Ceiling Insulation

There are many news about the death and burned smoke event caused by ceiling insulation which is part of the Australian Home Insulation Program.

I did not look into this program when I heard it in last year. I thought that it is good to encourage home owner to install ceiling insulation to reduce energy usage via government's rebate program. Unfortunately the 4 deaths and 90 almost fired incidents suggest that the government might push this program too rush without proper policy and safety regulation which might ruin the goodness of this program.

Australian Energy Efficient Homes Package - Home Insulation Program.
The Minister has announced the discontinuation of the Home Insulation Program, effective from close of business on Friday 19 February 2010.

This is aimed at boosting safety for households and safety for the workers whose employment is funded by this important environmental program. Safety is the Australian Government’s number one priority.

160,000 homes could have inferior insulation (ABC news, Feb 19, 2010)

The Federal Environment Department says an audit into homes insulated under the Government's rebate scheme has found substandard insulation was installed in 16 per cent of cases, while 8 per cent of cases failed safety standards...

The scrapped insulation scheme was plagued with problems including the deaths of four tradesmen and nearly 90 house fires...

The new scheme is expected to be in place in a few months, but that will mean job losses and business uncertainty for installers while they wait for the new program...

Garrett to suspend insulation scheme (Yahoo!7, February 19, 2010, 1:11 pm)
The Federal Government's home insulation scheme and the solar hot water rebate scheme have been scrapped, Environment Minister Peter Garrett has announced.

Australia Scraps Controversial A$2.5 Billion Home Insulation Scheme (Feb 18, 2010)

CANBERRA -(Dow Jones)- In the latest blow to the environmental credentials of the administration of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, the Australian government Friday scrapped a controversial home-insulation program that has led to four deaths and numerous house fires since its introduction last year.

Environment Minister Peter Garrett said the government will replace the A$2.5 billion home insulation program and a solar hot water rebate with a new household renewable energy bonus scheme.

Foil insulation deaths - legal action looming (Stefanie Balogh, Ben Packham and Sophie Elsworth, February 16, 2010 12:00am)
THE Federal Government faces legal action on multiple fronts over its bungled home insulation program as fresh details of repeated warnings of the dangers emerge....

The use of foil insulation has been suspended, and Environment Minister Peter Garrett, who is battling to keep his job, has ordered a safety check on 48,000 homes which could be potential death traps.

Four young tradespeople have lost their lives working on the program.

On October 16 Master Electricians chief executive Malcolm Richards warned Mr Garrett about serious and deadly dangers associated with his $2.45 billion insulation scheme...