Safety concerns at Robe River

Safety concerns at Robe River

KARRATHA, WA — Workers at Robe River Iron Associates are concerned about safety following a series of dangerous accidents. WA Trades and Labor Council organiser Dave McLane says Robe's accident rate appears to be far higher than that of other Pilbara iron ore operations.

In the latest incidents, two locomotives and 20 ore wagons were derailed on June 16 between the company's mine at Pannawonica and its port, Cape Lambert. And on June 16, a worker narrowly escaped being crushed and electrocuted in a ship-loading accident.

On March 9, a train driver had to jump for his life when a loaded ore train collided with a stationary train. Robe's is the only rail system in Australia run by contract drivers, and the only one that runs mainline trains without an observer on board.

Robe River, a North Broken Hill-Peko subsidiary, is a showpiece of New Right industrial policies following the company's confrontation with unions in the mid-'80s. According to McLane, workers at Cape Lambert say preventive maintenance of equipment is at an all-time low.

McLane says unions will be seeking urgent discussion with the Mines Department and the state government over the incidents. "We are concerned that eventually Robe's run of luck will run out and workers will be seriously injured or killed".

From GLW issue 60