Covid lockdown: Essential FIFO workers flown in for Stanwell Power Station project

FIFO Workers left the south-east lockdown last week and arrived in Stanwell the night before they were told to get tested. Concerned locals want to know why.

Residents of Stanwell are shocked by claims dozens of contractors who arrived from the southeast to work on a nearby project were not tested for Covid before they reached Central Queensland .

A source, who doesn’t wish to be named, said there were 20 FIFO workers to begin work at the Stanwell Power Station last Thursday and many more to arrive this week.

“The workers do have exemptions to travel here but they only had to fill out a form they could easily lie on,” they said.

“I just can’t understand why the government wouldn’t wait until Sunday to decide.”

The same source told The Morning Bulletin the workers arrived on Wednesday and then received an email on Thursday, ordering them to get a Covid test before they entered the site.

“I still don’t know why they would let them leave without getting one first,” he said.

The Morning Bulletin contacted UGL Contracting – the same firm which employed the Yarwun worker who was seriously injured when he fell from scaffolding into a caustic substance – for comment last week, but it failed to respond.

A representative from the Stanwell Power Station said contractors were instructed to get Covid-tested before they went on site, but could not comment on whether they were tested before they flew into Central Queensland.

She said between 500 – 550 additional people are required to support the overhaul, with about 150 of these being from Central Queensland.

Workers who are deemed ‘essential’ can leave lockdown areas to work around the state and country, but a health expert said the definition of essential work was “broad and hard to define”.

“If you think about people in emergency departments, ambulance, paramedics being critical to the management of any outbreak in our community, we also need people who keep them there,” Professor of Public Health at QUT, Gerard Fitzgerald, said.

“It’s that backroom stuff that we tend to forget about - the power, the fuel, the water, the food - all those sort of things that are essential to keep that person operating. So it is that consequential essential workforce that’s also important.”

But the residents of Stanwell firstly want to know whether these workers are, in fact, ‘essential’ or whether the work could be carried out by locals.

“They did ask if we knew any locals but there aren’t many scaffolding companies here,” the source said.

Stanwell residents also want to know if the scaffolders pose a threat to their small community.

It comes after many residents in the area had a Covid scare in recent weeks, when a woman who visited the nearby Rookwood Weir site for three days while unknowingly infectious.

Thankfully, there have been no further reports of cases stemming from the incident.

“I don’t think anybody knows these contractors are coming from the southeast this year,” said a Stanwell retailer.

“I assumed things would be done differently while we’re trying to keep Covid out of Central Queensland.”

The Morning Bulletin is also waiting for comment for the Member for Mirani whose electorate covers Stanwell.

This week, the Chief Health Officer approved vaccinations for Fly in, Fly Out (FIFO) and Drive in, Drive Out (DIDO) workers, in a move designed to increase protection for regional communities from the more infectious Delta strain of the Covid virus.

As well as encouraging FIFO and DIDO employees to register through the Queensland Health (QH) website to get vaccinated, the Queensland Resources Council (QRC) has commenced planning to establish a vaccination hub for FIFO workers at the Brisbane Airport, subject to Pfizer vaccine availability.

They will also be subject to health checks at the Brisbane Airport prior to employees flying into regional areas; elevated onsite Covid-safe practices including mask-wearing at all times unless unsafe; and additional cleaning and hygiene regimes.

FIFO and DIDO workers of any age can now book a vaccination through https://www.vaccinebookings.health.qld.gov.au/.

People classified as a 1b vaccination priority include aged care, disability care and health care workers; teachers, transport drivers, quarantine, airport, border and FIFO/DIDO workers; and critical and high-risk workers such as defence, police, fire and emergency services.