Electrical Trades Union organiser Stewart Edwards calls for a tougher regulatory watchdog and fundamental change at a Manildra Group factory in Bomaderry following the collapse of two silos which spilled thousands of tonnes of grain, with some pouring into the Shoalhaven River.
Mr Edwards said a safety committee set up earlier this year comprising union representatives and senior Manildra management was not being utilised by management.
Mr Edwards said in the past year there had been at least three explosions inside a gluten drier at the Manildra Bomaderry site as well as a fire inside a silo.
"The problems seem to be growing and growing all the time," Mr Edwards said. "We're seriously concerned about the health and safety of our members down there."
Mr Edwards flagged repeated management failures to improve consultation with the workforce and said that last Thursday’s incident was not notified to the safety committee, nor was a further incident just two day later which saw a staff member taken to hospital following a chemical spill. Mr Edwards stated, “That’s not unusual for us to be kept in the dark about incidents.”
Fire and Rescue NSW attended the site on Thursday night after two 30m high wheat silos collapsed, damaging a third. Each silo contains 1000 tonnes of grain, with one silo falling directly into the Shoalhaven River.
The grain in the river is being contained using a floating boom and a silt curtain.
The emergency responders wrapped up on site on Monday and the clean-up and investigation was handed over to the safety and environmental regulators. The site is now subject to a non-disturbance notice, meaning that the site must be left untouched pending the SafeWork NSW and the NSW Environmental Protection Agency investigations.
Read more: ABC - Manildra Bomaderry wheat silo collapse