MORE than 60 Brimbank and Hume insulation workers have been left devastated after the Federal Government scrapped its home insulation scheme.

Environment Minister Peter Garrett axed the program amid claims four Queensland workers died installing the insulation, under a government system that offered home owners a rebate of more than $1200.

Origin Insulation general manager Peter Andrews said he had been forced to let go more than 80 workers across Melbourne.

Origin Insulation manufactures and installs cellulose insulation and has installed ceiling insulation in around 5000 Melbourne homes.

“From the Derrimut office, I lost about 29 staff and I had to close that site. I’m left with leases for trucks, forklifts and warehouses,” Mr Andrews said.

He also gave notice to 18 workers from Origin Insulation's Somerton site and about 17 staff from the Campbellfield site.

“It was the hardest day of my working life as a business owner and manager. I could see the distress on their faces,” Mr Andrews said.

“We’re deeply upset we lost 83 people. Eighty-three families now don’t have a breadwinner. They all want their jobs back.”

He said he was not sure how much money he would lose from the insulation scheme’s end but said it would be “a large sum”, and that the company had invested more than $1 million in the insulation business.

When Star visited Origin Insulation’s Campbellfield manufacturing plant last week, Mr Andrews said he was “sitting on $200,000 of stock”.

Mr Andrews attended a meeting in Canberra last week with Mr Garrett and other key insulation industry figures to discuss how the decision had affected them, and to offer solutions on how to improve the Renewable Energy Bonus program, which is due to start 1 June.

Mr Andrews said he remained hopeful the government would announce a package to help former insulation employees return to work and provide assistance to the insulation manufacturing industry.

The Federal Government has announced a scheme to retrain ex-insulation workers until the new Renewable Energy Bonus program begins in the middle of the year.

This includes a $10 million Insulation Workers Adjustment Fund, to provide 2000 places to train insulation workers for new jobs, plus support for retrenched workers.

Displaced insulation workers can ring 132 850 to find out more about government support.