2019-10-09
A recently constructed multi-story hospital building surrounded by a bushfire zone in Northern Sydney has been assessed as having high-risk flammable cladding.
Despite the State Government and the hospital being aware of the dangers for over 18 months staff and patients at the hospital were first notified of the danger this week.
Staff at the Sydney Adventist Hospital in northern Sydney have been informed that Clark Tower, constructed in 2014, contains high risk cladding.
The Sydney Adventist Hospital is surrounded by bushfire prone land as identified by the NSW fire service.
Greens MP David Shoebridge David Shoebridge said:
“It’s been over two years since the Grenfell fire disaster and there are still public buildings with high-risk cladding and no funding to fix the crisis.
“It’s not just the obvious dangers of having a major hospital building with flammable cladding, it’s the fact that no one told the patients or staff about the risk.
“The hospital’s response to the cladding raises as many questions as it answers, with staff being required to undertake on-line training about the fire danger rather than focusing on immediate removal of the dangers.
“The dangers of flammable external cladding in a fire prone part of Sydney are so obvious and so alarming that surely staff and patients had a right to know about it from the outset.
“This government’s continuing policy of secrecy means there is no public register of the buildings at risk from flammable cladding. In this case that has left patients and staff less safe.
“The Greens are calling on the Minister to immediately publish the register of buildings at risk from flammable cladding so that residents, staff and visitors are given the information they need to make safe choices,” Mr Shoebridge said.
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