Questions are being asked about the requirements of South Australia’s specialist workers’ quarantine system. 

The South Australian Government has been criticised for not requiring a cohort of specialist workers coming into South Australia from New South Wales to complete a full fortnight of quarantine.

The CFMEU’s South Australian construction division says work employed by the contracting firm ACCIONA are only being required to quarantine for 36 hours.

“South Australian construction workers would be justified to feel concerned they will be working alongside people who have come from covid-19 hotspots,” says Andrew Sutherland, the CFMEU SA Construction secretary.

“The union has confirmed that the contractors will be unlikely to be able to maintain social distancing onsite due to the requirements of the work on the project.”

He said that allowing ACCIONA workers to bypass the rules makes requirements that they  use separate facilities and gear onsite are meaningless.

“The Marshall government is creating one set of rules for itself and one for everyone else, just as they did in July when their own construction projects were allowed to re-open whilst the rest of the state, including all other construction, stayed in lock down,” Mr Sutherland said.

Meanwhile, in Victoria, construction industry workers are being targeted by a vaccination blitz designed to get them back on building sites as soon as possible.

The Victorian Government says it has set aside 20,000 Pfizer appointments for construction workers and unlimited AstraZeneca jabs. It has also set up four major vaccination centres for construction workers to walk into over the next fortnight.

The Victorian Government is also enhancing its policing of compliance with COVIDsafe rules.

It is sending 50 teams of authorised officers, WorkSafe inspectors and Victorian Building Authority staff to visit sites to find out whether employers are ensuring they and their workers comply with state health orders.