SOS-Switched Onto Safety

30/05/2026

On 28 May 2024, the Australian Commonwealth Government commenced what Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus described as “the largest legal claim ever brought by the Commonwealth” when it filed proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia against Company and its local subsidiary, 3M Australia Pty Ltd. The action seeks more than A$2 billion in damages to recover costs the Commonwealth has incurred, and expects to continue incurring, in investigating, managing, and per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances ( ) at 28 Defence bases across Australia. The scale of this litigation is without precedent in Australian environmental law and signals a fundamental shift in how liability is being framed at the highest levels of government.

The Commonwealth’s claim centres on allegations that 3M withheld critical laboratory testing data, its aqueous film-forming foam ( ) products as and safe for disposal, and failed to adequately disclose the severe and bioaccumulative risks associated with its formulations. AFFF, which contains (perfluorooctane sulfonate) and (perfluorooctanoic acid) among other PFAS compounds, was used extensively at Defence bases for training and over several decades.
The contamination footprint generated by those activities is now one of the most complex and costly environmental legacies in Australia’s history.

For environmental professionals advising developers, investors, councils, and in-house legal teams, this litigation reframes PFAS from a regulatory compliance challenge into a demonstrably quantifiable financial liability. The A$2 billion claim, combined with Defence’s already-expended A$1.3 billion response budget, establishes a concrete cost benchmark for large-scale PFAS contamination that will influence how site assessments, remediation feasibility studies, and transaction due diligence reports are scoped and costed for years to come.

⚖️ "This is the largest legal claim ever brought by the Commonwealth." The Federal Government has announced a significant legal action in the Federal Court of.

29/05/2026

We have a long way to go

28/05/2026

15/05/2026

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A huge thank you to everyone who helped fill our first bin full of non perishables! We’re so grateful! The need is ongoing, and we’d love to keep these bins overflowing. If you’re doing your weekly shop and can afford to grab an extra item or two, please drop them off at our collection point at Dee’s Cafe Lounge, Monday - Friday between 6:30am - 2:30pm.

If you would like to host a non perishables collection bin at your work place or business, please get in touch via email at [email protected] - we’d love to hear from you!

Thank you again everyone for your ongoing and generous support!!!

Items we need most:

Canned Proteins:
tuna, chicken, salmon, beans (kidney beans, black beans, chickpeas, baked beans.

Grains and Pasta:
rice, pasta.

Canned Vegetables:
corn, green beans, peas, diced tomatoes.

Healthy Snacks:
trail mix, granola bars, dried fruit, crackers.

Cereal and Breakfast Items:
whole grain cereal, oatmeal, breakfast bars.

Condiments:
pasta sauce, tomato sauce, barbecue sauce, tomato paste.

Beverages:
coffee, tea, hot chocolate, Milo, long life milk, juices.

Special Treats:
chocolate, nuts, popcorn, cookies, lollies, vegemite, honey, jam, pavlova shells, biscuits.

05/05/2026

Autonomous train incident 2024

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Another angle from the aftermath of the May 2024 wreck out at Galah.

Came across this damaged Rio Tinto loco sitting alongside the line — one of three involved in the AutoHaul incident, along with 8183 and 8118. The autonomous consist was operating in AutoHaul mode when it collided with a failed train ahead, around 80km from Karratha, leaving multiple locomotives and 22 wagons damaged.

Definitely not something you expect to stumble upon while out exploring. Even more surreal knowing that while no one was in the immediate area at the time of the impact, workers attending the scene afterward reportedly had a very close call.

We were lucky with timing — this was taken on our last day in the area, with cranes already on site getting ready to clear everything out. Not an experience I’ll forget anytime soon.

Note: This photo was taken without trespassing or crossing any security fencing.

Loco's featured
8183 - GE ES44DCi (Rio Tinto stripes livery)
8175 - GE ES44DCi (Rio Tinto stripes livery)
8118 - GE ES44DCi (Rio Tinto silver livery)

03/05/2026

Mastermyne Crinum Operations fined $7m after 2021 on-site death of Graham Dawson.

A found over the 2021 death of a beloved father and grandfather at a central Queensland site has been fined $7 million.

Graham Dawson, 62, was killed in a at the Crinum near Emerald on September 14, 2021.

The Bowen Basin mine is owned by Japanese firm Sojitz Corporation and operated by Mastermyne Crinum Operations Pty Ltd.

Mastermyne was found guilty of industrial manslaughter in the Emerald District Court this year.

