Two Years Strong: Our Commitment with Green Hats for Aaron

Just five weeks into his plumbing apprenticeship with another plumbing company in Sydney 2012, Aaron Fryer was killed when he was struck by an unsecured excavator bucket.

It was later revealed in court; not only had the operator failed to insert the safety pin in the hitch to prevent the bucket coming loose,  but that this was common practice to save time.

Twelve years on, Aaron remains one of the youngest to die on a construction site in Australia. His face is a powerful reminder that young and inexperienced workers need to be looked after and supervised and importantly easily seen on site.

By wearing green hard hats apprentices and those new to the industry can be easily identified, and others around them can ensure they are supervised and working in a safe environment. Currently, there is no requirement for apprentices or those new to the industry to be identifiable on Australian building sites, yet they continue to remain overwhelmingly represented in fatality and workplace injury statistics.

June 2024 marks two years since the Green Hats For Aaron Facebook  page began in an effort for  Aaron’s story to effect  meaningful change to worksite safety.

It is gratifying to see construction industry leader Planet Plumbing Group start the charge toward change at the very first opportunity, taking the lead so that others may follow – there is no doubt this opened the door to nonpartisan support across Unions, State and Local Parliament and regional councils.

There is a much to commend – including Planet Plumbing Groups very own senior management team championing Green Hats For Aaron and making it part of their Nationwide Youth Worker Policy.

As a national company, we have adopted the Green Hats for Aaron initiative across all our job sites, providing each apprentice with a green hat as part of their onboarding gear. This underscores the importance of safety as the heart and foundation of our company.

Recently, Green Hats for Aaron spokesperson Byron Davies was invited by Travis Walkley, State Manager (QLD), to share Aaron’s story once again at Planet Plumbing Queensland in Brisbane.: “It's great to catch up with the guys at Planet Plumbing and see all the green hats out on the building sites, “ commented Byron.

“It means so much to Aaron’s family, to know that his story his being told across Australia and in particular that Planet Plumbing Group are making site safety for apprentices a priority. They can’t help but feel that if Aaron had been wearing a green hard hat, things would have been different.”

“Thank you to everyone for your support. Please join #Greenhatsforaaron on Facebook and together we can help save lives on Australian worksites. Everyone deserves to come home.”