457 visas, the "Big Australian" and the true costs...

Recently I met a good man "on the job" (with a good English speaking tongue) who has lost his ability to climb and perform the work he was 457'd to Australia for, due to an industrial accident not of his making... He is struggling to make ends meet as he is now paid less than %50 of his usual earnings...

Our governments have carried on about the "Skills shortage" and our companies have used this shortage as a blanket excuse to bring in cheap labour, who in many cases cannot speak our national (my apologies to our indigenous people) language, whick can have truly disastrous results for our "hands on" workers...

From: Newlywed killed at Fortescue mine site
The West 12th January 2008, 9:15 WST
Edits from the story, follow the link above to read in full...
"A 23-year-old man who was married a week ago has been killed in a workplace accident on a Pilbara mine site..."
"...Mr Reynolds said the man was in a boom lift with another worker about 40m in the air when his head became stuck between the building being erected and the controls in the cage.

“He got wedged there and the other worker could not get to the controls to take the boom down to release him,” Mr Reynolds said.

“His head hit the top of the building and pushed him over the controls so the other worker could not get to the controls.”

Mr Reynolds said that there was an override switch on the ground but that the three men on the ground, who he said were from Thailand and did not speak English, were not able to operate the switch.

Mr Reynolds said it was more than half an hour before the man was taken to the ground but by that stage he had died..."
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Union fury at BHP foreign staff deal
The West; 12th January 2008, 16:15 WST
"BHP Billiton has struck a secret agreement with the Immigration Department to bring in foreign tradesmen to work on its Pilbara iron ore operations in an unprecedented move that has infuriated unions.

It is believed the deal will allow the mining giant’s subcontractors to use 457 work visas to import up to 350 workers to help complete its $2 billion expansion.

BHP confirmed yesterday that it had won approval for the visa program but said foreign workers would be used only if subcontractors could not source enough staff locally. It would not confirm potential numbers.

While the mining industry has been using 457 visas to overcome the shortage of professional workers such as engineers and geologists, BHP’s move is believed to be the first time the scheme will be used to employ tradesmen in the industry.

The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union said it was a major blow for job and training opportunities for local youths...."

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My opinion...
When companies expect people to go and work, performing sometimes inherently dangerous tasks for small recompense (Why I will not work in Roxby Downs)it is very much unsurprising that we have a "skills shortage" and that these companies cannot get labour to finish their jobs, most of us "Tradies and semi-skilled" workers have to consider how much chance we have on these jobs of return to our families as "Guaranteed and provided for" under our countries laws under the Occupational Health, Safety and Welfare act.

One of my jobs from yr 2000...

My garage roller-door has switch to sense resistance, to stop and reverse.

With switch like this, all workers could have mentioned visa.

Happy said:

My garage roller-door has switch to sense resistance, to stop and reverse.

With switch like this, all workers could have mentioned visa.

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"Say what?"

Mr Reynolds said that there was an override switch on the ground but that the three men on the ground, who he said were from Thailand and did not speak English, were not able to operate the switch.

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That is quite tragic and sad thing is it is could have been avoided/prevented!

But, I don't understand, if people were brought here on 457, are they not required to take English exams?

I personally came here on a skilled migration scheme (NOT employer sponsored), one of the requirements was to know the English language (of course) which means you are required to take and pass the IELTS exam (english literacy).

Say this.
If my car is not clear of roller-door and roller-door while in motion touches it will stop and reverse making only small damage.

Hope you didn’t want me to elaborate on the other bit.

Happy, you must be unfamiliar with the plant being discussed? The inquiry into the circumstances pertinent to the incident will no doubt suggest "limit switches" if in fact these are remotely possible. The plant involved was (according to reports a "Cherry picker" or Telescopic/Articulating boomlift, no detail as to truck mounted or self propelled).

Aerial work platform(s) on Wiki
Cherrypicker(s) on Wiki

Pictures of truck mount 52Mtr (Millenium Dome, London 1999); Note the 20' containers and various forklifts parked at bottom of view down boom. (Taken about ground + 40M...)

From that Bastion of truth and quality journalism...
Forrest criticised over dangerous mine
By Andrea Hayward
January 13, 2008 03:04pm

Edit from story...
"AWU assistant national secretary Ben Swan has called for the elimination of artificial restrictions on the right of the unions occupational health and safety (OHS) people and key officials to represent mine workers.

"Mining people want to know that when their loved ones go to work they will come home safely - they should not have to sit on the edge worried sick about what will happen in these workplaces," Mr Swan said."