On Friday, Judge Jeffrey Clarke handed down his sentence in the District Court in Brisbane, saying Mr Dawson's death could have been avoided.

During the trial, the court in Emerald heard Mr Dawson had been on the final night shift of a seven-day swing and had been working to install part of an underground roof support system when the surrounding rock collapsed.

He and a colleague were trapped when the roof caved in and, while the colleague was rescued, Mr Dawson's body was not able to be retrieved for four days as it remained too unsafe for rescuers to return.

In sentencing Mastermyne, Judge Clarke found the method of " ", or , being used by Mr Dawson in the support works he was doing exposed him and his colleagues to .

Judge Clarke said there had been an "alarming" lack of consultation about the company's decision to change its methods, adding there had been "clear warning signs" about the risk.

"No should ever be put in the perilous position of working under an [unsupported roof]," he said.

Judge Clarke said Mastermyne had not shown any remorse.

Daughters share pain with court

Mr Dawson's daughters Katrina Edwards and Leesh Dawson delivered victim impact statements to the court, describing him as a beloved "Poppy" and close father, whose life had been cut short painfully.

Ms Dawson described her father as a "prankster" who could also be "vulnerable".

She told the court she lived with the pain of having viewed photographs of the incident site, and she could no longer stand to look at a worksite or piece of machinery again.

"What was once ordinary is now a source of pain," she explained.

Ms Dawson said her father's death should not have happened.

"He worked his whole life without getting the opportunity to slow down and rest," she said.

"We should have not lost our dad because he went to work one day and just didn't come home."

Ms Dawson also spoke about his absence in the life of her daughter, who was two-years-old when he died.

Ms Edwards also told the court about her pain of knowing the "incredible, beloved Poppy" would not get to continue his close relationship with her children, his grandchildren

"His life was cut short in the most tragic way possible, and so many moments that he should have lived, he never got to," she said.

"He didn't watch them graduate, shout them their first beer at the pub or give speeches at their 21st birthdays.

She said her life had been forever changed by her father's tragic death, but told the court she was not the real victim.

"The victim that night was my dad … the smartest, funniest and kindest person in our lives," Ms Edwards said.

She also detailed how difficult it had been to grieve her father while dealing with investigations and the court process.

"Learning how my dad's death was forced me to relive the trauma all over again," she said.

Graham Dawson, 62, was killed in a roof collapse on a central Queensland mining site in 2021. The District Court in Brisbane heard Mastermyne Crinum Operations was criminally negligent and the death was avoidable.

03/05/2026

As a company that is impacted by tainted/unhealthy tender outcomes we welcome lawful application and not backhand deals to be applied not just at the Federal level but also state and local government.

Proposed new to clean-up .

The Albanese Government will consult on potential standards for the construction industry aimed at ensuring government financial arrangements drive , , , and deliver , , well-paid .

This consultation represents the next step in implementing the National Construction Industry Forum’s (NCIF) Blueprint for the Future. The NCIF is the leading national tripartite forum in the building and construction industry, bringing together government, unions and business to promote , address and drive reform to .

The consultation will complement the ’s development of a Joint Construction Industry Charter, which will set out shared for all industry participants.

The consultation will seek views on how any standards could apply where Australian Government funding or financial arrangements support construction activity and include consideration of the following:

# how to ensure construction industry participants do not engage in unlawful or , including offering, paying, soliciting or accepting bribes or inducements of any kind, and that such behaviour is reported to the Commonwealth and relevant regulators immediately

# how to ensure inappropriate “industrial fixers” or mediators who are not operating within the Fair Work Act or other relevant laws are not engaged or used
fit and proper requirements for parties on construction projects

# ensure enterprise agreements are genuinely agreed, and workplaces are free from coercion and intimidation, and threats to coerce or intimidate
fair, effective and timely resolution of disputes
how to ensure an employee bargaining representative cannot dictate the choice of subcontractors used on a site

# appropriate workplace flexibilities that promote productivity and the participation of women, including access to part-time work and positive culture training.
support for safe, secure and well‑paid jobs in the industry

# how to address over‑reliance on labour hire
support for the engagement of apprentices
how to ensure subcontractors and suppliers are paid on time and in full for work.

The government will also consult on how the standards could be enforced by existing regulators through a joined-up approach, and whether improvements are needed to whistleblower protections so construction industry participants feel safe to report unlawful conduct.

The government has no intention of requiring employers to enter an enterprise agreement covered by a registered employee organisation as a condition of receiving Commonwealth government funding in the construction industry. The government has no intention of replicating Queensland’s former Best Practice Industry Conditions Scheme.

