NBN safety gaps raised
An NBN contractor has raised fears about lax safety standards in the roll-out.
The anonymous whistleblower is working on the NBN's Sky Muster rollout in remote Western Australia, where he says he often works alone on cattle stations hundreds of kilometres from the nearest town.
“They expect us to advise the homeowner or authorised person to be our rescue person. So, we're required to work in rope for restraint on the roof,” he told the ABC.
“If we do happen to get entangled on the roof or something like that an untrained, possibly elderly person, is expected to be who gets us out of trouble.”
He said the company he is contracted to, Skybridge, but “that works with their occupational health and safety standards, they're happy with that”.
Nick said the NBN could be the Coalition's pink batts scheme.
“A serious accident on site where the person who is supposed to be helping you is unable to, I think is entirely possible,” he said.
He said long work hours added an extra dimension of risk.
“We're talking sort of 1,000 kilometres in a day sometimes, plus a three to four-hour worksite, that doesn't take into account any rest breaks, so there's at least 14-hour days solo,” Nick said.
“So fatigue on long drives is also an issue.”