Snowy Hydro calls for heads to roll after “flying shrapnel” halts tunneling works, again

Snowy Hydro is calling for a change of leadership at the main contractor of the beleaguered Snowy 2.0 pumped hydro project after flying shrapnel from a giant ventilation fan forced a halt to tunneling work for the second time in two months.

The Australian Workers Union (AWU) on Thursday confirmed that a total underground work ban is in place at the Snowy 2.0 project, following a “catastrophic failure of critical ventilation equipment that could have resulted in worker fatalities.”

“In the early hours of Tuesday an industrial-sized ventilation fan approximately 2.5 metres in diameter catastrophically malfunctioned, sending dangerous metal shrapnel flying through the air,” the AWU said in a statement.

“By sheer fortune, no workers were in the immediate vicinity at the time of the failure,” the statement says.

AWU New South Wales (NSW) secretary Tony Callinan says that following the “significant near-miss,” SafeWork NSW inspectors conducted an urgent assessment of the site and issued six prohibition notices after discovering other fans in various states of disrepair.

The incident delivers a fresh blow to the federal government-owned Snowy Hydro, which just this week was assuring a Senate Estimates hearing that its hugely over-budget and long delayed pumped hydro project is back on track.

In response, Snowy Hydro is now demanding a change of leadership from its contractor Future Generation Joint Venture (FGJV), which has presided over the project plagued by safety-related work stoppages.

“Following a serious safety incident at Snowy 2.0, Snowy Hydro will seek an immediate independent safety review and audit, and will require changes to principal contractor FGJV leadership on the project,” Snowy Hydro said in a statement issued today. 

“Nothing is more important to Snowy Hydro than safety.

“Recent safety concerns at Snowy 2.0 have made it clear that as the client, our assurance role over FGJV’s activities requires this intervention.”

Safety under pressure

Safety is becoming a big issue for the project, as FGJV is under pressure to get the long-delayed pumped-hydro development finished.

Callinan attributes the safety issues to prioritising production over worker welfare.

Safework NSW is now concerned enough to be having regular bimonthly meetings about worker safety concerns at Snowy 2.0, with the organisation’s acting deputy secretary Trent Curtin on site early in the week.

“We have been on site this week speaking with management, health and safety representatives and workers, and unfortunately received reports of two dangerous incidents on the weekend and Tuesday which are seriously concerning to me,” Curtin said in a statement.

“I’m advised one incident involved a crane malfunctioning, while another incident involved a ventilation fan failing with metal debris flying out from the fan.

“These are significant safety events and it is lucky that no one was hurt.”

Callinan believes responsibility for the safety issues must also lie with Snowy Hydro, as it has personnel on site who know about the AWU’s worries.

“The project fails to provide even the basic minimum safety standards that people would take for granted,” Callinan told Renew Economy. 

“Things like failing to calibrate gas monitors, doing preventive maintenance on life saving equipment, failing to conduct rescue training as per their own procedures.

“Tunnelling is a dangerous industry but, Snowy 2.0 management just can’t seem to get the basics right, it’s the worst project I have seen in 20 years as an AWU Organiser.”

Racing against the clock

The $12 billion Snowy 2.0 project is years behind schedule after too-bullish political promises of a 2021 start date were hampered by reality, and then as the tunnelling machines were repeatedly trapped in soft, then too-hard earth.

After seven years of cost blowouts, delays and construction debacles, a project reset last year resulted in a doubling of Snowy 2.0’s cost to $12 billion, adjusting the completion date to December 2028 (sixth change), and replacing the $5.1 billion fixed-price main works contract with a cost-plus contract.

The expected date for completion is now sometime in 2028.

But with safety concerns now causing repeated stoppages, that date could blow out again. 

Last month work stopped due to AWU worries that underground life support chambers were not being maintained nor had workers been taught how to use them as per the Snowy 2.0 procedures. These are container-sized boxes within a tunnel that give trapped workers basic life support until they can be rescued or safely leave the area.

Following that incident, Snowy Hydro said it expected FGJV to “maintain the highest safety standards” and to resolve the problem.

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