Call for action in wake of collapse

UNIONS have called for harsher penalties in the wake of the Myer audit released on Monday.

Workers inspecting the Myer redevelopment site following flooding that caused buildings from Cat and Fiddle Arcade to collapse. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

UNIONS have called for harsher penalties in the wake of the Myer audit released on Monday.

The Department of Justice Protection Work Audit of Myer’s Murray St reconstruction site found that the large cracks along the floors and door jamming in the Cat and Fiddle Arcade next door to the site were apparent and known by all major parties three weeks before the building collapsed into the Hobart rivulet.

CFMEU’s Kevin Harkins said the Work Health and Safety Act was there to protect construction workers and the general public.

“If it had happened in the middle of the day and there were people in the back of that Portmans shop we would have had fatalities,’’ Mr Harkins said.

“The people in positions of responsibility who made decisions that put people lives at risks should be held accountable.”

Mr Harkins said “someone needed to make a call” until the site was made safe.

“All those involved knew something was amiss.

“The building had shifted — once a crack opens it continues to deteriorate.”

Building and Construction Minister Guy Barnett said the audit contained matters of “considerable concern to key stakeholders.”

“This is a very serious matter — safety in the workplace is a top priority.”

Alexia Kallis from the The Kalis Group acknowledged the audit report and the findings of the Director of Building Control.

“In the development of this project, Kalis has at all times sort to comply with all regulations as indicated to us by our professional advisers,’’ she said.

Ms Kalis said the company will wait to see if anything further comes from the report.

Labor opposition leader Bryan Green said it was strange that the damage done to the building was not noted.

“Were the building surveyors ... aware of the issues associated with the cracking?” he said.

“As a result of this report we need to understand if the rest of the rivulet is sound.”

The audit is available atwww.justice.tas.gov.au/building/reports.

Originally published as Call for action in wake of collapse