DON Smallgoods has refuted a union’s concerns about the condition of its Castlemaine plant following last week’s ammonia leak.
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The Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union claims Thursday’s leak - which temporarily saw the plant shut down, employees evacuated and nearby residents advised to remain indoors – could have been avoided.
“AMWU Health and Safety Representatives have been raising concerns with both Worksafe and Don Smallgoods over the unacceptable risks of exposure to ammonia at an ageing facility for some time,” Danny Miller, the union’s organiser, said.
He was hopeful the workers’ safety concerns would be taken ‘more seriously' and both WorkSafe Victoria and Don Smallgoods would work with the union’s representatives to ‘provide a safer environment for all employees’.
Don Smallgoods said it maintained a state-of-the-art Castlemaine facility through highly regular and rigorous maintenance schedules.
“Our ongoing and consistent testing regime ensures our systems and equipment continue to operate at the highest of safety standards,” the company said.
“We made a substantial investment in 2009 to renovate and extend the Castlemaine facility, and continue to invest significantly each year to continue to maintain our highest of standards across the site.”
The company said it had been ‘proactively collaborating’ with WorkSafe about the ongoing maintenance of its ammonia management system since early 2018.
“We have also involved Health and Safety Representatives (including AMWU) in this process and continue to provide regular updates,” Don Smallgoods said.
WorkSafe Victoria said it was making inquiries in relation to a number of matters following the ammonia leak, which Don Smallgoods last week said was caused by a fractured pipe in the refrigeration system.
The Environment Protection Authority Victoria is also investigating.
The environmental regulator dispatched two officers to the scene on Thursday.
“They took samples, made technical advice available to CFA, and were on site until 5am [on Friday],” Paul Ratajczyk, the EPA’s acting north west region manager, said.
“EPA’s initial observations suggest most of the ammonia was contained on the site, and that it did not affect the nearby creek.”
Don Smallgoods is also launching an independent, internal investigation, which the company said would review emergency standards and protocols ‘as we consistently strive to meet the highest of safety standards’.
“The safety of our people and community is our utmost priority,” the company said.
The ‘root cause’ of the pipe fracture was also under further investigation.
“When the leak was detected, our team enacted our thorough emergency protocols, all staff onsite were immediately evacuated and authorities alerted,” Don Smallgoods said.
“Country Fire Authority (CFA) services arrived quickly and took full control of the site. The leak was subsequently fixed, marked safe, and the site was then handed back to Don Smallgoods.
“Our team members were fully cooperative with CFA while they had control of the site.
“Buses were organised throughout the night departing from Castlemaine Town Hall to transport our staff members home”.
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