I have to say that on work sites where union rules, accidents happen too.
Some due to stupidity, laziness, officials turning blind eye, cutting corners or mere complacency.

Only some are due to Co greed.

But every fatality is good points scoring possibility for somebody.

There are some pretty strict rules on operating plant of that nature, and depending on the type of plant used, the operators may have required a license.

As for workers who can't speak English.... personally I have issued plenty of notices regarding "Duty of care" to the employer, principal contractor and the person in control of the workplace with regards to this issue. It is a huge OHS issue when workers can't understand English instructions.

The contracting company(s) that employeed the dead worker and those who couldn't speak English, plus the principal contractor(s) are going to be in pretty big trouble over this one. They may even be prosecuted under the 'gross negligence' provisions along with the 'Duty of Care' provisions.

The relevant parts of the WA OHS Act (1984) are as follows:

18A. Meaning of gross negligence in relation to certain breaches of this Part

(2) A contravention of a provision mentioned in subsection (1) is committed in circumstances of gross negligence if —

(a) the offender —
(i) knew that the contravention would be likely to cause the death of, or serious harm to, a person to whom a duty is owed under that provision; but
(ii) acted or failed to act in disregard of that likelihood;
and
(b) the contravention did in fact cause the death of, or serious harm to, such a person.


19. Duties of employers

(1) An employer shall, so far as is practicable, provide and maintain a working environment in which the employees of the employer (the “employees”) are not exposed to hazards and in particular, but without limiting the generality of the foregoing, an employer shall —

(a) provide and maintain workplaces, plant, and systems of work such that, so far as is practicable, the employees are not exposed to hazards;
(b) provide such information, instruction, and training to, and supervision of, the employees as is necessary to enable them to perform their work in such a manner that they are not exposed to hazards;

Happy said:

I have to say that on work sites where union rules, accidents happen too.
Some due to stupidity, laziness, officials turning blind eye, cutting corners or mere complacency.

Only some are due to Co greed.

But every fatality is good points scoring possibility for somebody.

Click to expand...

Agreed, though sadly on the last line.

Sprinter79 said:

There are some pretty strict rules on operating plant of that nature, and depending on the type of plant used, the operators may have required a license.

As for workers who can't speak English.... personally I have issued plenty of notices regarding "Duty of care" to the employer, principal contractor and the person in control of the workplace with regards to this issue. It is a huge OHS issue when workers can't understand English instructions.
***Edited for brevity***

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I would have though that 40 metres up in WP signified it as class WP (open) O.H.S. Certification Australia.
Furthermore, there are probably alot more than sections 18 and 19 within the act that could apply.
We need to be very careful in this country in relation to "can't understand English" as this is possibly construed as "Vilification" and or "prejudice", regardless of how we may think of it as a requirement.

What surprises me in this case is the lack of communication with crew on the ground;
1 Were there no radios in the WP?
2 Were the people on the ground (Thais) on the same work crew, and if so, how were they able to communicate with one another to perform their duties at work?

Scuba said:

I would have though that 40 metres up in WP signified it as class WP (open) O.H.S. Certification Australia.

Click to expand...

Like I said, it depends on the type of plant used and what it was used for.

Furthermore, there are probably alot more than sections 18 and 19 within the act that could apply.

Click to expand...

I was just quoting the main Sections of the Act, but there's also a whole lot of Regulations. The Act and the Regs are seperate pieces of legislation. If a prosecution was to be made, it would probably be on Section 19.

We need to be very careful in this country in relation to "can't understand English" as this is possibly construed as "Vilification" and or "prejudice", regardless of how we may think of it as a requirement.

Click to expand...

The OHS legislation over rides many pieces of legislation including EEO and even the Privacy legislation. Yes, we can get access to pretty much any piece of information without having to go through FOI.

What surprises me in this case is the lack of communication with crew on the ground;
1 Were there no radios in the WP?
2 Were the people on the ground (Thais) on the same work crew, and if so, how were they able to communicate with one another to perform their duties at work?

Click to expand...

Well, those questions are at the core of the problem, as part of a 'safe system of work.'

Scuba said:

We need to be very careful in this country in relation to "can't understand English" as this is possibly construed as "Vilification" and or "prejudice", regardless of how we may think of it as a requirement.

Click to expand...

I would hate to think we live in an enviroment so insane, so over ridden with a desire for political correctness, that the safety of those people you work with is less important than upsetting someone, not because of their race colour or creed, but because of their inability to communicate with their fellow workers.

