Spotlight on dangers
Workers unite for lost mates
GOLD Coast construction industry veteran Stephen Anderson knows the dangers of the job all too well.
Not only has he had some close calls himself on local sites, but he has also lost a mate to cancer brought on by asbestos.
Mr Anderson took time off from his traffic control post at the billion dollar Jewel towers site yesterday to join 1000 fellow Gold Coast construction industry workers for a memorial ceremony organised by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU).
They met at Pratten Park in Broadbeach and Mr Anderson said his thoughts were on the memory of Gold Coaster Billy Martin who died last year in his early 70s not long after retiring.
“He was a rigger, did many different jobs on power stations and picked up the asbes- tos in the 70s and 80s. It was everywhere.”
Mr Anderson said back then a lot of power station pipes had asbestos lagging to retain warmth.
“Everything I did today was dedicated to Billy. This is our way of showing respect for our fallen workers and their families who keep on suffering.”
CFMEU official Scott Vink said the ceremony, attended by workers from Jewel, the Parklands Commonwealth Games Athlete’s Village and Star casino hotel sites, was part of an international day: “It’s about mourning the dead and fighting for the living and showing a bit of solidarity.
“No matter what people’s ideological ideas are, it’s tough out there, it’s a harsh industry, people work long hours, it’s fatiguing and accidents happen.”
There have been nine construction work-related deaths across Queensland in the past year with 74 asbestos-related fatalities.
Mr Anderson the closest call he had was almost falling 13 storeys from a site in Southport back in 2010: “I had just unclipped my harness and was committed and would have fallen but a colleague pulled me back.
“There isn’t a job site I have been on that I haven’t had to clean up something gone wrong. You don’t hear about it. It might not be a fatal but someone is injured.”