February 13, 2010 - 2:22PM .
Electricians formally warned Environment Minister Peter Garrett that metal roof insulation could cost lives months before he banned it.
By the time he acted, two installers had been electrocuted.
The federal government's $3.7 billion roof insulation program is in crisis as electricians scramble to check almost 50,000 homes that could have "live" roofs.
It's also been revealed that installers were not required to have any training. Two more installers have died while fitting pink batts under the scheme.
Mandatory training starts on Friday - almost a year after the program began, despite a string of warnings that untrained installers were dangerous and reports of homes catching fire because of poorly installed pink batts.
Mr Garrett revealed details of his handling of the bungled program to Parliament on Thursday amid calls for him to resign.
Last October, after one installer had died fitting the metal insulation, Mr Garrett met Master Electricians Australia to discuss safety.
"Master Electricians were very concerned in general terms that metal fasteners and foil insulation posed an unacceptable safety electrocution risk," Mr Garrett told Parliament of what was said in the meeting.
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