Consultation is expected to occur in the second half of 2026. Further information will be made available at: National Construction Industry Forum - Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, Australian Government.

The Albanese Government will consult on potential standards for the construction industry aimed at ensuring government financial arrangements drive quality, productivity, lawful behaviour, and deliver safe, secure, well-paid jobs.

30/04/2026

Wiluna Operations Pty Ltd has been fined $575,000 after an suffered a permanent and became when a wheel assembly weighing more than 750 kilograms fell on him.

Wiluna Operations pleaded guilty to contravening sections 9(1), 9A(2) and 15C of the Mines Safety and Inspection Act 1994 (MSI Act). The company failed to provide and maintain a working environment that, as far as practicable, did not expose its employees to hazards.

Wiluna Operations’ caused serious harm to the apprentice, who through a labour hire arrangement was performing work for the company under the supervision of a Wiluna Operations-employed heavy diesel mechanic in the site’s mechanical workshop. The contraventions of Wiluna Operations of the MSI Act were assessed as if the apprentice, who was 18 years old at the time of the incident, was a direct employee of the company.

On the day of the incident, the apprentice and the were replacing two of the wheel assemblies on an articulated dump truck. After using a to lift the first assembly off the truck, the mechanic placed it on the ground and asked the apprentice to retrieve the washers that had fallen inside its rim.

The mechanic then transferred the assembly upright to a nearby tyre storage rack, which they did without securing it to the telehandler. About 30 minutes later, the mechanic used the telehandler to remove the second assembly but kept it upright on the machine’s tines rather than placing it on the ground.

The mechanic gestured for the apprentice, who had been observing the procedure nearby, to walk in front of the telehandler and retrieve washers from inside the assembly’s rim. As the apprentice reached into the rim, the unsecured assembly fell forward, striking and pinning him to the ground.

The mechanic lifted the assembly with the telehandler to free the apprentice and asked another worker to call for medical assistance. An ambulance arrived about 15 minutes later and transported the apprentice to a medical facility.

At the time of the incident, Wiluna Operations’ standard operating procedure for changing tyre and rim assemblies directed workers to ensure that handled components did not pose pinning or crushing risks. However, it lacked clear and specific instructions directing workers how to avoid or minimise these risks.

After the incident, Wiluna Operations amended its by identifying further , adding more safety requirements and appending a . Also, the company developed an additional procedure for the replacement of wheels on surface mining equipment that addressed exclusion zones, transportation protocols and injury risks.

Wiluna Operations Pty Ltd has been fined $575,000 after an apprentice mechanical fitter suffered a permanent spinal injury and became paraplegic.

30/04/2026

SOS Throwback Thursday

26/04/2026

Jandakot residents who were from by “ ” have been rocked by new research showing impacts that can be passed on to future generations.

Jandakot residents in Clements Place were found to be consuming high levels of after it was detected in their drinking water in 2022, with Jandakot Airport attributing the contamination to historic from the ’s land into surrounding .

Residents were told not to drink the water, water their gardens, or top up their pools with it.

Jandakot Airport Holdings has since been supplying residents with fresh water every week.

The company also engaged Environmental Resources Management Australia to investigate the airport contamination site and surrounding residential areas, with a “Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessment” now being conducted.

The findings are set to be published towards the end of 2026, however Clements Place resident and gardener Faye Arcaro had done her own testing and discovered the PFAS levels in her chicken eggs were “extraordinarily high” and too toxic to consume.

She said the results had a significant personal impact on her and her family.

Read full story at https://tinyurl.com/2ssn6hpd.

Jandakot residents who were drinking water from bores contaminated by “forever chemicals” have been rocked by new research showing health impacts that can be passed on to future generations.

Jandakot residents in Clements Place were found to be consuming high levels of PFAS after it was detected in their drinking water in 2022, with Jandakot Airport attributing the contamination to historic firefighting foam leaching from the airport’s land into surrounding groundwater.

Residents were told not to drink the water, water their gardens, or top up their pools with it.

Jandakot Airport Holdings has since been supplying residents with fresh water every week.

The company also engaged Environmental Resources Management Australia to investigate the airport contamination site and surrounding residential areas, with a “Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessment” now being conducted.

The findings are set to be published towards the end of 2026, however Clements Place resident and gardener Faye Arcaro had done her own testing and discovered the PFAS levels in her chicken eggs were “extraordinarily high” and too toxic to consume.

She said the results had a significant personal impact on her and her family.

Read full story at https://tinyurl.com/2ssn6hpd.