OHS REPS @ WORK

19 May 2004

Federal Workplace Relations Minister Kevin Andrews yesterday announced Federal Government will replace that the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission with a trimmed-down "ministerial advisory group".

Victorian Trades Hall Council Secretary, Leigh Hubbard, condemned the Federal Government's move to abolish the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission (NOHSC).

"With 13 workers dying in Victoria just this year, the Federal Government's move to abolish NOHSC is tantamount to winding back the clock on national standards in health and safety in the workplace, and could put workers' lives at risk," Mr Hubbard said.

The commission performs vital research and policy work, the outcomes of which are adopted by the states in their OH&S regulatory regimes.

"There can be no excuse for a government with a $7 billion surplus that feels it needs to abolish a body which is the only national forum in which state governments, employers, unions and the Federal Minister can sit down together and work on making Australia's workplaces safer," Mr Hubbard added.

More than 450 people die in Australian workplaces every year, with up to 8,200 deaths per year attributable to workplace-related injuries, according to a study by Access Economics.

"To suggest that the work on health and safety is done and can be relegated to a small committee is an insult to those who have been injured or died on the job. This latest move is simply another example of how little this government cares for Australian workers," Mr Hubbard concluded.