Conference organisers IQPC started its two-day Safety in Design, Engineering and Construction conference on 16 August 2011. The most prominent speaker on day one was Barry Sherriff of law firm, Norton Rose. Sherriff spoke about OHS harmonisation‘s impact on the Australian construction industry.
Over time Australian labour lawyers generally have moved from saying that Victorian companies have little to worry about from the new laws expected on 1 January 2012 to quite alarming suggestions of challenges to do with contractor management and consultation. Part of this modification of advice may be due to the increased analysis of company OHS systems. Sherriff said that he has been surprised how many companies ask for advice about compliance under the new laws and yet are not complying under the existing OHS laws.
On the issue of consultation, Sherriff identified the “coordination of activities” and managing the “flow of information” as a critical element in the new OHS model laws. But he stressed that such obligations have existed in OHS laws in many Australian States for sometime but are now more overtly stated. Continue reading “Concerns increase as Australia’s OHS law changes loom”