Insulation industry news from Global Insulation
Australia: An insulation industry representative was told 'not to rock the boat' when he warned government planners about safety risks in the Home Insulation Program. The comments have arisen in a royal commission into the Home Insulation Program that is investigating whether the deaths of four installers could have been avoided.
Peter Ruz, who worked for Fletcher Insulation and who was the director of the Insulation Council of Australia and New Zealand, raised safety issues with installing foil insulation when he was consulted about the scheme in 2009. According to Australian Broadcasting Corporation transcripts from the commission, Ruz said he told government planners that three installers in New Zealand had been electrocuted and that he recommended the use of other insulation materials. However, Ruz felt that planners at the meeting dismissed his comments as 'squabbling' between different insulation type producers. Ruz also alleges that he sent an Environment Department manager, Beth Brunoro, news cuttings of the deaths in New Zealand.
Brunoro previously told the inquiry earlier that concerns would have been taken into consideration when the guidelines were being created for the scheme. It is unclear exactly what happened with that information because Brunoro stopped overseeing the project in April 2009 and the insulation scheme started in full in July 2009.
rThe Home Insulation Program ran until February 2010. The royal commission, overseen by Richard Hanger, will submit its report by 30 June 2014.
Insulation installer underpaid workers at height of government scheme
15 September 2011Australia: A company that was engaged under the federal government's former home insulation programme will be prosecuted for allegedly underpaying five Somali teenagers an estimated USD25,700, following a national audit of the scheme. It is understood that the teenagers told federal workplace inspectors they were asked only for their names and mobile phone numbers when employed in 2010 by Louay Soliman and his company, K & L Insulation Pty Ltd. The workers, all Somali immigrants aged 18 and 19 at the time, alleged they were not given training or any protective equipment, apart from masks.
The Fair Work Ombudsman alleges that Mr Soliman and his company, based in the north Melbourne suburb of Campbellfield, underpaid the five employees a total of USD25,700 over several weeks in March and April 2010. Court documents filed by the Fair Work Ombudsman allege the employees worked up to 10 hours a day, six days a week and in some cases were paid flat rates equating to as little as USD10.10/hr.
Under the modern award that applied to their positions, the workers were entitled to hourly rates of USD16.30 for normal hours worked, up to USD31.8/hr for overtime and weekend work and up to USD40.1/hr on public holidays. It is alleged that the employees were underpaid with respect to other entitlements, including accrued annual leave and wages in lieu of notice after their employment was terminated without notice.
The government's insulation scheme came in for heavy criticism in 2009-2010 following a number of worker deaths attributed to electrified foil insulation inside roof cavities and heat-exhaustion. Many were critical of the speed with which the government attempted to implement the plans in order to create jobs at a time of recession, claiming that there were insufficient checks to stop malpractice, unfair treatment of workers and violations of health and safety. The company cited in this case was established in December 2009.