Transportable housing now this. What next?

cheers
Surly

Surly said:

I would hate to think we live in an enviroment so insane, so over ridden with a desire for political correctness, that the safety of those people you work with is less important than upsetting someone, not because of their race colour or creed, but because of their inability to communicate with their fellow workers.

Transportable housing now this. What next?

cheers
Surly

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Couldn't agree more! What I was getting at was how we word our safety wants on the job (and) how that relates to the laws as written by our pollies.

Also, having worked in other countries that don't speak English, I know how difficult it can be to communicate without (a) common language.
Regards,
Scuba

11m or more and you need a license. Just a case of a bad safety system, and the worst case scenario. The operator is as much to blame as the mine for not factoring this in. Someone on the ground should have been shown how to retrieve the basket at the very least. Easy for an operator of boom lifts or ewps to take for granted. But if your going 40m in the air you want to check in case.

moXJO said:

11m or more and you need a license. Just a case of a bad safety system, and the worst case scenario. The operator is as much to blame as the mine for not factoring this in. Someone on the ground should have been shown how to retrieve the basket at the very least. Easy for an operator of boom lifts or ewps to take for granted. But if your going 40m in the air you want to check in case.

Click to expand...

SL = Scissors
EWP = Booms below 11m
WP = Booms above 11m

Scuba said:

SL = Scissors
EWP = Booms below 11m
WP = Booms above 11m

Click to expand...

Yes had to get my license a few years back. This guy must have been really preoccupied to get wedged like that unless the machine was faulty.

moXJO said:

Yes had to get my license a few years back. This guy must have been really preoccupied to get wedged like that unless the machine was faulty.

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Or not trained...

Anyway, the legislation is written by a tripartite body consisting of the CCI, UnionsWA and WorkSafe in WA. The pollies just pass it. Due to the CCI's involvement, many provisions have been watered down and even removed. For example, they resisted the increase of the penalties, they resisted the inclusion of Section 18A (see above) and they still insist that when a company is given an Improvement Notice to conduct a risk assessment, all they have to do is 'consider' the potential controls. No evidence needs to be presented to show that they did in fact do the RA, all they have to say is that they've 'considered' it. For years we have lobbied to have the word 'consider' replaced with something more tangible, but they veto it everytime.... wankers.

Sprinter79 said:

Or not trained...

Anyway, the legislation is written by a tripartite body consisting of the CCI, UnionsWA and WorkSafe in WA. The pollies just pass it. Due to the CCI's involvement, many provisions have been watered down and even removed. For example, they resisted the increase of the penalties, they resisted the inclusion of Section 18A (see above) and they still insist that when a company is given an Improvement Notice to conduct a risk assessment, all they have to do is 'consider' the potential controls. No evidence needs to be presented to show that they did in fact do the RA, all they have to say is that they've 'considered' it. For years we have lobbied to have the word 'consider' replaced with something more tangible, but they veto it everytime.... wankers.

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Having recently experienced a Rio site in the Pilbara, I would hope the rest of WA is not the same!

80t Demag (truck-mount) driven by someone who luffed into his E-stop (85deg) causing 5.5t load to smash into the jib eek... (Got ticket when crane computer was cactus and unable to extend jib! allegedly)

Safety advisor eek who was upset @ operator of 100t crane because he wouldn't operate 100t & 80t cranes concurrently (even though he hadn't operated 80t for over 1 year and had explained the vastly differing computer systems for each type! (Safety is safety, NOT production management!)

No whistle signals, BUT no enforcement of radio comms... (What happens when radio dies, how does one request 300kg of weight from 20 metres with hand signals? )

Riggers are not allowed to wear a Leatherman/ Gerber/ Swiss... (Lashing and taglines? Boxes and cable ties? Stuck shackle pins? )

Heat stress training, but no follow up rules when someone is heat stressed... (Very serious stuff if left untreated...)

From bad to worse... Tell you what; "There will be more deaths as a result of industrial accidents this year."

I would love someone to tell me this wasn't the case in one years time, in the mean time tell your friends and loved ones to be vigilant...
Sadly yours,
Scuba

its much cheaper and companies often report greater profits when labor from asia is attained..

hence why many jobs here in australia are being placed offshore in countries like india

its all about the bottom line or the profits at the end of the day

agro said:

its much cheaper and companies often report greater profits when labor from asia is attained..

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From what I have seen they also work very hard.They dont whine and complain either.A bit uneasy on where all this will lead though.