‘Death trap’: CCC complaint over cops’ alleged unpaid bill
A mum-and-dad business in Brisbane’s north that could not perform work for the police service due to safety concerns has sensationally filed a complaint with the CCC.
QLD News
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A mum-and-dad small business has sensationally filed a complaint with the Crime and Corruption Commission against the Queensland Police Service over a $37,000 unpaid bill.
Leo and Tenaya Kriticos claim the work their plant machinery firm was contracted to do by QPS could not be performed because the site was “a death trap”.
They have also accused the police service of “shocking” workplace health and safety breaches, including allowing its staff to do dangerous work without the necessary licences.
Mr and Mrs Kriticos – owners of Skydeck Australia, which hires and operates million-dollar cherry pickers and other elevated work platforms – have been at war with the QPS since May over a $36,982 job to repair the police telecommunications tower at Mount Seaview, 87km from Mackay.
“I feel like an idiot even talking about this, it is so unbelievable, the police are up shit creek,” said Mr Kriticos, of Wavell Heights in Brisbane.
“We are a small business, we work hard, but we’re being fobbed off.”
Mr Kriticos said the Mackay District Radio Electronics Section engaged Skydeck to remove part of the tower that was compromised and about to fall off.
“We were going to bring our Spider Lift machine up the mountain to the tower, and their staff were going to jump in the basket with us and disconnect the electrical antennas because we are not qualified to do that.
“But just as my rigger and I were arriving in Mackay (April 29), the police called and said the only person qualified to do EWP (elevated work platform) work was not there and had taken a secondment in Brisbane.”
Mr Kriticos said his quote, approved in January, stipulated that licences were needed for anyone operating the EWP but “the people present had none of them”.
“We could have just turned around and driven the 12 hours back to Brisbane, but we decided to try to help them out by visiting the site the next morning to mitigate safety concerns,” he said.
“I was stunned. I’ve seen thousands of towers in my 16 years in business, and regularly do audits for Telstra and Optus, but the QPS tower is a disgrace.
“The bolts holding it together are rusted.
“Even the track to the tower is compromised – why should I risk damaging my machine when no one on site is licensed to do any work?
“The whole thing is a death trap.”
Mr Kriticos said when he asked QPS staff why they didn’t have EWP or Working At Heights licences – legal requirements – he was told, “they just let us get up there”.
“This is dangerous work, 40-60m above the ground, and somebody could easily lose their life if they’re not properly trained,” he said.
“One police employee has already had a near-miss when his 4WD slid off the track yet no-one bothered to tell us that prior.”
Unable to help secure the tower, Mr Kriticos returned to Brisbane and since has sent several emails, seen by The Courier-Mail, requesting payment.
In an email to Mr Kriticos on May 15, a QPS officer said: “Skydeck has not fulfilled its obligations” as per the quote and “has not completed any of the core tasks required”.
The officer said: “We will not be liable because of a failure by Skydeck to not conduct its own due diligence and evaluation with regards to getting the machine up to the radio site to perform the works required.”
In an email on May 21, the police officer admitted a staffer had had an incident in a 4WD on the track but it was “only minor in nature” and denied the police had breached a duty of care by not informing Skydeck.
On June 24, Mrs Kriticos filed a complaint with the Crime and Corruption Commission about their dealings with QPS.
The complaint states Skydeck advised the work “could not proceed due to the legal requirements not being met”.
“QPS advised our operators that they had ‘just done the work’ in the past with other suppliers and ‘never even used SWMS (Safe Work Method Statements)’.”
It states that “despite multiple emails, they have ignored our requests for payment by the due date on all occasions”.
The QPS offered a settlement amount on May 21 of $2900 for transport and equipment charges and a living away from home allowance, and on June 24 increased it to $4620. Both were rejected.
“That doesn’t even begin to cover our costs,” Mrs Kriticos said.
“Our other clients are happy to pay us to fly up and do a site inspection prior, but when we offered this to the police, they said no and referred us to google maps.”
Mr and Mrs Kriticos are yet to receive an outcome from the CCC, which they were told can take up to 12 weeks.
The Courier-Mail posed a series of questions to the QPS and a spokesperson said: “As the matter is currently subject to a CCC complaint, it would be inappropriate for Queensland Police Service to comment further.”
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