government than the safety of the public.

From GLW issue 152