Privatisation kills

The boss of a worker killed on a Wollongong construction site 
is one of eight people recommended for corruption charges by ICAC 
(Independent Commission Against Corruption). The ICAC 
investigation was launched after the Cole Royal Commission and 
the Building Industry Taskforce failed to address allegations by 
the construction union, the CFMEU, that "corrupt practices" were 
killing workers in the industry.

The NSW workplace safety body, WorkCover, has used accredited 
outside "assessors" to oversee the competency of operators of 
heavy machinery on building sites. The corruption allegations 
centre on kickbacks given to these "privatised" assessors to pass 
operators who may have not been properly trained i.e. not 
competent.

Now, a report handed down by ICAC has found thousands of 
competency certificates had been corruptly issued.

The report recommends criminal charges be brought against six 
assessors, a trainer and the boss of an Illawarra crane company.

"Assessment and certification processes for operators are 
fundamental to ensuring that only competent people operate 
potentially dangerous machinery", says the ICAC report. "When the 
procedures for minimising and controlling risks are compromised 
through corrupt practice the potential for harmful consequence 
escalates."

Michael Boland died while working as a dogman on a crane that 
struck overhead power lines at Heathcote, on Sydney's southern 
outskirts, last year. Charges have been recommended against his 
boss, Terry Donald Whyte, managing director of Whyco Crane 
Services, for allegedly giving false or misleading evidence to 
the ICAC inquiry, which examined the circumstances of Mr Boland's 
death.

"We can put this down to outsourcing and cost cutting", said 
Brian Parker from the CFMEU. "WorkCover should take the assessor 
role back. We feel these issues should be controlled by the 
government. The use of private assessors opens the door to 
corrupt practices."

Mr Parker pointed to a rapid increase in injuries and accidents, 
as well as a number of crane rollovers and near misses prior to 
the inquiry.

"It's not just building workers whose lives are at risk, but the 
general public as well", he said.

ICAC launched its probe after Parker went public with allegations 
that private assessors were taking kickbacks to issue 
certificates to operators who had not passed competency 
standards.