Qld hydro workers again allegedly served a ‘smorgasbord of contamination’

Workers at a renewable energy project in Far North Queensland were allegedly served mouldy and fly-riddled food on Thursday morning, a day after food safety concerns at the site were publicised.

Workers at the Genex Pumped Storage Hydro Project at Kidston – a remote town inland from Townsville – were served food covered in maggots earlier this month.

Genex chief operations officer Arran McGhie claimed the incident was isolated and said no workers had presented to the on-site nurse with gastrointestinal illness or symptoms.

Workers at the remote Genex Pumped Storage Hydro Project at Kidston were allegedly served mouldy and fly-riddled food on Thursday morning.

But on Thursday, photos of the breakfast provided to workers at the camp showed mouldy oranges and fly-riddled rice and eggs.

Workers were directed back to work earlier this week, despite what the union claimed were serious and unresolved health concerns.

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Electrical Trades Union state organiser Robert Hill said there was an intolerable ongoing risk to workers’ health.

“Our members don’t know whether the next meal they’re served will make them sick. What they’re experiencing is a smorgasbord of contamination – maggots, flies, mould – and it’s happening in a remote camp where workers have no alternative food options,” he said.

“Workers are literally playing Russian roulette each time they eat.

“The level of desperation is extraordinary. Workers have reported feeling hungry, frustrated and mistreated, with some now discussing paying out of their own pockets to helicopter a food drop into the remote area – a situation more reminiscent of a humanitarian aid operation than a state-backed infrastructure project.”

A stop-work action was carried out at the project late last year over unacceptable conditions.

Unsafe food standards and unclean accommodation were among the concerns raised at the time.

The project is a joint venture between John Holland and McConnell Dowell, which promised to increase cleaning staff to ensure standards would be met.

The old Kidston gold mine, 280km south-west of Cairns, is being turned into a pumped hydro project by Genex.Credit: Brian Cassey

A Food Services Audit report was commissioned by John Holland and McConnell Dowell in November, but was never completed. However, the partial audit found food-handling practices posed a real and imminent risk to health and safety.

Issues identified included unsafe food handling, poor sanitation, inadequate temperature control and storage, failures in monitoring and record-keeping, and a lack of effective corrective action.

“These are not minor issues,” Hill said. “They are fundamental food safety failures.”

A corporate audit and a third-party independent audit will reportedly begin next week.

ETU officials said it was unacceptable that workers were expected to continue living and working onsite under the current conditions. They called for workers to be flown home at no expense while the issues were resolved.

Genex said on Wednesday its workers’ health, safety, and wellbeing was its highest priority.

Genex has been contacted for further comment.

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