Paddy Crumlin, national secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia.

Another wharf worker has been killed on the job this year, this time at Port Botany when a 49-year-old worker employed by Patrick Stevedores was crushed to death while loading containers. The name of the worker has not been released.

It follows the tragic death of dock worker Brad Gray who died after being struck by a forklift at Port of Brisbane in February (Forkliftaction.com News #452).

Paddy Crumlin, national secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia, says co-workers are shocked, angered and frustrated by the general lack of attention to safety on wharves.

"A WorkCover investigation and a coronial and other inquiries will follow. But this was a death that could have been avoided with a better safety culture and application of safe working practices," says Crumlin.

The Port Botany death is the fifth fatality in little over three-and-a-half years and the sixth since June 2003. Recent waterfront workplace fatalities have included:

*Jeff Grey, Appleton Dock, Melbourne, June 03
*Dean Robinson, Port Adelaide, June 2006
*Peter Ross, Appleton Dock, January 2007
*Bob Cumberlidge, Westernport, March 2007
*Brad Gray, Brisbane, February 2010

It was the first work death at Port Botany since a forklift fatality at ANL terminal in May 1987.