Construction workers at Jewel towers walk off job amid safety concerns

CONSTRUCTION workers at the billion-dollar Jewel towers have walked off the job amid safety concerns at the work site.

The Jewel development at Surfers Paradise.

CONSTRUCTION workers at the billion-dollar Jewel towers have walked off the job amid safety concerns at the work site.

Up to 1000 workers have staged the walkout after a man came within an inch of his life when he was crushed between a construction hoist and equipment at the site yesterday.

Construction workers have walked out of the Jewel site amid safety concerns following the injury of a worker yesterday.

NO JEWEL APARTMENTS SOLD SINCE FEBRUARY

The worker, a rigger in his 20s, spent the night in Gold Coast University Hospital with six broken ribs, a broken scapula and a punctured lung as a result of the accident.

A Jewel worker — who wished to remain anonymous — said the accident was the result of poor safety standards and fast production rate on the development site.

He said the man should not have been working during the poor weather conditions but are under a tight production deadline.

“Things like this are happening on a weekly basis,” the worker said.

“There have been a lot of near misses but the culture here is that if you speak out about the safety then you are sent home. People are too scared to report things.

“The production schedule is under the pump.”

The Jewel construction site is currently empty after workers staged a walk out amid safety concerns.

More to come