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Asbestos -do not attempt at home.

A Labor senator has told Parliament messages during renovation shows should warn about asbestos.

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In August unions demanded TV renovation shows run viewer warnings about the dangers of asbestos or risk being reported to the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

Now Labor senator Lisa Singh has told Parliament messages at the bottom of TV screens should be displayed to educate the public preparing to do renovations.

And maybe a “Do not SMS while driving” during Packed to the Rafters? Do not fly while watching Lost. Do not listen to anything said by Dr. House except in the last ten minutes. Do not Slap while watching The Slap. And especially do not turkey slap while watching Big Brother please.

Or maybe just “Do not attempt D.I.Y renovations.”

Warnings about asbestos may be worth including, but it doesn’t need to be flashed up like on screen graffiti.

In the case of The Renovators it may be a moot point anyway. The show is no guarantee of a return. The LifeStyle Channel probably has the most DIY renovation on the box in any case.

But there are big numbers watching The Block.

A Nine spokesman told the Herald Sun: “We understand the dangers are real. As a result we will address the safety issues and assist in educating the Australian public.”

17 Responses

  1. The nation can only be helped if the warning “dont vote labor” is scrolled repeatedly across the until the nation is rid of the present scurge.

  2. There a magnificent podcast a few years back by Stephen Fry on the OHS person from the BBC whose sole job on the set of ‘Spooks’ was to make sure actors had seatbelts on in all driving scenes. Fry described the backdrop being people committing terrorism, betraying their nation, shooting unarmed people – but you know, impressionable people might be watching and they may get the idea that it is OK to drive without a seatbelt.
    (Serious tone – asbestos warnings at start and/or end of all DIY shows is sound logic)

  4. Are they also going to list the appropriate australian standards and building codes to educate the public? Only if it means they can have a w@nker like “Keef” the site manager leering over the shoulder of wannabes to get a cheap laugh. Asbestos is just the tip of the iceberg and channel 9 and the word “educate” don’t belong in the same suburb let
    alone on a renovation show.

  5. I think the government has better things to do than this stupid “nanny state” rubbish. Why don’t they get on with running the country, and leave the advice about television production to the professionals.

    PS: I understand asbestos is a serious problem, but why is a Senator getting involved in this? Surely there are more pressing matters for him to attend to than what captions appear during reality shows…

  6. I agree with an asbestos warning as long as they dont start warning us about anything that isnt safe: vision of drinking a beer whist digging, using a hand saw without a mask etc, there has to be some common sense.

  7. I thought they used to make a point on reno shows like Backyard Blitz to say that they got professionals to remove the asbestos sheds and showed footage of it.

    Are there still people around who don’t know of the risks of messing with asbestos??

  8. I was watching a reno show from the UK a couple of years ago, where they had a beach house clad with asbestos… they then proceded to rip all the cladding off with no protective gear or other precautionary measures at all. I was stunned. And it wasn’t an old show, either.

  9. “Warnings about asbestos may be worth including, but it doesn’t need to be flashed up like on screen graffiti.”

    Though it’d be better and more worthwhile than the usual “here’s a new show of absolutely no interest to the current show’s demographic, that may or may not actually start at the time or even on the day that we’re promoting, but will probably be dumped after 3 weeks anyway so don’t get attached to it” junk that’s currently flashed up like on screen graffiti…

  11. David, while I enjoy your humour, asbestos is a serious problem. So I think it would be very reasonable to include a warning during the show about the safety standards in relation to delaying with asbestos. While I think it would be going too far to include a warning about SMSing while driving, it is also a serious issue, so I’m glad the public discussion after Mel’s death went into it

  12. Totally agree with Bec. It might seem silly but dont forget there are a lot of clueless viewers out there that could indeed start mindlessly hacking away at their homes. I don’t like to dumb down the general population but this is a nation where 2 million people watch ACA and TT nightly!

  15. They just need to weave in a few pieces to camera with, say, Scotty Cam briefly explaining the dangers and Bob’s your uncle, mate.
    This is bloody scary stuff – and this week’s Foreign Correspondent report on its widespread use in India, and Canada’s ongoing exports there, was truly frightening.

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