Jewel site accident: Paramedics treating three men for injuries after workers crushed by steel

Work on the $1.4B Jewel development ground to a halt this morning after three workers were rushed to hospital following a major accident.

WORK on the $1.4B Jewel development has ground to a halt this morning after three workers were rushed to hospital following a major accident.

The men had been working in a confined space in the lower car park area of the Surfers Paradise development when a three-and-half-tonne metal cable conduit fell around three metres from above, crushing at least one of the men.

It is understood electricians had been pulling cables along the metal tray when it broke off from the wall.

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The steel beam and the electrical wire it was holding after both crashed to the ground at the Jewel development site in Broadbeach on 5 December 2018.

The trio, aged 27 and 28 have all been taken to Gold Coast University Hospital in a stable condition.

One of the men’s injuries has been downgraded from “serious”.

The Gold Coast Bulletin understands the injuries left the men in excruciating pain, with the beam crushing a worker’s pelvis while the others suffered leg and shoulder injuries.

However Queensland Ambulance Service Senior Operations Supervision Gavin Fuller said the men were lucky their injuries weren’t worse.

A plastic step stool demonstrates the crushing power of a metal cable tray which fell on three workers, landing on a man's pelvis at the Jewel development on December 5, 2018.

“Very lucky. The piece of equipment that has fallen down on them was about 80kgs a metre in weight and about 45 metres long,” he said.

Workmates have been credited for helping the trio, moving the heavy beam off the crushed worker and minimising his injuries.

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The Jewel development in progress at Surfers Paradise. Picture: Jerad Williams

A 27-year-old man suffered a fractured pelvis, while two 28-year-olds received leg and shoulder injuries, Mr Fuller confirmed.

He said all workplace accidents were treated very seriously.

“Not only is there the incident that’s happen there’s also the potential for follow on effect if something has been damaged or the structural integrity has been hindered by that there could be furthermore incidents that occur afterwards,” he said.

The steel beam and the electrical wire it was holding after both crashed to the ground seriously injuring three workers at the Jewel development site in Broadbeach on 5 December 2018.

It is the second workplace accident at the Jewel development in less than seven months after a man narrowly escaped death while working near the elevator shaft in May.

The near fatal incident sparked unrest among workers at the development, with many walking off-site over safety concerns.

Work on the project stalled again in September after workers faced an uncertain future with redesigns causing construction delays and fuelling job loss fears.

The beachfront development is due for completion by mid 2019.

A Workplace Health and Safety Queensland spokesman confirmed investigators remained at the site and are looking into the accident.

He said work was able to continue at the site if developers chose, as investigators had not ordered it be shut down.

However dozens of workers streamed off the construction site after the terrifying accident, telling the Gold Coast Bulletin they’d been sent home for the day.