Rail crews have said that BMA’s unpredictable and extreme roster changes are leading to fatigue-related hazards for workers operating trains carrying coal across BMA’s Central QLD mines.
Queensland District Vice-President, Shane Brunker said that unreasonable shift changes reported to the Union had increased significantly.
“The number of members who have told me they are fearful of potential fatigue related accidents due to extreme shift changes has increased over past months.
Rail Crews have been in talks with BMA for a new enterprise Agreement for over twelve months, with the ability for BMA to make shift changes being a key item.
Within twelve hours, BMA can amend roster start times for up to four hours.
“Rail crews don’t trust BMA to make reasonable decisions around rosters which is why they would like to see stronger roster change limits embedded in the Enterprise Agreement.
“It has become much more commonplace for a worker to be preparing to do an afternoon shift and then be called up saying they are doing a twelve-hour night shift instead.
“Even if a worker yawns in front of a supervisor, they are asked why they are tired. When the worker says their shift times have been all over the place, they just are told that they should have prepared for that.
Mr Brunker said that workers have raised safety issues relating to fatigue with the company including through supervisors and the BHP feedback portal to no avail.
“Many workers have put in formal hazard reports relating to fatigue, however they have heard nothing back.
“Driving a train isn’t like pushing around a trolley. These are fully loaded trains that are two kilometres long and weigh tens of thousands of tonnes. They travel uphill, downhill, go around corners, obey changing signals, and come across level-crossings and boom gates where they are also interacting with the public.
“The repercussions of something going wrong isn’t going to be a scratch. It’s going to be a fatality or fatalities.”
