Safety concerns halt underground work on Snowy 2.0 hydro project

Seven hundred workers have walked off the job due to serious safety concerns.

Underground work has stopped on the $12bn Snowy Hydro 2.0 project in NSW.

Underground work on Australia’s biggest renewable energy project, the federal government-owned Snowy 2.0 hydro project in NSW, has stopped after 700 workers walked off the job due to serious safety concerns.

In the latest setback to the trouble-plagued $12bn project, Snowy Hydro said the concerns related to the project’s refuge chambers, which are last-resort areas where trapped workers can shelter in the event that primary safety systems are compromised and evacuation routes blocked.

Australian Workers Union NSW secretary Tony Callinan said the workers were concerned some refuge chambers on the project were inoperable and not maintained to the manufacturer’s specifications.

“We have been raising safety concerns on this project for years now – someone’s going to get killed if safety issues aren’t addressed immediately,” Mr Callinan said.

He said the workers had not been trained in the operation of the refuge chambers, underground emergency evacuation procedures, firefighting and medical emergencies, as required by the project Emergency Response Management Plan.

The plan also requires that regular underground rescue scenarios be conducted, but there had not been any evacuation drills or other scenarios done in some areas of the project for months.

“Health and Safety Representatives have been raising their concerns on site for months, but their concerns have fallen on deaf ears,” Mr Callinan said.

“The workforce has decided enough is enough and out of frustration and genuine concern for their safety decided they had no option but to stop working underground until their concerns are appropriately addressed.”

Snowy Hydro said principal contractor Future Generation Joint Venture was acting to ensure a back-up safety system met strict safety requirements.

“Snowy Hydro expects FGJV to maintain the highest safety standards and requires the contractor to resolve matters relating to certification, management plans and additional training requirements, before underground work in the affected areas can begin again,” it said.

“The issues were identified after listening to concerns from workers and conducting proactive inspections of the refuge chambers.”

Snowy Hydro said it took ­safety concerns “very seriously” and had acted to address previous concerns.

Mr Callinan said there would be no underground work until the concerns were addressed.

“Tunnelling is a dangerous industry, and the risks need to be managed. Snowy 2.0 management just can’t seem to get it right, it’s the worst project I have seen in 20 years as an AWU organiser,” he said.

In August, Snowy Hydro imported a fourth giant tunnel boring machine amid fears tougher than expected ground conditions could derail a 2028 timeline for the $12bn hydro facility.

Snowy 2.0 has suffered a series of problems, including the giant tunnel boring machine, known as Florence, getting stuck underground after becoming bogged in soft ground, forcing work to stop. It later became wedged in hard rock.