Safety Alerts

SEVERED FINGER

Two days earlier, waterside
worker Pino Mascaro, bleeding
heavily from a crushed hand and
severed finger did not get urgent
medical attention.
On December 12 at 5.00 pm, a
container crushed Pino Mascaro’s
hand while he was unlocking a
twist top. Bleeding heavily he cried
out for help to workmate Shaun
Harry who was lashing nearby.
What followed would be best
described as a comedy of errors
had it not almost ended in tragedy.
Shaun tried to get his injured
mate to first aid but the ute
wouldn’t start. He called on the job
supervisor for an ambulance. The
supervisor questioned the severity
of the injury and refused.
So Shaun got in a van and drove
Pino to the first aid station, run by a
private contractor. They called 000
for an ambulance, but it had trouble
with directions and got lost. Another
employee arrived with Nino’s
severed finger. First aid put it on ice
only to be told by 000 that was not
the right thing to do. The ambulance
took 12 minutes to arrive.
Meanwhile workers were directed
to take photos of the accident
scene.But by this time a call had
gone through to the union. Dave
Schleibs, deputy branch secretary
was on the phone to management
voicing members’ concerns about
the lack of safety protocols.
Crane operator Murray Costello
wouldnotreturntothe crane as
directed by the supervisor. He was
too affected by the injury to
continue working.
By this time the union had got
management in and the workers in
the immediate area were stood
down until WorkCover did an
inspection. Everyone involved in the
incident was interviewed by Lisa
Pitt, the WorkCover Coordinator at
DPW and were offered counselling.
But there were not enough cab
charges for them to return home.
Some shared cabs and Lisa herself
had to drop one employee home.
The following midnight, day and
afternoon shifts worked as normal.
But by Sunday December 13,
rumours andreports about the
mishandling of the incident
circulated on the wharves and the
union was again called in. What’s
more the supervisor who was on
duty the night of the accident was
back on that shift. Members
expressed concerns about the
imminent risk to their health and
safety. They refused to start work
until they were fully satisfied that
procedures were in place in the
event of an injury.
The delegate reported the
members’ views back to the
supervisor and on the union’s
request management met with the
workers to hear their concerns first
hand. Management agreed to a level
3first aid officer available at all
times in the gatehouse, new
protocols and to address the
supervisor. Satisfied, the members
voted to return to work. Meanwhile
attempts to re-attach Pino’s finger
in hospital were unsuccessful.

STOPWORK OVER
ASBESTOS EXPOSURE
The Maritime Union of Australia is
demanding an inquiry after workers
were exposed to asbestos while
working on the $43 billion Gorgon
project on Barrow Island in WA.
MUA members who have been
shifting the asbestos are refusing
to return to work the cargo until
their safety is guaranteed.
Branch Secretary Chris Cain says
someworkers were undergoing
blood tests and x-rays.
"There's a letter going off not only
to Chevron but also to the
government asking for an inquiry,”
hesaid. “It’s going to WorkSafe as
well to do their investigations.”
"I've come out of a mass meeting
with my members and they're very,
very distraught."
The WA Branch has reported
unsafe shipments of asbestos to
WorkSafe and alerted other unions
on the island after tests confirmed
asbestos was being shipped and
stevedored without safety
precautions.Both ships’ crew and
waterside workers have been
exposed to the deadly dust.
MUA organiser Noel Nielsen reported
that drums containing asbestos were
shipped from Barrow to Dampier
using vessels Bhagwan Mover, Malu
ExplorerandKararwain October.
The crew of Malu Explorer was told
that palletised 200-litre drums
containing ACM would be loaded for
return to the mainland. They were
not provided with training, PPE or
instructions.
The crew refused to load because
drums were not securely banded,
pallets were in poor condition and
several drum lids and clamps were
notsecure.Shipments resumed
once the problems were fixed.
But when Mermaid’s RoRo were
required to handle pallets there
were no warning labels on the
outside of drums and it was left to
the crew of the Malu Explorer to
warn their comrades that the
pallets contained asbestos.
Mermaid’s crew observed debris
and dirt on top of the drums and
pallets and questioned management
but shipments continued.
Samples were provided to KJV
safety manager Harry Callahan for
analysis. But it was not until
January 6 that workers were
advised at a pre-start meeting that
the sample was positive.
The union is concerned the
vessels have been contaminated,
the crews exposed and all persons
onshore who were working with or
in the vicinity of the pallets have
experienced some level of exposure.
A spokeswoman for Chevron says
an investigation into the asbestos
has begun. She says asbestos used
in pipes and fences was buried
when oil fields were first developed
about 40 years ago.

OFFSHORE TIME BOMB
People are being picked up with no
tickets to drive cranes and fishing
vessels are beingused to transport
equipment to offshore LNG
developmentsin WA in breach of
safety regulations, according to WA
Branch Secretary Chris Cain.
“We are going to have a death,” he
told National Council in November. “It’s
atime bomb, an absolute disgrace.”

MISDECLARED CARGO
PUTS LIVES AT RISK
Shippers continue to put lives at
risk byproviding incorrect
information about the weight of
cargo, despite intensive efforts by
lines to spell out the dangers of
overloadingcontainers, LloydsList
reports.
An investigation by the UK’s
Marine Accident Investigation
Branch found that the top
containers in seven of nine stacks,
which were shown on the loading
plan as empty, actually had
contents weighing between 15 and
30 tonnes in one recent accident.
Maersk Line is now developing new
software to help identify overloaded
boxes using an alert system.
Meanwhile terminal operators
frequently ignore overloaded
containers rather than disrupt
cargo-handling operations, industry
sources claim.