Workers at Yallourn power station, which supplies nearly a quarter of Victoria’s electricity, have told the Sydney Morning Herald Energy Australia has a “culture of dollars before lives” as details emerge about a potentially fatal onsite explosion in March.
Details of the explosion come as Yallourn workers and Energy Australia await a decision from Victoria’s Director of Public Prosecutions, Kerri Judd, QC, on whether there will be any criminal charges over the 2018 workplace death of unit controller Graeme Edwards.
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Documents from Victoria’s workplace safety regulator, WorkSafe, describe a “catastrophic” explosion in one of Yallourn’s pulverised fuel mills on March 20. Photographs of the explosion show the casing around the pulverising mill’s shaft blown apart, sparking a fire and flinging metal debris up to 20 metres away.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, WorkSafe inspectors issued Energy Australia with an improvement notice in March for failing to conduct structural integrity tests on areas close to the explosion site.
“Workers and union delegates claim Energy Australia management and the company’s legal representatives met with a group of workers ahead of WorkSafe’s visit in March to coach them on how to respond to WorkSafe’s inspectors,” the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
An Energy Australia spokesperson said being interviewed by a regulator was an unfamiliar experience for many staff and the company offered voluntary sessions to workers so they understood “their obligations and WorkSafe’s powers”.
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“By doing so, we’re ensuring our people are comfortable and that they understand the process,” the spokesperson said.
On Thursday, Yallourn was the scene of yet another incident with a fire breaking out in the power station’s coal distribution facility, prompting the evacuation of workers and three power generating units running at minimal output.
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