QLD Labor’s $5.4bn Cross River Rail project receives 150 safety warnings over asbestos, hazardous chemicals and heights

QLD Labor’s $5.4bn infrastructure project has received warnings over asbestos, hazardous chemicals and unsafe heights.

Queensland’s largest infrastructure project, the $5.4bn government-funded Cross River Rail, has been warned by the independent safety regulator nearly 150 times in less than a year. Picture: Supplied

Queensland’s largest infrastructure project, the $5.4bn government-funded Cross River Rail, has been warned by the independent safety regulator nearly 150 times in less than a year, over asbestos disposal, hazardous chemicals, and the risk of workers falling from heights.

The Australian can reveal the spate of Workplace Health & Safety Queensland (WHSQ) notices escalated last week with about 50 warnings issued, including more than three dozen “improvement notices,” stop-work “prohibition notices,”, and infringements carrying small fines.

Cross River Rail sites across Brisbane – working to build a 10.2km public transport rail line under the river - were shut down by multinational contractor CPB Group for hours on Friday for a “safety audit,” but construction union the CFMEU says the response is not good enough and unless there’s an overhaul, a worker will die.

Brisbane-based CFMEU national president Jade Ingham said the state government should ditch head contractor CPB because of the safety issues.

“They are putting workers’ lives at risk every hour, every day…I’m genuinely concerned that when we’ve seen this sort of track record in the past, it normally ends in tragedy – I hope I’m wrong,” Mr Ingham said.

The Cross River Rail Delivery Authority (CRRDA) – a Queensland government statutory body – says the project is safe, and has seen 2.5 million hours worked with no lost-time injuries recorded. The only injury requiring hospital treatment was a worker who cut his hand and required sutures, a spokesman said.

The background to the safety dispute is a long-running industrial relations stoush between the CFMEU and CPB, after the union dealt itself out of EBA negotiations for the lucrative project, and the contractor did a deal with rival blue-collar union, the AWU.

Mr Ingham said any suggestion the safety campaign was being driven by the industrial dispute was “just more lies and spin from the government,” and denied the CFMEU had cut itself out of a deal.

“There’s no question the safety on this job is disgusting, the regulator is completely independent of everybody, they don’t just go out stopping sections and prohibiting work if there’s nothing wrong,” Mr Ingham said.

As the October 31 state election looms, it is understood the Palaszczuk Labor government is increasingly nervous about political risks posed by a furious CFMEU – an ALP-affiliated union - attacking the administration over the project.

The CFMEU has run advertising campaigns personally targeting State Development Minister Kate Jones, currently responsible for the project, and her predecessor Jackie Trad, accusing both of overseeing the “Cross River Fail”.

Minister Jones said the government would “continue to put pressure on CPB to ensure they meet their obligations under the contract”.

“I’ve said from day one since I took over this portfolio, that safety is our number one priority,” Ms Jones said.

“That’s why I beefed up safety compliance. The Chief Compliance Officer has been working closely with the contractor, subcontractors and workers.”

“This is a five-year construction project and we need to be vigilant about safety at all times. We’ve made our expectations clear to the contractor that they must always put workers’ safety first.”

A spokesman for the Office of Industrial Relations said WHSQ inspectors had attended various Cross River Rail sites on “numerous occasions” in the past week.

“(On Thursday), a WHSQ inspector issued a prohibition to stop work at the Lot 3 Albert Street (CRR site) until the (contractor) demonstrated it was safe for workers to enter the site in relation to asbestos,” he said.

The contractor fixed the issue within three hours and work was able to start again. Inspectors from WHSQ’s asbestos unit have been conducting regular audits since the project began.

CRRDA general manager Matthew Martyn-Jones said Friday’s stop-work safety audit was an extended safety briefing that occurred every six to 12 months to “identify any upcoming challenges and to ensure work crews are safe at work”.

“Workers at four of the eight Cross River Rail sites throughout the city (were) involved in these extended safety briefings,” Mr Martyn-Jones said.

The regulator is still investigating another “two noncompliances” relating to safety paperwork and enforcement action is expected to be taken.

State Development Minister Kate Jones said the government would “continue to put pressure on CPB to ensure they meet their obligations under the contract”.

“I’ve said from day one since I took over this portfolio, that safety is our number one priority,” Ms Jones said.

“That’s why I beefed up safety compliance. The Chief Compliance Officer has been working closely with the contractor, subcontractors and workers.”

“This is a five-year construction project and we need to be vigilant about safety at all times. We’ve made our expectations clear to the contractor that they must always put workers’ safety first.”

The CRRDA said 77 per cent of the warnings were improvement notices, which carried no penalty, 11 per cent were infringement notices which result in a small fine, and 12 per cent were prohibition notices which required the contractor to stop work temporarily.

Contractor CPB is contesting some of the regulator’s notices, alleging they were “wrongly issued”.