Category: government

New Mesothelioma Registry and government answers asbestos questions

The Australian Workplace Relations Minister, Julia Gillard, this morning launched the latest Australian Mesothelioma Registry.  SafetyAtWorkBlog took the opportunity to ask Safe Work Australia some specific questions about asbestos and government policy.  Their responses are below.

The government has awarded the contract for the new Australian Mesothelioma Registry to a consortium led by the Cancer Institute of NSW. Continue reading “New Mesothelioma Registry and government answers asbestos questions”

Australia to get a national workers’ memorial

Last year, Tasmania began building a memorial garden for people who have been killed at work.  South Australia has the Don Gage Memorial Walk.  Queensland unveiled its new workers’ memorial on 28 April 2010.  The Australian government has finally sought to establish a national memorial in Canberra in support of the International Day of Mourning.

According to media statements from the Minister for Workplace Relations, Julia Gillard, and Senator Doug Cameron (former National Secretary Australian Manufacturing Workers Union) a committee will look into establishing an appropriate memorial in Canberra. Continue reading “Australia to get a national workers’ memorial”

Inter-related issues of workplace bullying

Most of the workplace bullying attention in Australia in recent years has focussed on the white-collar industries and the relationship to stress, workload, harassment and policies for respect.   A case reported in the The Age newspaper on 29 April 2010 about bullying in a door frame company is reflective of apprentice bullying cases of over a decade ago but also illustrates the potential complexity of this workplace hazard. Continue reading “Inter-related issues of workplace bullying”

Australia’s national safety award winners

This evening in Canberra, Safe Work Australia announced the winners of the 5th Annual Safe Work Australia Awards. The profiles below are provided by Safe Work Australia.

The winners are:

Best Workplace Health and Safety Management System – Private Sector

GHD, South Australia

“GHD South Australia uses an electronic workplace health and safety management system accessible to all employees and has a workflow element to ensure that the necessary safety analysis and reporting is undertaken for all projects. Continue reading “Australia’s national safety award winners”

Professor Niki Ellis hits out at the state of OHS in Australia

“…OHS is not fit for the 21st century.  It is isolated, has a limited academic base and remit, uneven provision, lack of good quality data, a poor image and is perceived by many as the servant of the employer.”

Professor Niki Ellis speaks frankly about the OHS discipline in Australia.

Professor Niki Ellis recently was appointed the CEO of the Institute of Safety, Compensation and Recovery Research (ISCRR) after some time in the United Kingdom and a short period as the acting chair of the Safety Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission.  Prof Ellis provided a refreshing and confronting presentation to the 2009 Comcare Conference (pictured right) that SafetyAtWorkBlog attended. Continue reading “Professor Niki Ellis hits out at the state of OHS in Australia”

Unionists express anger at Australia’s approach to OHS on Workers’ Memorial Day

Some days, politics should be kept in the background.  Increasingly the International Day of Mourning is being used as a political platform, principally by the union movement.  But this is discomforting and a little like anti-war protests during ANZAC Day, as happened several decades ago.

International Day of Mourning, or Workers’ Memorial Day, as it is also known, should be a time of reflection.  There is no doubt that there is a political element to wortkplace safety and the deaths of workers but it is hard to remember the dead, look at the memorials and the floral tributes when a tannoy is shouting to a unon protest rally.

This was part of the scene outside the Trades Hall in Melbourne on 28 April 2010.  Thousands of construction workers used the memorial as the starting point for a march to the offices of the Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard. Continue reading “Unionists express anger at Australia’s approach to OHS on Workers’ Memorial Day”

Too big to be held accountable?

Paul Howes, national secretary of the Australian Workers union has issued a media statement in support of the International Day of Mourning in which he says the Government is scared of BHP Billiton.

“Politicians – of all political shades – are just too scared to stand up to BHP-Billiton and tell them that in a safe work place people should come before profits”

The statement goes on to itemise the benefits of a unionised workplace and many of the comments will be familiar to readers and OHS professionals but what Howes statement implies is that not only is profitability given a higher priority than safety by the company but that the Australian Government is putting economic growth before corporate accountability for safety. Continue reading “Too big to be held accountable?”

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