Sally Belcher with her scraper at the Pakenham Bypass works site. By Sarah Schwager
ONE of the workers on the Pakenham Bypass, Nyora’s Sally Belcher, is also one of the few women in Victoria to operate earthmoving machinery.
Ms Belcher, 30, has a licence to operate a scraper, excavator, bulldozer, loader and dump truck.
She started seven years ago when she was 23, after getting a job working a dump truck. She has been operating the machinery ever since.
Originally wanting to become a vet, while studying at Hillcrest College in Clyde, she decided not to pursue university when her mother died when Ms Belcher was just 16 years old.
She went on to work at a market garden, truck driving and as a stable hand.
She now works for TGS Sands and Soils and will continue on the Pakenham Bypass as long as required, at least for the next few months.
“They’ve had me on all sorts of machines,” Ms Belcher said. “But in the last three years I’ve mainly been on the scraper.”
She said the job had taken her all over Victoria, “everywhere from Wy Yung to the You Yangs and in between”.
Ms Belcher said she did not have a problem with working in what was usually regarded as an allmale environment.
“I’m used to it now – though it never really worried me,” she said.
“I figure I’m in their domain and so I try not to upset anyone.
“Most of the men I work with are gentlemen anyway.”
Ms Belcher, small in stature compared to the men, also suffers from Crohn’s disease, an ulcer of the small and large intestines.
“It can debilitate you at some times,” she said.
“You can drop weight and gain weight suddenly.
“This job is good for it because I am mostly sitting.”
She said she had had the condition for about nine years, with doctors attributing its onset to severe stress.
Ms Belcher said in a short space of time her mother had died, she had had trouble with a boyfriend, and she had been a passenger in a car accident that had killed the driver, a friend.
She said the condition sometimes affected her work.
“Usually if I get crook, I have to keep going.”
Ms Belcher urged other women considering a career in the industry not to be scared away.
“A lot of bosses look for women because they are often kinder on the machines, and tend to take a bit more pride in what they do,” she said.
