By Brendan Rees
A Victorian WorkSafe inspector had conducted a safety visit of a factory in Cranbourne West – the same morning a young apprentice tragically died at the site.
A 20-year-old Lynbrook man was working with power tools at the Marshall Lethlean factory in Whitfield Boulevard when he was “overcome with fumes” while working in the confined space about 10am on Thursday 4 October.
Star News understands Mr Wu was a new apprentice at the transport vehicle servicing yard.
In a statement, Worksafe says “We can confirm that WorkSafe visited the site on the morning of the fatality in response to a service request about specific health and safety matters.
“As our investigation into Mr Wu’s death is continuing, it would be inappropriate to comment further.”
A Victoria Ambulance spokeswoman said three men aged in their thirties, forties and fifties were taken by ambulance to Dandenong Hospital in a stable condition at the time.
Federal Opposition workplace relations spokesman Brendan O’Connor said the Morrison Government must act to ensure that Mr Dillon’s employer, the Australian Industry Group (Ai Group), were not putting new apprentices at risk at unsafe workplaces.
“As far as Labor is concerned, no workplace should have identified safety hazards and not immediately do something about them,” Mr O’Connor said.
“The AiGroup receives a significant amount of federal government funding for their Apprentice and Trainee Centre, the programme that employed Mr Wu.
According to Mr O’Connor, the ABC reported that AiGroup and Marshall Lethlean knew about hazards before Mr Wu started as a new apprentice at the Marshall Lethlean factory.
“Labor is very concerned about this incident and whether it reveals a systemic problem with the way AiGroup approaches workplace safety.”
“It is crucial that Ai Group and Marshall Lethlean participate fully to make clear the circumstances surrounding this tragic incident,” Mr O’Connor said.
Worksafe and police are investigating.
AiGroup and Marshall Lethlean declined to comment on the matter.
