politics – Page 35 – SafetyAtWorkBlog

How revolutionary could the Work Health and Safety Act be?

In April 2010, the Australian Government is busy negotiating a new health reform package. It is likely that the next stage of the reforms will be in the Australian Senate which brings Nick Xenophon into the negotiations. On 21 April 2010, The Australian reported Xenophon saying:

“…he had “an open mind” on the deal brokered by the Prime Minister yesterday but wanted to ensure it had a strong emphasis on preventative health, which was the ultimate “test of the health system”.”

Senator, Nick Xenophon, provides a good example of how personal ideals cross social boundaries and professional disciplines. His focus on the prevention of harm covers public safety and workplace safety illustrates the interconnection that an ethical stance can bring social issues that are governed under different laws and expectations. Continue reading “How revolutionary could the Work Health and Safety Act be?”

BHP Billiton has another mining fatality at Leinster mine

On 12 April 2010, the electronic media (video report available) reported a fatality at a BHP Billiton mine in Western Australia where

“a truck plunged 18 metres down a shaft at the Perseverance nickel mine near Leinster.”

Newspapers on 13 April 2010 have provided further details. The 45-year old man, Wayne Ross, was operating a “bogger” at the time. A profile of a bogger operator is available HERE. which reads

“Being a Bogger Operator is a very physically demanding job. You need to operate heavy excavators in dark damp conditions, however you will be well rewarded for this. Some Bogger operators can earn around $80,000 a year.”

The Leinster mine has been the site of several deaths since 2006. Four workers have died on BHP Billiton mine sites since July 2009.

The Age reports that the bogger the worker “was driving fell almost 20 metres down the mine shaft” and it took around 18 hours to retrieve his body. Continue reading “BHP Billiton has another mining fatality at Leinster mine”

Lord Young smashes bridges instead of building them at IOSH conference

Following the post on the 2010 British election campaign a reader pointed out that David Cameron’s reviewer of OHS, Lord Young, spoke at the 2010 conference of the Institute of Occupational Safety & Health (IOSH) in late March 2010 and ruffled some feathers.

Lord David Young described the public perception of OHS as

“at best, as an object of ridicule and, at worst, a bureaucratic nightmare”.

However according to IOSH, Lord Young identified OHS professionals as the problem instead of considering the truth of many of the media reports. Continue reading “Lord Young smashes bridges instead of building them at IOSH conference”

OHS as litmus on British election campaign

On 6 April 2010, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called a general election for 6 May 2010. Dust off your copy of A Very British Coup or Yes, Minister and get ready to try to make sense of workplace policies, if they ever get a mention.

Workplace safety rarely gets a mention in election campaigns unless there is the misfortune for a major work-related catastrophe during the campaign. In these early days, OHS was never going to be mentioned but over the next month or so, it will be fascinating to see which political party mentions the issue first and with most emphasis.

David Cameron of the Conservative Party spoke passionately about OHS within the last six months. The Labour Party has the capacity to show that work fatality rates have fallen within their three terms of office (more below). The Liberal Democrats have no policy position yet on workplace safety. Basically it’s Vision vs Stability vs Uncertainty. Continue reading “OHS as litmus on British election campaign”

Minister says public service safety performance is lamentable

“….I would ….suggest that government (as employer and dutyholder, and as policy maker) can, and should, be an exemplar of OHS best practice. By taking the lead in the systematic management of occupational health and safety, government can influence the behaviour of individuals and firms upon whom duties are imposed by the OHS legislation.”

In 2004, Chris Maxwell QC wrote the above words in his review of the OHS legislation in Victoria. According to a report in the Australian Financial Review (only available by subscription or hard copy) on 6 April 2010, the Minister for WorkCover, Tim Holding, seems to share some of Maxwell’s view. Holding is reported to have said in a speech that

“The truth is that the performance of workplace safety in the Victorian public service continues to be lamentable Continue reading “Minister says public service safety performance is lamentable”

The first workers’ compensation harmonisation meeting a sham: unions

“The conference inside is a bit of a sham” claimed Brian Boyd, Victorian Trades Hall Secretary at the first meeting into the harmonisation of Australia’s workers compensation laws.

“It’s really another hidden agenda about trying to harmonise workers comp after we fully know already, they’ve messed up harmonisation of OHS.”

Continue reading “The first workers’ compensation harmonisation meeting a sham: unions”

Government can do much better on level crossing safety

The Victorian Government is likely to say the Auditor-General’s report into “Management of Safety Risks at Level Crossings“, released on 24 March 2010, supports the government’s initiatives. This is true but the report says much more than just describing the State Government’s efforts as “satisfactory”. (If my child’s report card said satisfactory, I would be talking to the teacher about why the performance was only “satisfactory”)

The report summary says the following:

“The rate of progress in improving safety and reducing accidents has been satisfactory. There are, however, elements of the risk management framework and its application that can be improved.”

These elements are specified as

“improving how the committee is informed of the views of the rail managers, who run train services and maintain the infrastructure, about their risks and priorities

assembling information that will allow the committee to effectively manage and monitor the delivery of the Towards Zero strategy

improving the understanding of what causes level crossing collisions.” [link added]

Clearly the Parliamentary committee is not getting the full risk story from the rail managers. Continue reading “Government can do much better on level crossing safety”

Tag: politics

How revolutionary could the Work Health and Safety Act be?

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BHP Billiton has another mining fatality at Leinster mine

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Lord Young smashes bridges instead of building them at IOSH conference

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OHS as litmus on British election campaign

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Minister says public service safety performance is lamentable

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The first workers’ compensation harmonisation meeting a sham: unions

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Government can do much better on level crossing safety

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