Victorian firefighter lays injured for five hours before rescued

A Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment worker lay injured for five hours this past Monday before he was rescued, the Australian Workers’ Union said today.

AWU Victoria Secretary, Cesar Melhem, condemned DSE for its gross neglect of the welfare of the AWU member, who was only discovered missing after his wife raised an alert.

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When he failed to return home, his wife raised the alarm at about 6.30pm and the worker was eventually found at 8.30pm.

He is now in the Geelong hospital with broken ribs and vertebra. WorkSafe is investigating the incident.

Mr Melhem said the AWU believed prosecution of the responsible people should be considered, as DSE had clearly failed to live up to its obligations to provide a safe workplace.

"Heaven forbid if our member had only hours to live as he would not have been saved in time," Mr Melhem said.

"Our members are terribly vulnerable when they are working in isolated areas, and the least they should be provided with is a co-worker who can watch their back," he said.

"The AWU has introduced an immediate ban on any DSE members working alone.

"We are also holding a mass meeting of all DSE members in the region to make sure that no other shortcuts are being taken with their safety."