WORKERS ENCOURAGED BY WHAT FUTURE HOLDS
BY all measures, the Gold Coast’s construction sector will bloom in coming years, with plenty of projects reportedly in the pipeline.
Construction industry veteran Stephen Andersen has dabbled in commercial and private construction for more than 30 years.
He is employed on stage one of the Ruby project in Surfers Paradise and has been on the site since September.
“I’ve got many different tickets in traffic control, first aid, safety, plant operation, machinery driving – forklifts, excavators – scaffolding and jump screens,” he said.
“That allows me to sometimes take a step back and work across the different areas.
“I love it, it’s hard yakka, but we’re generally surrounded by a good bunch of blokes.”
The 56-year-old said it was “about time” things on the Gold Coast ran smoothly.
“Developments need to be coming out of the ground at a steady pace,” he said.
“For many years it’s been dead quiet. Prior to that there was a four-year boom, then a bust, followed by another boom and bust.
“A lot of people have upped and left the area, gone interstate to work, some just to Brisbane.
“Everyone’s nightmare on the Coast is having to go to Brisbane – and who can blame them?
“But you’ve got to put the bread and butter on the table so in some cases, it must be done.
“So it’ll be good to see some more jobs come up.
“There’s certainly a lot of work in the mill to go around and they’re not all going to happen at once.”
Mr Andersen said while some substantial problems needed to be addressed, including safety and some developers cutting corners, typically it would be difficult to find a better industry to work across.
“It’s a great industry. It can be cutthroat, but a majority of companies look after what they’ve got. There are some good workers out there,” he said.
“To improve things over the years, it will be good if regulators keep their finger on the pulse when it comes to safety. There’s always room for improvement and a lot of dodgy builders put profit before safety.”