How a silent killer went unnoticed in this TAFE campus until students and a teacher ended up hospitalised in a hyperbaric chamber
Dangerously high levels of carbon monoxide were ignored by TasTAFE management for months in the lead-up to the poisoning of students and a staff member, a damning report claims.
An air quality assessment report commissioned by TasTAFE found that clogged air filters and poor airflow allowed carbon monoxide to rise to dangerously high levels in car workshops on the Campbell Street campus.
The report comes after a teacher and two students were hospitalized in November with carbon monoxide poisoning, which required “significant” treatment in a hyperbaric chamber.
The report, written by private consultancy Environmental Service and Design, was released by the Australian Education Union on Friday
The union said officials had been waiting for the report for months, knowing levels were dangerous in the months before the hospitalizations, while staff had raised concerns about fumes in the building for more than a year.
Tasmania branch chairman David Genford said the November poisoning was the second poisoning-related worker collapse at the workshop, with TasTAFE failing to report an incident from earlier August to WorkSafe.
“TasTAFE has clearly neglected their duty of care under the law,” Mr Genford said. “This was the foreseeable and entirely preventable consequence of TasTAFE’s choice not to take the safety of employees or students seriously.
‘TasTAFE knew better and still chose not to improve air quality, knowing full well that this could endanger the lives of employees and students.’
A damning report claims TasTafe management ignored dangerously high carbon monoxide levels on Hobart’s main campus (pictured)
The report shows that the general workshop on the ground floor of the building has a ‘low air exchange of 3.23 volumes per hour’.
“This means that when the vehicles are started there may not be sufficient air for the general air extraction and exhaust extraction to operate efficiently and vehicle emissions will build up in the workshop,” it says.
The union said the build-up of carbon monoxide in the workshop due to substandard air exchange was exacerbated by carbon monoxide being sucked back into the building due to poor ventilation.
TasTAFE’s automotive courses are delivered on the lower levels of the Campbell Street campus, where running engines emit carbon monoxide fumes that are vented outside the building.
Two students and a teacher were hospitalized and had to spend ‘significant’ periods in a hyperbaric chamber (stock image)
A supplied undated image, obtained on Friday, December 6, 2024, shows smoke fumes pouring from TasTAFE Campbell Street Campus in Hobart, Tasmania
But the union said the building’s air intake was located near that vent, and workers believed this was how toxic air was recirculated back into the building, exacerbating existing problems.
“Staff on other floors of the building have also reported to TasTAFE that they have smelled fumes, felt unwell and had headaches,” the union said in a statement on Friday.
Tasmania Skills and Training Minister Felix Ellis said the matter was under a WorkSafe investigation.
“TasTAFE reported the incident immediately following confirmation and provided a copy of the independent report,” he said in a statement to AAP.
But Mr Genford said that with classes returning in 2025, the building is still not a safe place to work or learn, and called on TasTAFE to fix the systemic air supply issues.