CBH site intruder warning

As the 2016-17 harvest draws to a close in many areas of WA, the State’s major grain-handling group has warned of the dangers of unauthorised access to its delivery sites.

CBH has issued a circular to country schools in response to an increase in the number of young people trespassing on its sites, tampering with trains and climbing on storage. “This is not only illegal trespassing but also, and more importantly, puts them in danger,” the circular said.

CBH asked schools to discuss the dangers of such activities with their students before the end of the school year “in an effort to highlight the dangers and repercussions of being on site”.

The grains handler warned unauthorised visitors to the busy delivery sites were putting themselves in harm’s way due to the number of grain-delivery trucks and trains moving in and out of site boundaries.

CBH also warned of the dangers posed by the fumigation process, stating the phosphine gas used was toxic and could cause severe health issues if inhaled. “In strong enough doses, it can be lethal,” the circular warned.

“CBH displays signs in prominent places on site to warn people not to enter our sites or go near the storages under fumigation; however our sites are generally unsupervised outside the harvest and out-loading activities,” the circular stated.

“We are looking to increase awareness within local communities about the dangers of being on site, with the hope we can help to avoid incidents occurring.”

Meanwhile, at Munglinup’s CBH delivery site, supervisor Gary Nagle said most unauthorised visitors to the site were non-human, with snakes, emus and goannas being regular visitors.

Mr Nagle has become a dab hand at capturing and re-locating the slithering trespassers.