Category: government

Food parcels required by some injured workers in South Australia

An independent member of the South Australian Parliament, Ann Bressington, has revealed that some injured workers in South Australia are receiving food parcels because their income is so low that they are living on bread and instant soup.

In a media statement released on 2 March 2010 (not yet available online), Bressington said

“Rosemary McKenzie-Ferguson and I have both found ourselves in the position of having to provide food to injured workers because some were living on nothing more than dry bread and packet soups and unable to afford their medications.   It is a sad indictment of our government’s commitment to its constituents when sick, injured and vulnerable people are forced into this position….they have been thrown out in the cold and literally left to starve”. (link added)

The media statement was issued in support of the 10th WorkCover Public Forum scheduled for 4 March 2010 in the Way Hall, 10 Pitt St, Adelaide.

Bressington and McKenzie-Ferguson recently commented on WorkCover issues in SafetyAtWorkBlog.

Kevin Jones

Aussie politician risks head injury in photo op

The issue of quad-bike safety continues to be controversial in Australia.  This debate is not helped by inconsistent safety messages on television.  Many of the news bulletins in Australia on 2 March 2010 showed the Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott, riding, seemingly for the first time, a quad bike on his trip to central Australia.  Sometimes he is wearing a helmet and at other times, not.

Video available on the ABC website shows parts of an apparent induction on how to operate the quad bike.   Continue reading “Aussie politician risks head injury in photo op”

Tractor death – ROPS but no seatbelt

WorkSafe Victoria reported investigations into a tractor-related death near Yackandandah that occurred on 28 February 2010.  The media release (not yet available online) says:

“WorkSafe Victoria is investigating the death of a man who died when a tractor he was driving tipped over in north-east Victoria yesterday.  The man, aged in his 20s, had been moving bee hives….. He was the second Victorian to die at work since Friday and the second in two weeks to die in a tractor-related incident.”

WorkSafe advised SafetyAtWorkBlog that the tractor had a roll-over protective structure but no seatbelt.

Kevin Jones

Some families in South Australia blame WorkCover for their partners’ suicides

In January 2010, Today Tonight in South Australia aired a disturbing report about the workers compensation reforms in that State.  It talks to two widows who blame WorkCover SA as contributing to their husbands’ suicides.  One man left a suicide note explicitly blaming WorkCover SA, emphasising his point by jumping to his death from the sixth floor of the WorkCover office building.

The video report is available HERE under the title WorkCover Suicide.

One of those interviewed in the story is Kevin Purse who undertook a report into the SA workers’ compensation system on behalf of SA Unions.   Continue reading “Some families in South Australia blame WorkCover for their partners’ suicides”

Discussion paper on Queensland workers compensation released

The Queensland Government has released a public discussion paper into its workers’ compensation scheme.  Obviously this was part of the reason for the political argy-bargy in the State in late February 2010 over a report by Deloitte.

A major question posed in the discussion paper concerns the application of Whole Person Impairment (WPI) or Work-Related Impairment (WRI) as the assessment process.  Currently only Queensland applies WRI and so the submissions to this discussion process may be quite useful in anticipation of the any review into the national workers’ compensation arrangements.   Continue reading “Discussion paper on Queensland workers compensation released”

Workplace Bullying petition is now online

In February 2010, an Australian Facebook Group has put together a petition to call for a thorough review into issues associated with workplace bullying.  The initiative stemmed from the successful prosecution of four men who contributed to the suicide of Brodie Panlock through their bullying behaviours.  The petition, subtitled “Petition For Criminal and Workplace Reform In Australia For Psychological Abuse”,  has now been prepared and is seeking support.

The crux of the petition is:

“Your petitioners ask that the Parliament:

SA Liberal party policy on WorkCover

It is less than  a month to the state election in South Australia so policies are being released frequently.  This week the South Australia Liberal Party released a WorkCover policy – 18 pages  saying it will “fix Labor’s mess”.

The policy is linked to through this blog article for several reasons.  Many Australia States have elections in 2010 and in most States, the Liberal Party is in opposition.  The SA policy may indicate some of the measures to be promoted in other States elections.

Also, policy statements tend to be quietly dropped from party websites and agenda if they become embarrassing after a loss.   Continue reading “SA Liberal party policy on WorkCover”

© Workplace Safety Services P/L (ABN: 68091088621) and SafetyAtWorkBlog, 2008-2025. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Kevin Jones and SafetyAtWorkBlog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Concatenate Web Development
© Designed and developed by Concatenate Aust Pty Ltd