7th May 2008 Alan Jones Acknowledges Suffering of Families of Workers Killed at Work Those who go to work and don’t come back Alan Jones Last night I was honoured to have been asked by the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union to be the MC for a big evening to amongst other things, launch the Workplace Tragedy Family Support Group. And how appropriate was that for Monday the 28th of April, yesterday, which was, unknown to many, the International Day of Mourning for workers killed. On that yesterday evening the hundreds present at the dinner remembered those who went to work in the morning and didn't come home at night, killed on the job. In their memory, the CFMEU have a dedicated Wall of Remembrance, consecrated by Kim Beazley not quite two years ago. And the Wall records the names of husbands, wives, fathers, brothers, sons, mums and sisters, all of whom went to work one morning and did not return. We have 440 workplace tragedies every year in Australia - more than eight a week - way above statistics in the United States and the UK. And if you add things like cancer and asbestos-related illnesses, we're talking about 50 work-related deaths a week. By comparison, road accidents on which we spend a fortune of taxpayers' money in prevention, claim only 30 lives a week. Work-related deaths, 50. And these workplace tragedies hit people of all races, backgrounds and age groups. From as young as 15 up to the age of 70. The frightening thing about the wall of remembrance, which covers deaths only from around the early 90s until now, is that there are unfortunately 44 workers on that list on the wall under the age of 30. And a further four deaths in that age group in the last year to be added following the receipt of permission from the families. These are people who've fallen from heights, despite allegedly new innovations in the industry commercially available to prevent such deaths. Crush injuries, electrocution. The tragic story of 55-year-old Gerry Murphy who died earlier this year, thought to have fallen from a roof and not discovered until 19 hours after the accident. Everyone else had left the job site. A sad, lonely and tragic death. And then people who suffer heart failure at work, either from heavy lifting, stress from the weather or having an undiagnosed heart condition. So the Workplace Tragedy Family Support Group was established, an initiative by the union and a campaign to provide comfort and support to those who find themselves enveloped in grief caused by workplace fatalities. The convenor, who spoke brilliantly last night, was a school teacher from the Blue Mountains, present with her son and daughter, Cheryl Roma. Her husband Bob was killed at work at the age of 43. And as she said, behind these statistics is a story of someone who was loved and missed, the son or daughter, the brother, the husband, the daddy, the best mate, the bloke with whom you loved to share a beer, the neighbour you could call on for help. And as Cheryl said, behind each of these stories is the story of how the family gets on when their loved one is no longer around. And so the Workplace Tragedy Family Support Group will develop a kit for families of workplace tragedy victims, to advise them on how to navigate the legal and industrial minefields while suffering intense grief. And, also, of course to increase workplace and public awareness about the extent and consequence of workplace accidents. Greater compensation to the victims of workplace accidents and their families. I told the story last night of one widow who was there, Andreia Viegas. Just after lunch on October 24, 2004 Andreia received the first of two frantic calls on her mobile phone. The first told her husband had been involved in an accident. The second was to report that her husband, Glen, 28 had been taken to Gosford Hospital. But there was never any hope of survival. He'd been electrocuted after cutting through a live power cable while working as a fitter on a Westfield construction site at Tuggerah. He left behind a wife of seven years, a four year old son and a nine month old daughter. 31-year-old Andreia now visits building sites and tells stories of young men like her husband working for rogue builders who cut corners, putting profit before the safety of employees. But worse than that, Andreia makes ends meet on a single mother's pension. Because her husband was a sole trader, like up to 70 per cent of building workers today, she receives no compensation. As the CFMEU would say in endorsement of the Workplace Tragedy Family Support Group, we can't bring back our own loved ones. But we can all fight to ensure that all workers in the construction industry are able to come home at night. It's a sobering thought. The Workplace Tragedy Family Support Group Web Site http://www.workplacetragedy.com/