Speakers will include ABC journalist Matt Peacock, who has just released the book Killer Company: James Hardie Exposed, former NSW attorney-general Bob Debus and Karen Banton, widow of asbestos campaigner Bernie Banton.

Chair of the event, Ron McCallum, professor of labour law at the University of Sydney, told Lawyers Weekly he hoped the seminar would look towards prevention of future collapses.

"What I'm hoping to see is that we can learn lessons about what not to do in the future. I don't see any point in me going over what James Hardie did, that is all documented in Matt Peacock's book, and the directors have been punished.

"The real [questions are]: 'What do we do about cleaning up the asbestos that is still around under driveways? What do we do in the future? How do we control new processes in the workplace? And how do we make sure that people abide by safety laws?'," he said.

The free seminar starts at 6.30pm.