Macho Culture Costs Lives

The macho culture that used to dominate at the Sydney Opera House once saw workers busting their guts just to prove their masculinity.

John West is second from left.

Long-term employee John West lived to tell the tale and says things have come a long way since then, with workers recently voting the occupational health and safety crew the most important committee at the House.

UnionSafe caught up with John during the launch of Sydney Opera House's Safety Week 2003.

The event - which had been largely coordinated by OHS Committee members - was packed with highlights, including: the release of the House's new Violence in the Workplace Policy, an address by Shadow IR Minister John Della Bosca, OHS training, exercise classes, and yoga sessions.

Celebrating his 58th birthday at the event, John said much had changed during his years at the House and one of the greatest things to see the back of - in occupational health and safety terms - was the macho culture that had encouraged people to push themselves well beyond their safe limits in order to prove their masculinity.

"There was a perception from both sides that you were a wimp if you could not pick up 50 to 60 kilos," said John, who is President of the ATAEA section of the MEAA and an OHS Committee Member.

John said that although manual handling was still a major issue at the House, education and improved safety practices meant that people now took responsibility for their safety and even if they were asked to lift something heavy would ensure that their well-being came first. "They are also much less likely to be asked," he said.

John said another breakthrough had been the introduction of risk assessments, which are were conducted before each new job began.

"Everyone does these now," he said. "People now know that safety is every one's responsibility."

Currently in his thirteenth year at the House, John said he previously worked on the railways doing maintenance work.

During this time he was secretary of the track maintenance division of the Australian Railways Union, where he had his work cut out for him on the safety front. "Things were pretty archaic at the time," he said. "One of the major occupational health and safety issues was amenities because even making sure there was a toilet to go to and somewhere to eat lunch was a challenge."

These days conditions at the House seem a far cry away, but John is no less committed to ensuring the highest level of safety is maintained.

"I am completely committed to making sure safe working procedures are followed and to the minimisation of harm done to ourselves and others while we're working," he said.

John told UnionSafe one of the top OHS issues at the House was shift work, the effects of which he knows all too well himself.

John recently had his large intestine removed after it became ulcerated, a condition he said was exacerbated by the stress his body was under from long-term shiftwork.

"I have been doing shiftwork for most of my working life and I know that the body never ever gets used to it," he said.

John said exhaustion, stress, marriage break-ups, alcoholism, violence in the home, eating abnormalities and other health disorders were among the potential negative impacts of keeping the irregular hours required for shiftwork.

"Shift work really does not work long-term," he said. John said it also meant the body took longer to heal.

Living with shiftwork is one of the topics being covered during Safety Week.

The Workers Health Centre has also prepared a fact sheet on shiftwork, which can be accessed on the UnionSafe website by clicking here.

To comment on this or anything else on the UnionSafe site, please visit out discussion forum Shoptalk.

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Last modified: Tuesday, 15-Nov-2005 20:37:35 EST