gobbyjock

Was it a case of you cant approach the "star"??? Too big for the boots maybe??

Professional Princess

We were told in our volunteer info sheet not to approach Steve or Terri as they are busy.

We also had to sign a disclaimer to say we wouldnt hold the zoo responsible for being injured.

No training on lifting or anything, but we had to sign a disclaimer.

In Currumbin, all volunteers are insured from the minute you leave your accommodation.

But I suppose at the end of the day, Steves animals are well cared for and thats what is important.

gobbyjock

Thats not good - I would have thought that if you had to sign a disclaimer then they should at least give you health & safety training, it`s all very well looking after the animals welfare but staff should be high up there on the list too.

The Bloke

The zoo has also recieved visits from Workplace Health & Safety Board after several "accidents" that have happened to employees but have so far only recieved token fines.

G'Day

Mmm, THAT's not good for the people, but then it's up to them to make sure they get the right training etc. No one forced anyone to sign anything. Still, I like any wildlife program & his are pretty good. As for it being a business, well I had a small non-profitable thing going at one time, rehabilitating injured birds & animals & I can tell you this - it costs a bucket of cash to keep going. Each animal has their specific likes & dislikes, they have to be kept in suitable enclosures in suitable conditions, the vet's bills were shocking! If Steve wasn't making money he wouldn't have been able to look after his animals so well so good on him!

The Bloke

It is the responsibility BY LAW OF THE EMPLOYER to make sure the workplace is safe for employees, regardless if they are permanent, part-time OR vorlunteers and to make sure they ARE ADVISED and TRAINED in correct work-safety procedures.

Professional Princess

When you accept volunteers into your establishment, by agreeing to have them there, you have to ensure their safety.

Train them to lift properly and make sure they are supervised at all times.

When I was at the zoo, we were told to pick up piles of leaves/kangaroo shit - which is fine.

But when you are told to use your bare hands, its worth warning the person concerned BEFORE they do it, that there may be death adders in the undergrowth and not after.

And another thing, which we were told not to talk about at the zoo and I think was total shite so I am going to talk about it now.

The walk to the zoo is like a pissing death trap. There are no buses and you have to walk along a busy road with no sidewalk to get there.

Fine I hear you say.

A zoo volunteer from the UK was knocked over and killed whilst riding his bike to the zoo.

Why the bloody hell should he even have ridden his bike when there is a free courtesy bus for toursists going directly to the zoo door?

A free bus that zoo volunteers were not allowed to use?

Why is it Currumbin insure their volunteers from the minute they leave their accomodation?

I am the first to say that Irwin puts his animals first and their care is first class as are his demos.

But there is absolutely no justification in the way volunteers are treated.

If having volunteers at the zoo is that much of a hassle then the answer is simple - don't have them.

I appreciate you have your opinion Gday, but to see what its really like, you should do some volunteering there.

This comment is not meant to be slanderous or defamatory in any way to Australia Zoo. It is my opinion and as I said, I cannot fault his care of animals and what he and his staff do for conservation.

kevinbloomfield

One rule for the tourists and one rule for the unpaid workers??
Doesn't sound so good

G'Day

PP, I can't see you straining your back picking up shit, but who knows? And using your bare hands? Mmmm, I don't quite buy that one - I think you're telling a wopper. I don't even clean my cat's litter box without gloves - I cannot imagine Steve or anyone at the zoo actually EXPECTING you to pick it up with bare hands. However, if that's the way you like doing things......Nevermind the "death adder" stories. Why would someone who cares as much for his animals as Steve does put snakes in their compounds with them? Why would he leave them there if he didn't put them there, when he knows people work there regularly & in Australia people will sue the pants off you for even blinking funny in their direction? As for all sorts of other things like not allowing you to approach him & his family, well I don't know the man personally, but where does it say just 'cause he's on telly he has to be available to you at all times? What makes you so special anyway? I happen to like him and his programs a great deal, my own family is in the film industry & they're not the same people at home as what they are on TV either, neither does any Tom, Dick or Harry have the right to bug & harrass them simply because they happen to see their faces on TV. Furthermore, "free" courtesy tourist busses are for TOURISTS, not for employees, volunteer or otherwise. They don't really run for free, they run because the tourists pay to go into the zoo, which volunteers & employees don't - simple mathematics and good business sense. And if someone doesn't have the sense to ride his bike sensibly on a busy road it's hardly Steve's fault. Blame the council for not building a proper sidewalk or walkway for people. Last time I looked Steve wasn't elected to the council.

If you didn't like working there as a volunteer you could have just got up and left, and so could anyone else who wasn't happy. If everyone left because of bad conditions the man would have had to face up to facts (if they are indeed facts). You weren't locked into a contract or getting paid anyway, so why did you bother? I think your whinning is just a way of drawing attention to the fact that you worked for him. Many people do that, they get all starry-eyed around celebs & then they bitch about them afterwards in an attempt to draw attention to the fact that they actually met them, because they don't want to come straight out & brag that they met or saw so-and-so.

kevinbloomfield

You are a happy soul, is Steve related to you in some way?

