Page 21 - ETU Journal Autumn 2017

THE WESTGATE
BRIDGE COLLAPSE
46 YEARS ON
The Westgate Bridge collapse has lived
on in Victorians’ collective conscience. Few Victorians have looked at or driven over the bridge and never relected in horror
at the men who were
killed that day.
LBY RUTH KERSHAW
ike many truly momentous
events, the 1970 Westgate Bridge collapse is not often remembered in the
media or memorialised for the role it played in civilising our society.
Perhaps because the lesson is
one they want us to not remember: Human lives are not the irst priority of construction conglomerates.
Only the workers’ own representatives can protect workers: Representatives whose sole objective – uncompromised by proit and project plan bonuses – is to prevent injuries and loss of life.
The lives lost on the Westgate Bridge collapse ultimately led to
every worker on a major project in Victoria having their own safety representation on site.
To this end, the 35 lives taken here were not entirely in vain. An incalculable number of lives have been saved as a result.
Their sacriice resulted in putting into law the right for workers to have elected representatives who can access sites and documents, and stop work when workers are in imminent danger.
History comes full circle
Forty-six years on and the laws created after the Westgate Bridge collapse to protect skilled workers in dangerous industries are being aggressively eroded.
The lessons learned from the mass deaths are conveniently forgotten by big business and political advocates who want to disempower trades workers and their representatives.
The very rights won for workers’ representatives to access sites and stop unsafe work are being decimated by anti-union laws and quasi-judicial bodies like the Fair Work Building Inspectorate and ABCC.
The lessons learned from the mass deaths are conveniently forgotten by big business and political advocates who want to disempower workers.
Throughout the Westgate Bridge build, management claimed that the safety issues raised by workers were “industrial issues”. That let them ignore the safety issues and demonise unions for their own failures.
Here we are again, but worse, with the Liberals using Hadgkiss and the ABCC to redeine any safety issue as an “industrial issue”, but with new, excessive powers to ine or criminalise workers or their unions for raising safety issues.
In a civilised society, people must be able to protect themselves from corporations’ right to proit from putting workers’ lives at risk.
This is a profound lesson that was learned in Victoria on 15 October 1970. n
Lest we let them forget.
LEST WE FORGET > WESTGATE BRIDGE
HOW SAFETY OPERATED BEFORE THE WESTGATE COLLAPSE
Testimonial of safety measures at John Holland by management
No safety oficers on site – but a “First Aid Oficer”
Hard hats were optional
A safety committee, chaired by company engineers, did not need to act on workers” and union oficials’ concerns
Safety belts and harnesses were optional, only ‘available for any men who might require them”
Lunch sheds were put under live steel works as a “time eficient ” location
www.etuvic.com.au
THE ETU > SUMMER 2016
21