Too many blokes take their lives in their own hands driving home after a 12 hour shift on potholed deathtraps in the middle of the night dodging trucks and stray kangaroos.
Mine workers with families shouldn’t have to play chicken with B-doubles on their way home to see their kids.
The Strong and Sustainable Resource Communities Bill will prohibit 100% FIFO for operational workforces, prohibit discrimination in recruitment against local workers and enhance the social impact assessment process.
The requirements affect large resource projects with 100 or more workers and an environmental authority within a 125 kilometre radius of a regional community with at least 200 residents – numbers reached after widespread community consultation, according to Minister for Natural Resources and Mines Dr Anthony Lynham.
This is all well and good for local communities around mine sites that can benefit from having access to employment without having to arrive and leave from an aeroplane. But as a GP, Dr Lynham should be aware of the safety risks of drivers on the state’s roads going back to their communities.
Safety extends beyond the workplace to the trip home. There is a duty of care by the company to ensure that workers get home to their loved ones safely and there is a duty of care by the government to ensure that the workers are able to get home on decent roads.
One of the arguments put forward by companies in favour of FIFO was that it was a means of ensuring that workers could be accounted for at the end of the shift and be ready to start the next shift.
This has some validity and government must now come to the party to ensure that returning to the local community at the end of the shift is a viable and safe option.
The Queensland and federal governments are belatedly addressing the problem.
The federal government has committed up to $86.4 million towards pavement widening works between Caboolture and St Lawrence, with $21.4 million from the Queensland government. The federal government is also fully funding the $106.4 million Bruce Highway - Black Spots – Curra to Sarina program.
Safety works continue to be delivered on the Bruce Highway with the completion of road widening and intersection upgrades between Miriam Vale and Bororen.
Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Darren Chester said the $6.7 million project was the second of four projects being undertaken as part of pavement widening and Black Spot works in Central Queensland.
“These works, which were funded from the Pavement Widening – Caboolture to St Lawrence program, will improve safety and travel times for the 5,000 motorists and commercial vehicles which travel along this section of the Bruce Highway every day,” he said.
Hogsback hopes governments continue to invest in making roads and infrastructure safe for mine workers and their families.
