UWU members have raised serious concerns that the Wangaratta workshop may no longer be fit for purpose and is presenting ongoing health and safety risks.
The workshop is struggling to accommodate larger modern fleet vehicles, creating risks with manual handling, vehicle hoists, and heavy tyre removal. Workers are also dealing with excessive heat in the summer, limited workspace and uneven surfaces.
One worker suffered a serious injury after a tyre caught on an uneven concrete edge. AV’s response was to backfill the area with dirt and paint the concrete edge yellow.
Members have reported that the workshop can become excessively hot, with temperatures exceeding 30°C during summer.
UWU is calling on AV to conduct a comprehensive health and safety assessment of the workshop and identify proper engineering and environmental controls to address these risks, including updating the workshop so that it is fit for purpose.
Workers should not have to put themselves at risk simply to do their jobs safely.