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'Completely unacceptable': Roadworkers copping daily abuse
(HTM) Source
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Contractors working on Nelson roadworks are facing daily abuse from
the public — including a serious incident where an angry motorist
drove right up to a supervisor's legs.
Drew Hayes, alliance manager for Downer Group, said 21 serious
incidents have been reported to supervisors at the Wensley Rd site.
"Police have also been notified of one serious incident. Our team are
dealing with around 10 minor incidents a day."
While workers at other sites across the district experience incidents
of abuse "from time to time", Hayes said it was "rarely to the degree"
being seen at Wensley Rd.
One of the incidents at Wensley Rd involved the site traffic
management supervisor asking a driver to turn their vehicle around to
avoid running into oncoming traffic.
The driver then drove his vehicle towards the supervisor until their
front bumper was touching the contractor's shins.
Most of the abuse received by the workers is swearing and other verbal
abuse.
"While there shouldn't be the need, confrontation and de-escalation
training are being rolled out," Hayes said.
Tasman District Council transportation manager Jamie McPherson said
the behaviour from some members of the public is "completely
unacceptable".
"Attracting and retaining skilled staff into civil construction is
difficult enough without our people being put off by this kind of
abuse, and being tempted to take their skills, training and knowledge
elsewhere."
Nelson City Council's manager transport Margaret Parfitt added there
had been a "noticeable increase" of abuse directed and contractors and
council officers, particularly online.
"Council strongly condemns abuse towards roadworkers and council
staff. They are doing an important job in the public eye and deserve
the same respect as any other Nelsonian attending a day at work."
In April, the Nelson council responded to a social media post that
contained a photo of several council contractors and made fun of them
for appearing not to be working on the worksite.
The council re-uploaded the photo with each contractor's role labelled
and additional context to explain that a lab technician had been
testing to see if the ground was dry enough to lay asphalt while the
other workers were ready to get working once approval was given.
Nelson City Council countered a mocking social post of its roading
contractors with an explanation of what each worker was doing in the
post's photo. (Source: Supplied / Nelson City Council)
The Wensley Rd works are being done to dig out and replace areas of
weak road structure.
The work began on April 8 and was originally meant to take up to four
weeks, but the discovery of coal tar on-site has slowed work and
pushed the expected completion date out by two weeks until May 19.
Coal tar must be isolated and separated from the asphalt and gravel
layers, stored in a lined bin for testing, and disposed of to a
suitable facility.
Topsoil layers have also been found below the extent of the dig-outs,
requiring much deeper holes needing to be dug than originally planned.
Roadworks had closed Wensley Road earlier in February while a new wall
and wider footpath were constructed where the council had acquired
land.
During that closure, the council also took the opportunity to complete
other structural repairs to adjacent roads.
Two-way traffic was recently reinstated on Wensley Rd between Bateup
Rd and Chelsea Dr, while the stretch from Chelsea Dr to Oxford St is
still open to southbound only.
**Local Democracy Reporting is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ
and NZ On Air**
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