Unsafe conditions for overseas workers

The safety and conditions of workers on 457 visas has again been questioned by the CFMEU after Victorian WorkCover inspectors recently shut down a construction site near Ballarat on safety grounds.

Inspectors found the 13 South Korean workers operating on a site with unsafe wiring and faulty lifting gear. Work was being done without required licences and claims have been made that the workers had not gone through mandatory induction programs.

"According to WorkCover they were breaching just about every safety regulation in the book. Someone must have dobbed them in to WorkCover, otherwise no-one would have known about it until the thing fell down," CFMEU secretary, Martin Kingham, told Workers Online.

The LaborNet journal said the farmers co-operative who own the facility had under-insured the silo and couldn't meet any Australian price for a replacement when it was destroyed in a mini tornado. The Korean building company employing the workers with 457 visas allegedly halved the most competitive Australian quote for the job.

Last week, action by the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) in Victoria and New South Wales resulted in a record $650,972 judgement for 38 underpaid workers hired on 457 visas by Hunan Industrial Services.

Work at the ABC Tissues construction site at Wetherill Park had been halted after repeated health and safety breaches that resulted in 40 separate notices.

The Office of Workplace Services (OWS) investigated the case after AMWU complaints.

OWS director, Nicholas Wilson said the case reinforced to Australian businesses that overseas workers in Australia on subclass 457 visas are entitled to the same level of protection under workplace law as Australian workers.

Wendy Cramer, Editor