From AdelaideNow 9/1/2020
https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/sou ... 3e6cd83dc8
Two large concrete floor slabs weighing up to four tonnes collapsed at a high-rise construction site in Bowden within three months, sparking an urgent investigation by SA’s safety watchdog and construction union.
A whistleblower alerted The Advertiser to the collapses at the 354 Bowden site on the edge of Adelaide’s northwestern parklands because managers will not withdraw workers from the building.
A SafeWork SA spokeswoman said an investigation had begun at the site.
The CFMEU building workers union immediately dispatched inspectors to the site on Thursday and secretary Andrew Sutherland said it was likely workers would be withdrawn from sections of the building.
He said two floor collapse incidents had not been reported to the union before the whistleblower raised the alarm.
The developer for the site, Development and Advisory, said the issue was in hand and had been addressed by the builders.
But the anonymous caller told The Advertiser: “Some of us have family in there and they are shitting themselves that this will happen again and kill someone.’’
“All they have done is take the workers of the seventh floor where the collapse happened in mid-December and the fifth floor where there was the same collapse in mid-September,” the caller said.
“As the cause is currently unknown, the risks remains very real for workers on site and for tenants post construction completion, and transparency is required.’’
SafeWork SA has confirmed the authenticity of a photograph of the mid-December incident supplied to The Advertiser.
Mr Sutherland said there were concerns about the use of the floor sections.
“These are prefabricated sections which are brought in and they are cut in minor ways to fit, and it isn’t a product that I like personally,’’ he said
“It is the second deck collapse and there should be a halt to any of the work involving those floor sections.”
Governments are strengthening building standards in Australia after three buildings had to be evacuated in Sydney last year over structural issues.
