Dock worker Brad Gray died in February after being struck by a forklift.

A minute of silence was observed by workers on wharves across Australia last month in a mark of respect for 30-year-old dock worker Brad Gray who died after being struck by a forklift.

The incident occurred on 20 February while he was working the vessel, the Pacific Explorer, for the POAG stevedoring group in Brisbane. He was working in the gangway and was struck by a forklift carrying a dunnage (waste) bin.

According to MUA national secretary Paddy Crumlin, this is the fourth fatality in a little over three-and-a-half years, and the fifth since June 2003.

"The Brisbane waterfront is tense following the death. Every workplace is different and without second-guessing any formal inquiries, this sort of accident just shouldn't happen if set safety protocols are put in place. We have to ensure that workplaces achieve productivity goals, but not at the expense of fundamental safety," says MUA assistant national secretary Warren Smith.

"For the past two years, we have been working for nationally coordinated regulation to underpin waterfront safety and we are now calling for the government to support a national safety code of practice for stevedoring and give it some legislative backbone."