Seems like Steve (and anyone else who puts themselves in the public domain ie TV) are happy taking the big bucks that comes with it but are less happy when people approach them. We have the same in the UK with David Beckham and his wife. Seems fame goes straight to some peoples heads.
As you say, you and your family are in the film industry so maybe this is normal?

gobbyjock

I think the point being made was that staff should be treated fairly - I wouldn`t have thought it would be too much of a problem to let staff use a free bus on a dangerous road (after I doubt there would be many perks to that sort of job). All staff should be given health & safety training - that is a fact! And as for staff approaching him - well you want the fame & money - you take the the drawbacks too.

kevinbloomfield

Yep, agree to that. Maybe G'Day is a mega film star with millions in the bank (Paul Hogan perhaps?), maybe not though after the comment about cleaning the cat litter tray with gloves on . It must get so tiring when plebs keep approaching just to say hello.

I would have thought volunteers would be treated as well if not better than the regular staff, they are doing it for nothing after all. What's the matter with picking up roo shit with no gloves anyway, seems an ideal way to pass the day.

G'Day

Yep, I am a happy soul indeed. I don't whinge about silly things and expect the world to change to suit me, I adapt or get out. Not related to Steve or Paul Hogan in any way or form Wouldn't have minded having the money though....Not interested in picking 'roo shit up without gloves either - I'm a very sanitary person As for the "free" bus ride - I disagree 200%, if it was my business and each tourist that used the "free" service paid to get into my zoo then you can bet your bottom I won't be filling that bus with non-paying volunteers - they can walk or take the regular bus.

Fame doesn't go straight to some people's heads, there are very sick people out there & people who are famous have a right to not have to put up with sick puppies getting close and personal with them. How would they know if you were normal or what? They don't know you from a bar of soap! Furthermore, people like Beckham & Steve are famous not because they got their mugs on TV, but because they have a talent for something worthwhile. It didn't happen overnight, they worked hard for it. So when you buy that ticket to watch the game or enter the zoo you aren't buying a slice of them, you are simply paying to watch them do something that they are very good at & have honed to a fine art. They have the right to have a private life that doesn't include you or any other nutter, they have the right to go to the store & walk their dog just like regular people, without people mobbing them, touching them or staring like they're not used to anything.

Volunteers are just that, volunteers. They do what they do out of love for the cause, not because they want to get anything out of it - if they wanted a literal free ride out of it they weren't doing it for the right reasons. I've put up with plenty of crap in my life for things I believe in and what PP is whinging about is not even a contest. If she's so pro-animal she would have informed herself and done her job with a smile, not get there as a volunteer then start demanding free rides on the bus!

gobbyjock

I guess we will just have to agree to disagree then I do feel that employers have a duty of care - to provide proper equipement to do a job (like gloves)and to ensure staff have full training (health & safety included). If staff are expected to walk or bike along a dangerous road then then I feel staff transport should be provided (in my own opinion). People who love animals and want to help at the zoo is fine - so long as no-one takes the P**s out of them and don`t expect everything for nothing and dont provide equipement and training. Yes I agree that there are nutjobs out there who like to get too close and people dont have a right to a piece of a celeb - however if you want to be famous you should expect that people will want to approach you - it comes with the territory - and I`m not saying I agree with people doing it.

G'Day

Okay - but we don't disagree at all. I didn't say "Don't supply gloves.", I was saying I don't believe for a minute that they weren't supplying gloves or giving proper H & S training. With an outfit that big and well-known they couldn't afford not to do the right thing because every man and his brother would be out to make a buck if something went wrong. Australia is fast heading the same way as America with public liability & that's why I don't believe what PP wrote. As for staff going along a dangerous road, I still don't see how it's Steve's responsibility to ensure that someone drives his bike in a responsible manner down a busy road. Obviously thousands of visitors & volunteers make their way in and out of the zoo yearly on that road without getting run over, so I can't help but wonder at this one isolated incident and how it has now become the responsibility and personal failing of Steve who happens to own the zoo that fronts the public road it happened on??? Is it now also the failing and responsibility of the milkbar owner accross the street from him or the petrol station up the road that happened to pump the guys' tyres?
As for being approached as a celeb, you can choose to make it impossible for people to approach you and it is your right to do so. To complain about a clause in a contract saying Steve doesn't want everyone to approach him or his family is a bit silly, certainly everyone has the right to refuse to mingle if they choose? Just because Steve owns the zoo & is a celeb and PP worked there doesn't mean she should be granted automatic access to him - does it? I work for a multi-million international company & I see our CEO on television all the time, does that now give me the right to insist that I meet him and his wife on a private, personal level? I don't think so....unless you want to take this to a whole new level of weird :scared: