Safety concerns on LHD build

ETU and AMWU health and safety reps have called for a cease work on the Royal Australian Navy helicopter landing ship NUSHIP Canberra until a full investigation and audit are completed on unterminated cables on board the ship that have been energised, ETU Secretary, Troy Gray, said.

“Two ETU members performing electrical terminations last Friday discovered a cable which was supposed to have been de-energised leaving it with no power but in fact had live power of 400 volts which could cause immediate loss of life upon contact,” Gray said.

“For the safety of all workers and management on board during continuing construction and fit out, the health and safety reps had no option but to call for an immediate cease work until a full investigation and audit against BAE’s energisation procedures have been completed.” Gray said that similar concerns were raised back in February of this year and it is most disturbing that new problems in the same area have again surfaced.

“When the ETU member raised legitimate safety concerns in February, the response of BAE Systems was to immediately terminate his employment,” Gray said. “You would hope the company does not choose to go down the same path with elected health and safety reps who have uncovered similar problems four months later, and instead cooperates with the health and safety reps to ensure a safe work environment for all involved in the project.” In response to the claims a BAE Systems spokesperson made the following statement to ADM.

“An issue was discovered when performing our normal pre-work checks on the ship in relation to an unauthorised energised cable. We are currently working with our workforce to ensure work processes/investigative actions/results are communicated prior to work proceeding. As we were following our normal pre-work procedures no employee was exposed to any harm.

“BAE Systems views the safety of its employees and site contractors as paramount and employs a Zero Harm policy.”