SafetyAtWorkBlog has been informed that Cath Bowtell has been appointed the new executive director of WorkSafe Victoria. Bowtell’s name may be familiar to some Australians due to her recent contest to be the next President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU).
Cath Bowtell is due to take on the position in the middle of 2010. Continue reading “ACTU industrial officer is new WorkSafe executive”
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?”
Further to the SafetyAtWorkBlog article about the prosecution of Fortescue Metals Group, The Australian newspaper reports on 28 April 2010 that the trial will start tomorrow.
The article states that
“Lawyers for the Department of Commerce — prosecuting the case through WorkSafe — successfully argued the site was not a mine and was instead a camp for workers constructing a railway to transport iron ore.”
The company was arguing that the site was a mining support site and that its contractors were responsible.
Interestingly the Magistrate, Joe Randazzo, wants a definition of “safe refuge”. This may lead to a reconsideration of the use of dongas, or temporary accommodation units, in areas of extreme weather conditions. There is the potential for safety improvements from this case and not just a punishment.
On 27 April 2010, less than 24 hours after a highly critical television program was broadcast about his government’s mismanagement of its insulation rebate scheme, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologised to the families of the men who died while installing roof insulation.
“Certainly, when it comes to the Fuller family, I, together with other ministers of the government, are deeply sorry for what has occurred as it affects their loved ones and nothing, no action, actually brings those loved ones back,…”
There was a political imperative for the apology as the program reported that he met with one family and at the time expressed no regret. But in the context of this blog’s subject area, Rudd has said something that should kill corporate safety pledges. Continue reading ““For the government, safety has always been the number one priority” – Really?”
WorkSafeBC is a regular provider of useful safety videos. In mid-April 2010 the regulator released a latest video that reports on an exploding soup kettle in a restaurant that injured several workers with steel shrapnel and steam.
Safety prevention videos are costly to produce properly and WorkSafeBC has followed a process that is informative and simple but providing a slide show with an audio commentary. This is a technique that makes use of the many incident photos that OHS investigators take without compromising the investigation and still offering a much more attractive and appealing safety alert. It is a technique that other OHS regulators should consider.
Queensland’s Premier, Anna Bligh, and Attorney-General, Cameron Dick have issued a curious media statement concerning their reform of the State’s workers’ compensation system.
The reform is intended “to ensure stability and certainty into the future” and “ensure that the Queensland average premium rate, while increasing, will remain the lowest of any state or territory.”
The Premier is saying the right message but the reality may be a little different. Continue reading “Queensland workers’ compensation reforms – is the good news really that good?”
Tomorrow, 28 April 2010, is the International Day of Mourning, a remembrance day for those who have died at work. In Australia most of the focus will be on the memorial event in Sydney as the majority of trade union leaders are in the city for the ACTU Organising Conference. This has the potential to leave events in other capital cities muted as second string trade union leaders are likely to host events.
Tasmania’s trade union movement has chosen to replace a fixed geographic event with a mini-event in workplaces. Its poster is on the right. Workers are encouraged to
A list of Workers’ Memorial Day events in Australia is available through the ACTU website. Continue reading “2010 International Day of Mourning”