Insiders blow the whistle as construction workers 'risk death' on Hunter building sites

The Newcastle Herald has been supplied with a host of pictures and videos revealing the dark side of the boom and raising questions about the state of safety on some sites.

On the back of an unprecedented commercial construction in the region, insiders fear it's "only a matter of time" before someone is killed or seriously injured.

They want the government regulator, SafeWork NSW, to take action and crackdown on rogue operators.

The nation's peak building union said the construction industry needs to be driven as much by safety concerns as it is by money.

Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) organiser Mark Cross said some operators in the Hunter were not placing "anywhere near enough emphasis on safety".

Mr Cross said there were "unbelievably different standards" between builders "trying and succeeding at doing the right thing and those not even trying" to meet safety regulations.

"Over the past 18 months we have been consistently going to jobs of some builders and seeing the same things over and over again," he said.

"SafeWork needs to use the enforcement powers it has to make sure this doesn't continue or someone is going to die.

"We can't be more blunt than that. This is a tragedy waiting to happen, workers are risking death and it has to stop."

The pictures taken from numerous construction sites across Newcastle and the Central Coast reveal a host of serious safety breaches ranging from fall from heights risks to major scaffolding defects and non-compliant building practices.

The revelations come as the NSW government moved this week to crackdown on employers who put workers at risk of serious injury or death.

Proposed new workplace safety laws that include a new offence of "gross negligence" would see employers breaking the law face tougher fines and jail.

NSW Better Regulation and Innovation Minister Kevin Anderson said the penalty for a company whose safety standards result in a workplace death would increase from $3 million to $3.4 million and businesses will no longer be able to claim the cost of fines on insurance.

The proposed new laws, which stop short of adopting industrial manslaughter as an offence, come in the wake of a series of building site accidents last year including the death of 18-year-old Christopher Cassaniti, who was crushed after scaffolding collapsed on him in Sydney.

Labor has committed to introducing industrial manslaughter laws that are under way in other states.

Workers told the Newcastle Herald that due to the region's construction boom, some "smaller builders" had won large commercial jobs and were "cutting corners" to get the jobs done on budget and time.

"Some of the conditions are ridiculous and even when we complain nothing changes," a worker said.

"I've been in the industry a long time and I know it shouldn't be like this, but they don't seem to care."

Four Australian construction workers have been killed on the job in the first four weeks of this year.

The industry consistently rates as one of the worst in Australia for workplace fatalities, with 31 construction workers killed on average every year for the five years to 2018.

A drop in workplace safety inspections and prosecutions has seen SafeWork NSW come under fire for its approach to keeping workers safe.

NSW government figures show SafeWork NSW completed 12,349 inspections and other compliance activities for the 10 months to November last year.

This compares to 42,582 workplace safety "interactions" including inspections completed in the 2017/18 financial year.

CFMEU organiser Brendan Holl said SafeWork needs to "regulate, not mediate".

"SafeWork is asleep at the wheel at the moment and it's not good enough," he said. "Someone is going to be killed on a Hunter construction site soon because nobody is listening."

A SafeWork spokeswoman said inspectors made 200 "visits" to Hunter building sites last year.

She declined to reveal how many prohibition or improvement notices were issued, how many inspectors work in the region or if any other enforcement action was taken against non-compliant builders.

"SafeWork NSW inspectors undertake extensive compliance and enforcement activities to ensure Newcastle and Hunter worksites meet high safety standards," she said.

"SafeWork meets regularly with CFMEU representatives in the Hunter region where specific safety concerns relating to local building sites are raised."

Brian Seidler, Master Builders Association NSW executive director, said there was "no place in the industry" for unsafe work environments.

He said the building industry's ultimate objective was to achieve a zero death and serious injury outcome.

"There is a lot of work in the Hunter, but there is no excuse for unsafe building practices," he said.

"We can't condone unsafe building practices and any suggestion that it is taking place should be investigated seriously. It's something that can't be tolerated.

"Sites have to be safe and workers must work in a safe environment."

Director of Hunter-based MARS Building, Michael Boyd, whose job sites feature prominently in pictures and videos supplied to the Newcastle Herald, strongly defended his company's safety record.

He said the family-run company's work, heath and safety system had been certified to an international standard.

"MARS Building have multiple projects across the Hunter and Australia and all our sites hold safety in the highest regard," he said.

"MARS has always held work, health and safety in the highest regard. Safety always comes first on all our projects."

The Newcastle Herald reported in October that more than 60 notices had been handed out in the Hunter and Central Coast as part of a scaffold audit of building and construction sites since April last year.

SafeWork NSW said it had made 56 inspections in the region as part of the Scaf Safe operation.

"During these visits, SafeWork NSW issued over 60 notices to stop or improve work systems, including seven prohibition notices related to a falls from height risk, 11 prohibition and improvement notices related directly to scaffold on site [and] 15 notices related to electrical safety," a spokesman said.

Across the state the scaffold blitz found 44 per cent of scaffolds surveyed across 7000 construction sites had missing parts and 36 per cent of sites had unlicensed workers altering or removing scaffold parts.

The figures were issued as part of National Safe Work Month.

Minister Anderson said at the time it was "clear that more needs to be done to get the safety message through to people".

"We need to strengthen laws and change attitudes to target risky behaviour, before someone gets hurt, or dies," he said.

The $104 million Stella on Hannell project at Wickham, being built by Floraville-based construction company - Basebuild - features in pictures and videos supplied to the Newcastle Herald .

Basebuild managing director Scot Shafren said the company had been operating for 30 years and the health and safety of its people "was our number one priority".

"We confirm having a number of site inspection visits by SafeWork NSW to ensure our compliance in providing effective safe work systems and environment for the workers on site," he said.

"To date we have received one improvement notice from SafeWork NSW that was acted upon immediately. We have not been issued with any prohibition notices on our current construction sites."

A pictured supplied from the Hannell and Bishopgates streets project shows the site office and first aid facility having to be accessed by a ladder.

"This was works in progress and the setup of the relocated site office was not completed when the photos were taken," Mr Shafren said.

"Temporary provisions for the site office and first aid were being provided at ground level whilst the relocation was being done.

An independent review of national workplace safety laws, conducted by former director of SafeWork SA Marie Boland, recommended a uniform offence of industrial manslaughter to make employers liable for gross negligence of their workers. The idea was rejected by the NSW government.

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