TROUBLE IN PARADISE
ACCIDENT SPARKS SAFETY REVIEW |
THE problem-plagued Jewel development at Surfers Paradise is to undergo a full safety audit today after three men were crushed yesterday by a falling 3.5 tonne steel cabling conduit.
A 27-year-old man suffered a suspected fractured pelvis and two 28-year-olds received leg and shoulder injuries when the conduit holding electrical cables gave way yesterday morning.
Crews downed tools and night work was cancelled as workers demanded a full site inspection to ensure the construction site was safe before work restarts on the $1.4 billion development.
The builder, Multiplex, will conduct a site safety inspection before work can begin, a spokeswoman said.
Gold Coast CFMEU official Scott Vink said an inspection would put workers’ minds at ease.
He said workers were pleased an independent engineer would be on the inspection team.
“A lot of people are concerned because these three blokes could have been killed, and others could have been killed too,” Mr Vink said.
Workers will return to the site today but construction work will have to wait until the inspection gives an all-clear.
Multiplex Regional managing director Graham Cottam said investigations were under way to find out what caused the beam to collapse.
“The safety of our workers is hugely important to us,” he said.
Mr Vink said he often saw a spike in workplace accidents at this time of year.
“The majority of incidents, bad safety issues and accidents happen in the month leading up to Christmas because a lot of people don’t have their mind on the job,” he said.
Mr Vink said workers were also distracted and stressed about job security because of recent unrest with Jewel developer Yuhu Group Australia.
The incident yesterday was the second workplace accident at the Jewel development site in less than seven months, after a man narrowly escaped death while working near the elevator shaft in May.