THE union representing forestry workers has claimed some employees continue to work potentially “dangerous” hours in the harvest and haulage sectors.
Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union South East secretary Brad Coates said fatigue continued to be a major problem in the industry.
Mr Coates is also continuing to push for a coronial inquiry into the crash that killed four forestry workers in late 2016.
The Tabeel forestry workers were tragically killed on their way to work in a plantation at around 3am when their dual cab utility rolled and crashed into a tree near Penola.
The tragedy sparked an unprecedented outpouring of grief from across the region’s forestry sector and the community.
Mr Coates’ comments follow the release of fatigue management policy for the region’s forestry sector.
While some companies had implemented changes following the accident, he said the union was continuing to deal with fatigue-related issues.
“Fatigue related issues continue to be a massive problem in the harvesting and haulage sectors,” Mr Coates told The Border Watch yesterday.
He said some employees were reporting incidents of working “excessive hours” and employers giving two sets of log books for work hours.
“One log book is for normal working hours and the second is for banked up over-time,” Mr Coates revealed.
In new revelations, he said some employees had been offered goods – such as tyres and barbecues – instead of being “paid out”.
“While many operators are doing the right thing, some have dodgy processes,” Mr Coates said.
He revealed some employees – who had contacted the union – were afraid to speak out given they feared losing their jobs.
“A number of employees are also reporting working excessive hours – around 60 hours, six days per week,” said the union leader, who explained some employees were also driving one to two hours per day.
Explaining this behaviour did not extend to all operators, he said some companies inevitably “cut corners”.
He said he was particularly concerned over employees travelling long distances in winter because of the dark and slippery conditions.
Mr Coates said he wanted to see a coronial inquiry into the 2016 Penola crash.
“A coronial inquiry should be mandatory with any workplace fatalities,” the veteran union representative said.
