Tanker driver Mick Connelly was the elected safety representative for Kwinana based company Fuel Distributors of Western Australia when he was sacked in May. The first call Mick made after he was tramped was to the TWU.

Mick explained that after months of reporting serious safety hazards and not having them remedied, he had contacted Worksafe in absolute frustration. Worksafe contacted the firm to set up a meeting with management on Monday 18 May. They required the elected safety rep (Mick) to be present.

However, the firm's transport manager told the Worksafe officer that Mick would not be available on that day and that the meeting should be held the following day - May 19. The meeting date was set for May 19 but Mick didn't last that long. On May 18 - the day before the scheduled meeting - Mick was called into the office of the company's managing director Craig Burrows and sacked.

Their reason: His aggressive demeanour towards clients. An assertion that Mick emphatically rejected! And the boss refused to provide any instances of this so-called aggressiveness. Just pack your bags and get off the premises. No consideration of Mick's unblemished record.
The following day, a Worksafe inspector visited Fuel Distributors Kwinana depot and issued four notices against the firm for breaches of the Occupational Health & Safety Act.

After meeting soon after with TWU officials, Mick drove back to Kwinana and parked his 4WD outside the depot with a big sign on the roof to tell the world why he had been shafted. Shafted for having the courage of his convictions! Shafted for trying to protect the safety and wellbeing of his fellow workers and members of the public!

Dangerous Job

Operating a fuel tanker may be one of the better paid jobs in transport but it is not all beer and skittles. Drivers sit on thousands of litres of highly flammable and potentially explosive cargo. If safety regulations are not strictly followed a tiny spark can ignite the fuel and create an instant inferno.

As stated earlier, Mick Connelly reported numerous safety concerns to his employer. And many of them were never fixed.

They included.
• Fuel tanks on clients' farms that were unstable and lacking in fixed ladders and safety railings. (We have more than a dozen photographs of unsafe tanks).
• A request for the provsion of nonstatic clothing. (Sparks caused by static electrictity have been responsible elsewhere for igniting stored fuel).
• Fuel spill boxes left containing fuel after unloading at service stations because drain systems are not functioning as they should be.

Fuel Distributors' failure to deal adequately with any one of these hazards could have resulted in tragedy. The issues should all have been dealt with promptly. They weren't, and the fact that Worksafe has taken action against Fuel Distributors is proof enough that the firm had become very lax in its safety procedures.
Let's hope that Mick Connolly''s unfair dismissal will result in vastly improved OH&S practices at Fuel Distributors.

STOP PRESS

Firm in confidential settlement with driver The TWU's legal team took Mick Connelly's case to the Occupational Health & Safety Tribunal. The Tribunal has the power to reinstate or order a financial settlement. On the day of the hearing, Fuel Distributors of Australia reached a confidential settlement with Mick. The Deed of Agreement drawn up by the firm's solicitors prohibits us from disclosing
the amount of money involved.