scone.com.auCouncil Concedes Changes Needed
APPROXIMATELY 80 people were at the first public induction at the Scone saleyards this afternoon and while no one disputed the need for an induction there were many issues raised which Council representatives conceded needed more work in their new process.
The key issues included the use of harnesses at heights, what area the induction is needed for, how after hours access will be managed, the impracticality of face to face inductions, responsibilities for effluent and animal welfare if drivers are delayed in unloading.
Joanne McLoughlin speaking with saleyard users after the induction including Tony Richardson in a checked shirt and Graham Emery in the royal blue shirt.
Joanne McLoughlin, property and business coordinator for Upper Hunter Shire Council conducted the presentation and was unable to answer several key questions from users, most notably relating to using harnesses at heights.
Ms McLoughlin insisted it was not-negotiable that harnesses must be used at heights of over two metres stating it was a requirement by WorkCover.
Graham Emery from Martin’s Transport disputed this with Ms Mcloughlin citing an incident in Tamworth where a worker was injured by livestock because he was trapped in a harness and explained forcing workers to wear a harness could be ‘engineering something that could cause injury’.
Ms McLoughin argued with Mr Emery before saying she would discuss it further with him in person.
Other attendees at the induction wanted Ms McLoughlin to discuss it further, but she refused.
Following the induction Ms McLoughlin conceded she would look into the matter further.
Mr Emery said, “Our risk assessment on this issue has stood up with every other company we work for and we’ll work with Council to find a solution here too,” he said.
People attending the first Scone saleyards induction
Councillor Maurice Collison was at the induction and spoke with many concerned users after the induction fielding questions and committing to work out better solutions to many of the issues they raised.
Initial materials from Council stipulated that anyone on site must be inducted, but following the session Councillor Collison said inductions were only required for certain areas of the site.
“Anyone can come on site, anyone can go in the stand, you only need to be inducted if you are in the with cattle,” said Cr Collison.
A saleyard staff member also expanded that during normal hours of operation people would be able to unload cattle without being inducted if they had someone with them who was inducted, such as staff employed at the saleyard.
Trucking companies discussed how they conduct inductions for various saleyards with their employees in house via online or by mail and forward the completed questionnaires back to the owners of the saleyards and requested the same concessions from the Scone saleyard.
Council advised that they would work towards an online system so that in person inductions were not needed as confirmed by Cr Collison today, but they could not provide a date for when that may occur.
“Soon you won’t have to visit Scone, we are trying to get an online induction,” said Cr Collison.
“It’s a new thing and I suppose we could all do better,” he said.
“But we didn’t want to put the induction online in case it changes, so until it is rock solid
However, Ms McLoughlin advised several users she would organise for induction packs to be mailed out to them so that they could complete the induction and mail back the surveys, negating the need for an in person induction.
The issue of after hours access in emergencies such as trucks needing to dump effluent was also identified as a flaw in the Council’s current protocol.
Ms McLoughlin was firm that nobody would be granted access unless they were inducted simply saying “no” to after hours access.
However Councillor Collison committed to go back to Council and find a workable solution such as having an inducted person available to attend the site out of hours and assist trucks which may need to use the facility and would look into the associated costs of that service.
The issue of animal welfare was raised in cases where animals may be kept on trucks if they are delayed and Council also said they would look into how that may be managed better in their protocol.
Users also questioned the viability of a May 1 deadline to have all of their drivers and stockmen inducted and the imperative was identified as being a WorkCover deadline which had been imposed on Council following an accident at the saleyards.
A period of 90 days was requested so that employees of trucking companies could be inducted and Council undertook to have further discussions with WorkCover to request if they could give them a second time extension.
Another omission identified in Council’s plan was a traffic management plan for the site.
Tony Richardson, owner of Richardson Brothers Transport said while Council had not handled things well he was glad they were willing to make concessions.
“We don’t dispute having an induction, but there are flaws in what they have,” said Mr Richardson.
“We’d rather be part of finding solutions to make this work, but they need to sort out things like access after hours,” he said.
Graham Emery from Martin’s Transport said resolving the requirement for harnesses was important for their staff.
“After the accident in Tamworth our staff are too nervous to wear a harness and we understand that,” said Mr Emery.
“Our risk assessment on this issue has stood up with every other company we work for and we’ll work with Council to find a solution here too,” he said.
Councillor Collison said feedback was important and Council would examine all of the issues raised.
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