Apprentice left with life-threatening injuries

Pip Hinman

Cameron Ayliffe, a third-year apprentice from North Lambton in Newcastle, was crushed by a scissor-lift on September 20. Rather than take him to the nearby John Hunter Hospital, he was told by John Holland management to rest in a site shed.

Management claimed this was the advice of a doctor who had been told about the accident over the phone. The $60 million site is within the grounds of Newcastle's biggest hospital.

Russell Cunningham, a Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) organiser, said that luckily Ayliffe's boss, a sub-contractor, "saw how serious the injury was" and rushed the 21-year-old Ayliffe to emergency in his own car, something that "may well have saved Cameron's life". Ayliffe is being treated for serious internal injuries.

CFMEU NSW safety coordinator Dick Whitehead described this as one of the most appalling breaches of workplace safety he had ever seen. He said it raised serious concerns about what processes John Holland had in place to protect the lives of their workers.

"Here we have a young worker with life threatening injuries caused by potential safety breaches, and rather than get a medical professional to treat this bloke, John Holland's management decided that they knew best, and they put this man's life at risk."

Whitehead said that the CFMEU is investigating the accident and is calling on all building companies "to look after their workers, especially apprentices, and make sure safety is put first on their projects".

From Green Left Weekly, September 28, 2005.

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From GLW issue 644