Building site inspections find 73% breach COVID-safe rules

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Building site inspections find 73% breach COVID-safe rules

By Michael Fowler and Clay Lucas

Random government inspections have found three in four Victorian construction sites breaking coronavirus safety rules as tensions between the state government and building industry threaten to boil over.

On the day workers protested over statewide tearoom bans and mandatory vaccinations brought in to reduce the spread of COVID-19 by taking their smoko break in the middle of some of Melbourne’s main roads, the government warned the industry “could very well face further restrictions, or even closure”.

Construction workers protest the ban on tearoom gatherings, blocking Lonsdale Street during their lunch break.

Construction workers protest the ban on tearoom gatherings, blocking Lonsdale Street during their lunch break.Credit: Joe Armao

Construction workers are set to continue their street shutdowns next week, after workers set up chairs and tables that blocked trams and cars in Brunswick, Richmond, Footscray and the CBD on Friday.

Case numbers have ballooned at construction sites and a government spokeswoman said after 200 surveillance checks on Thursday, 73 per cent of construction sites were not compliant with health directions. The non-compliance rate in other industries is 19 per cent.

The government spokeswoman said the majority of non-compliance was in small, civil construction in local government areas in Melbourne’s north and west, where most of the city’s transmission is unfolding.

The sites’ breaches included failing to display density limit and mask-wearing signs, QR code signs, and no or inadequate COVID-safe plans.

The building industry has been allowed to continue its work through the pandemic, although it has at times faced limits on the number of workers that can be on a site.

COVID response commander Jeroen Weimar said people were bending over backwards to keep the construction industry going and some workers needed to be aware of their privileges.

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“Recognise the privileges that those of us who are still able to work get, and if it means you can’t sit with your mates while you have a sandwich, that doesn’t seem to be a huge burden,” Mr Weimar said.

Mr Weimar said tearooms posed a significant risk of transmission with workers coming from different parts of the city, sitting in small spaces, and eating and drinking. The number of cases from the Panorama construction site in Box Hill this week grew to more than 140, making it one of the state’s more significant current outbreaks.

Construction workers at a Lonsdale Street building site block Lonsdale Street and use it for a tea room after being banned from using tearooms due to Covid. 17th September 2021.

Construction workers at a Lonsdale Street building site block Lonsdale Street and use it for a tea room after being banned from using tearooms due to Covid. 17th September 2021.Credit: Joe Armao

The “no jab no job” rules will apply from next Friday for any worker who has not had at least a first vaccine dose.

On Friday afternoon both main construction unions, the CFMEU and the Australian Workers Union, met with the Andrews government to voice their opposition to the closure of tearooms on major building sites, and the introduction of mandatory vaccinations.

CFMEU Victorian secretary John Setka claimed the action “wasn’t really a protest” and workers at big construction sites did not have anywhere else to take their breaks.

“If we can’t sit in the smoko shed where do we have our break? So they’ve taken all the tables and chairs out into the fresh air,” Mr Setka told 3AW on Friday morning. “They’ve got nowhere else to have their smoko.”

Construction workers blocking Lonsdale Street on Friday.

Construction workers blocking Lonsdale Street on Friday.Credit: Joe Armao

A Multiplex site on Lonsdale Street saw about 150 tradies lay out tables and fire up a barbecue, forcing traffic to bypass the area for about 20 minutes. Police surrounded the peaceful protest to stop it expanding and blocking traffic elsewhere.

One man told The Age he expected the protest to continue on Monday because the construction workers had nowhere else to enjoy their breaks without a tearoom.

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Phil Dwyer is a builder and national president of the Builders Collective, a lobby group for small and medium-sized construction companies. He commended the state government’s mandatory vaccination decision.

Mr Dwyer said many in the industry did not take COVID-19 seriously enough. “Unless it directly affects these blokes on building sites, they just take the attitude ‘She’ll be right’. Half of them don’t want to get vaccinated; the talk is generally that nothing has been proven.”

He said building workers needed to be vaccinated, as much for their own safety as the wider community. “They will become among the most vulnerable – let’s face it, in the building industry, a hell of a lot of people are overweight and have poor diets.”

But Mr Dwyer predicted the mandatory vaccine direction would make little difference. “No-one will check and while it might be mandatory, how will they police it? They won’t.”

With Tammy Mills

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