Michael BolandPrint Page

The bridge and a memorial commemorate Michael Boland who lost his life in a workplace accident in 2003.  He was a worker killed in a crane accident in 2003 while working as a dogman on a bridge at Wilson Road. 

A Bridge Too Far 
A trade unionist killed in a crane accident has had the Heathcote bridge he was working on named after him. A year after the accident the widow, Karen Boland, and her three children, Hope, Tara and Jordan, were on hand for the unveiling of a memorial at the Michael Boland Bridge, just off Sydney's Princes Highway. "The bridge naming in memory of Michael is welcomed but the best thing the state government can do to show respect for workers killed is to pass industrial manslaughter laws," says Karen Boland. Other family members, friends and union delegates attended the ceremony to unveil the memorial plaque and name the bridge. 

"This was not the first fatality on a State Rail project," said Construction Forestry and Mining Energy Union (CFMEU) secretary Andrew Ferguson. "The CFMEU is demanding that the state government and all its departments establish better systems to monitor safety on their projects."

A NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into Serious Injury and Death in the Workplace has received thousands of petitions also calling for industrial manslaughter laws. The petition was coordinated by Kim Williams a teenage friend of Joel Exner, who was killed on a building site in Sydney's west in October last year.

"Like negligent car drivers who drink drive and kill, employers who cut corners for profits and kill must be held accountable," says Williams.
Workers Online, Issue No. 210, February 2004

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