Kiwi Rail Bypasses Local Supplier To Cut Costs, Then Discovers Plenty-O-Asbestos In Chinese Engines

[hatrack]

The discovery of asbestos in KiwiRail trains built in China - after Dunedin's Hillside Engineering Workshops was overlooked for the work - shows what can go wrong with cost-cutting, Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull says.

He was commenting after 40 of KiwiRail's locomotives were withdrawn from service following the discovery of the potentially deadly material in a soundproofing compound inside one of the vehicles on Friday.

The discovery has prompted health fears for workers potentially exposed to asbestos but Mr Cull told the Otago Daily Times it also showed the problems that came with a narrow focus on the bottom line. ''This is an example of why you have to look at all the costs, not just the financial ones.

''If you only think of the financial costs, and not of what effect will this have on the resilience of our engineering sector, or our ability to be self-sufficient, or whatever, then you're likely to get some surprises.''

EDIT

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/293679/counting-cost-asbestos-find

[hunter]

1. Just great. Now imagine the Chinese workers installing the stuff...

... and the miners who dug the asbestos out of the ground, possibly in entirely third world conditions.

Just another way unregulated "free" markets kill people and damage the environment.

[happyslug]

2. Wrong posting

Last edited Tue Mar 4, 2014, 05:13 PM - Edit history (1)

n/t