Click on the image to read the full article on safety concerns at the Maritime Union of Australia's web site.
Work at all P&O Automotive and General Stevedoring (POAGS) wharves shut down in all 15 Australian ports for 24 hours after a 41-year-old Melbourne waterside worker was crushed to death during pick up and delivery operations at Appleton Dock.
“The industry is in crisis,” said Paddy Crumlin, National Secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia. “It’s the third fatality on the wharves in five months – and we said last time we lost a worker in March we needed urgent action to overcome the lack of safety on the job.”
Mr Crumlin said there was a yawning gap and inadequacies in state and federal safety legislation covering the nation’s wharves, especially in bulk and general operations, after years of neglect and deregulation under the Howard Government years.