RAH site victim Jorge Castillo-Riffo’s partner wants government to fund family representation at future inquests
THE partner of a construction worker killed on the job has called for grieving families to receive government funding for representation at coronial inquests.
THE partner of a construction worker killed on the job has called for grieving families to receive government funding for representation at coronial inquests.
Pam Gurner-Hall feared she would be forced to sell her house to pay for counsel at the inquest into the death of Jorge Castillo-Riffo, 54.
“It costs a lot of money to have counsel represent you at an inquest,” Ms Gurner-Hall told The Advertiser.
She said Mr Castillo-Riffo’s union, the CFMEU, saved her the pain by funding her legal team.
Ms Gurner-Hall believes families should be financially supported and assigned a paid State Government case worker to act as a “single point of contact between next of kin” and relevant Government agencies including SA Police, SafeWork SA and Return to Work SA.
“You can attend as an observer but you don’t have a say if you are not represented. This is the sort of stuff that families are faced with.”
Mr Castillo-Riffo was working alone on a scissor lift completing patchwork at the new RAH when he was crushed between the scissor lift and a concrete slab on November 27, 2014. He died in hospital the next day.
Ms Gurner-Hall said the trauma from the incident and failed SafeWork SA investigation had taken its toll on her financially and emotionally.
“I’ve lost $300,000 in wages, four years of my life and the love of my life,” she said.
She said her fight for answers and dealing with multiple government agencies could have been alleviated by having a single point of contact. Mr Johns has previously recommended funding for families be provided through the Legal Services Commission, to enable families to be legally represented at inquests.
A spokeswoman for Attorney-General Vickie Chapman said she had agreed to consider funding applications “on a case-by-case basis”.
“The current proposal in the Castillo-Riffo case is noted and we will await the findings and any recommendations of the coroner,” the spokeswoman said.
Ms Gurner-Hall has also sought recommendations including that the hospital’s builder HYLC, now known as CPB Contractors, not be awarded any new SA Government contracts for 10 years and that a judicial inquiry be established to report on measures to stamp out employment practices that deter construction workers from raising safety concerns.
Along with the CFMEU, she has called for coronial inquests into workplace death be mandatory. The CFMEU has also called for the establishment of a new, independent safety commissioner for SA
“Construction companies have been allowed to put profits before people’s lives and have bent over backwards to avoid accountability,” CFMEU Assistant National Secretary Andrew Sutherland said.
“We need to strengthen safety regulation to prevent further deaths, ensure that any death in a workplace is investigated by a coroner, and provide support to the families.”