There are a few things that workers need in order to be happy in their job, and they include fair pay and a safe working environment. Whether a level of pay is acceptable or not is really debatable depending on the specific job, but one thing that really has to be guaranteed is Workplace Health and Safety (WHS). There are a number of rules and regulations in place that need to be strictly adhered to by every single employer in Australia, but that doesn’t mean that it always happens. There have been instances where the mere threat of an injury is enough to get workers walking off the job.
That was the case recently, when construction workers in Kawana on the Sunshine Coast felt that their safety was being put at risk by the conditions on the job. The workplace in question is a hospital that is currently under construction in the region, and the incident that sparked the incident involved a truck and some water barriers. The barriers in question served as a walkway of sorts for the construction workers, and was a regularly used path for them. When a water truck backed into the barriers, the safety of the whole setup as immediately called into question. Fortunately, none of the workers were using the walkway at the time of the incident, but it was enough to get the 1,500 employees off the job until the safety issue had been addressed.
This was not a case of workers flying off the handle because of a single isolated incident. It has been alleged that construction workers had been pointing out a number of potential safety concerns in the weeks leading up to the water barrier incident. They claim that none of those issues were addressed, but that they were constantly being picked on for minor violations such as not wearing gloves. The feeling among the workforce was that there was a total lack of equality when it came to safety concerns, and the incident with the water truck was merely the final straw.
Something of a he said she said mentality developed after the incident, as LendLease, the contractor on the work site, claimed that all reported issues had been investigated and taken care of. That seems to differ quite wildly from the stories being told by the men and women on the job site, many of whom feared losing their jobs if they started to complain too loudly.
These types of situations are why workplace health and safety companies such as HRB Consulting are in such high demand. These companies help employers ensure that all regulations for their workplace are strictly adhered to, and that their employees can work with peace of mind in knowing that their health and safety is assured at all times. When the employer and the employee work together in this way, you tend to avoid the types of situations that happened at the hospital work site in Kawana.
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