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In this morning’s SafetyAtWorkBlog article, a quote from Janice Murray was included and which originated from an ACTU video dated 25 February 2019. Murray said this of the fine imposed on Paspaley:
“We sat through a very strong legal team. I understand that this is something that they can get covered through insurance. The fine through WorkSafe was minimal for us – a $60,000 fine – and that too was covered by insurance.”
Paspaley has provided SafetyAtWorkBlog with this clarification:
“Paspaley does not propose to engage in further correspondence about this matter which concluded in October 2015 and which has, not infrequently, been the subject of misinformation.
Suffice to say that the fine in question was paid directly by Paspaley and was not covered by insurance.”
The mainstream Australian media has almost entirely ignored the release of Marie Boland’s Final Report of the independent Review of Australia’s Work Health and Safety laws. but some of the usual players in the workplace relations sector have responded. Below is a longer responsive from the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) but first some simpler responses.
The trade union movement has almost entirely focused on the Industrial Manslaughter recommendations in the Boland Report. As well as a couple of media statements, the Australian Council of Trade Unions released a video on February 25 2019 with Assistant Secretary Liam O’Brien accompanied by the parents of two deceased workers. The first to speak were Tony and Robyn Hampton whose son, Jarrod, died while working for Paspaley Pearls. The second couple were Janice and Mark Murray whose son, Luke, died when parts of a crane that was being unpacked fell on him.
The Australian Government has released the final report of the Independent Review of its Work Health and Safety (WHS) laws, conducted by Marie Boland. Importantly, the Government has not issued its response yet and, given that there is a Federal Election in a couple of months’ time, is unlikely to. Why have another issue complicate the campaign particularly when that response may have to address Industrial Manslaughter laws which would focus on the accountability of business leaders? This Government has already been bruised on a similar issue through a Banking and Finance Royal Commission.
Regardless of this Government’s future treatment of the Boland Report, the report does progress occupational health and safety (OHS) and the operation of the WHS laws, reinforcing some aspects and challenging other. It is obligatory reading for those interested in OHS in Australia.
(SafetyAtWorkBlog is preparing an exclusive interview with Marie Boland for next week)
Productivity, like Safety, is one of those words that is used frequently without a clear and uniform definition. This causes confusion when advocating for occupational health and safety (OHS) interventions that improve productivity.
Safety does not increase productivity but it can minimize lost productivity. Let me try to explain by focusing on labour productivity. Every worker has a certain level of productivity, that is, the creation of a product or the delivery of a service. This level can be affected by family issues, work stressors, poor working conditions and environment. This distraction and discomfort lowers a worker’s productivity. OHS aims to reinstate the worker’s optimum productivity through various operational and procedural changes. OHS tries to close the gap between low labour productivity and peak productivity.
Continue reading “Be clear on what is meant by productivity”
Last year SafeWork South Australia was evaluated by that State’s Independent Commission against Corruption. A couple of years ago Martyn Campbell (pictured right) took on the role as the Executive Director. SafeWork SA had obvious challenges and Campbell has needed to recalibrate the organisation to meet contemporary standards and expectations.
SafetyAtWorkBlog had the chance to put some questions to Martyn Campbell recently. Below are his responses.
The death of Dillon Wu in 2018, is being investigated by WorkSafe Victoria and is still getting some media attention. The latest is an article in The Conversation by Associate Professor, Diana Kelly of the University of Wollongong called “Killed in the line of work duties: we need to fix dangerous loopholes in health and safety laws“.
This article focuses on the confusion over occupational health and safety (OHS) responsibility as Wu was a labour hire worker placed at Marshall Lethlean Industries by the Australian Industry Group. (AiGroup’s position on responsibility was given to SafetyAtWorkBlog in November 2018) It may seem that AiGroup has primary responsibility because it was Wu’s employer. But AiGroup told SafetyAtWorkBlog that
“All host employers sign agreements with AiGTS which specifically require the host employer to ensure apprentices are supervised and monitored during their engagement. “