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SafetyNet JOURNAL



Issue 168 - SafetyNet Journal 168
 Fri 03 Jul 2009

Issue 168 - SafetyNet Journal 168

Welcome to SafetyNet Journal 168 - find out the latest in what's going on in OHS in Australia and around the world.
Union News
Research
WorkSafe News
Worksafe Prosecutions
International News
Events

Union News

Activities for Reps

Rally for Your OHS Rights
Victoria’s democratically elected Health and Safety Reps currently have some of the strongest provisions, rights and protections in Australia. They play an important role in improving the safety of all Victorian workers. Yet, under proposed changes to harmonise various Australian OHS laws, Victorian reps stand to lose some of their most important rights and protections. These include: the right to choose their own training; the ability to exercise all rights as OHS reps as soon as they are elected; and, protection from targeting and attacks. The proposed laws will make Victorian workplaces less safe and attack the fundamental role of health and safety reps.
The VTHC is holding a rally on the National Day of Action on Workplace Safety on 28 July and calling on the Victorian Government to ensure the highest possible standards for health and safety reps. The rally commences at 10am, at Trades Hall, Lygon St, Carlton. All reps are urged to attend this important event.

NSW unions have launched two very effective YouTube videos highlighting what they will lose under the proposed Model Act, including one on the Finance Sector Union’s successful prosecution of a bank following a robbery.

Employee Protection Bill commences
The Employee Protection Bill passed the Upper House of the Victorian Parliament recently and came into effect on 1 July. The Bill makes changes to the protections from discrimination provided for in the OHS Act and includes the right of an individual (or their representative) to initiate a prosecution. This legislation is an important addition to the legal protections for workers and their representatives, especially in terms of protection from discrimination. The new legislation was welcomed by Trades Hall as additional protection for workers and elected reps.  Employer organisation VECCI, on the other hand, called the legislation a potential ‘job killer’ because it would allow employees to bring civil actions against their employers if they felt they were being discriminated against after raising OHS concerns.

WorkChoices finally dismissed
Fair Work Australia came online on 1 July and the event marked the final passing of WorkChoices. VTHC Secretary Brian Boyd has expressed concern over Fair Work Australia and says unions and workers will be keeping an eye on the organisation.  “Since the November 2007 Federal election many employers in both industry and the services sectors have been rushing to use John Howard’s outgoing WorkChoices legislation in order to put non-union agreements in place or consolidate AWA’s and other individual contracts,” he said.
“It is yet to be seen that both the Fair Work Act and the FWA can deliver on turning around the unfair and extreme legacy of the Howard era”.
With the new body beginning operations this week, the government has launched an online portal with information on Fair Work Australia and how it works.
Fair Work Online 



Man dies after being caught in Tullamarine lathe

A man has died in hospital two weeks after his clothes were caught in an operating lathe at Tullamarine. The man was working at a plastics manufacturing factory on 4 June when his coat was caught by the lathe and he was dragged in. WorkSafe is investigating the death of the 60-year-old man from Delahey who was the 14th Victorian to die in traumatic circumstances at work since 1 January. The fatality was the second this year involving unguarded equipment and one of a number of incidents where people have suffered horrific injuries. The tragic death comes only weeks after another company was fined $376,000 over a fatality caused by inadequate guarding on a machine. Too many Victorian workers are killed and injured each year because of poorly maintained and inadequately guarded machines. Unguarded machines are clearly the fault of the employer and a breach of their duty to provide a safe and healthy workplace.
VWA media release   OHS Reps page on Machine Guarding

Man hospitalised after another scaffolding incident in Melbourne
A construction worker was fortunate to escape serious injury or worse after falling through scaffolding on a Melbourne worksite this week. The 42-year-old man part of a crew dismantling the scaffold when the incident occurred. He was reportedly carrying 40kg of poles on his shoulders when he fell through a temporary platform and crashed to the ground below. He was taken to the Alfred Hospital on 2 July in a stable condition with injuries to his chest, head, shoulders and knees. It is the second scaffolding collapse in Melbourne this year and after a spate of collapses around the country over last summer.
Herald Sun report  

Ambos give government one last chance on rest breaks
Paramedics have suspended industrial action after the State Government sought a further round of crisis talks in the Industrial Relations Commission. Paramedics want to explore all avenues for a deal on longer breaks to combat fatigue and fair wages before they commence their first strike in 36 years. The State Government initiated the talks after more than a week of industrial action by paramedics, which has included defying Ambulance Victoria’s policy of eight hour minimum rest breaks and refusing to record patient billing data.
Steve McGhie, State Secretary of Ambulance Employees Australia, said there have been some positive noises coming from the government in recent days but there still remained major obstacles to an agreement being reached. Paramedics say they have been overwhelmed by the level of public support they have received, which has included numerous letters to the editor, talkback callers and thousands of people signing an online petition calling for longer rest breaks at their responsetime campaign website . 
AEA media release



Ask Renata

I was elected as OHS Rep three months ago but I have not yet had my initial 5 day course in OH&S training. Could you advise if this is an acceptable waiting period for training. It has been suggested it may be later this year.

No, not having been released for training for three months is not an acceptable situation. Under Section 67, the employer must allow a rep to attend the course of their choice but must be given at least two weeks' notice of the course attendance. While it might be reasonable for the employer to request that the rep not attend the course at that specific time if there are 'operational issues', the assumption is that the rep would then be able to attend training soon after that.
It sounds like your employer has assumed that it's up to them to arrange for your training. You need to take the initiative, choose the course you want (such as that offered by the VTHC OHS Training Unit) and inform the employer, with two weeks' notice that this is the course you will be attending. I WOULD NOT accept attending a course organised by them.

Remember though, that even if you have not attended the initial course, you have had the right to exercise the powers of a rep, as per the OHS Act, from the day you were elected. Go to this page for more advice on Reps' right to training.

Do you have an OHS-related query? If so Ask Renata.

Two nail gun incidents in Victoria and NSW
An 18-year-old student at a western Melbourne trades school and a worker at a building site in NSW where both shot with nail guns in similar incidents recently. While the student is believed to have been relatively unscathed, the NSW worker was taken to hospital in a critical condition with a nail in his head.
The Age article   SMH article    WorkSafe WA item on nail guns  
More links on the Construction More Information page 

More WA rockfalls prompt independent study of BHP mines
The AMWU says workers on BHP’s WA mines were too worried about safety to work on the day after the latest incident. The company says up to 15% of its workforce failed to show up for their shifts after the 29 June rockfall. BHP Billiton has been ordered to commission an independent engineering study at one of its West Australian nickel mines after two rockfalls in the past three weeks. The WA state mining engineer Martin Knee made a requisition order for the study of what may have contributed to two seismic events on 10 June and 29 June. On 29 June a minor rockfall caused a miner to stay underground for some time for safety reasons and another miner strained his back when hit by a rock. In the earlier incident a miner was trapped underground for 16 hours after a 250 tonne rockfall. Both incidents happened at BHP's Perseverance nickel mine, near Leinster, in the WA Goldfields.
West Australian



Asbestos News

James Hardie moving operations to Ireland
James Hardie has announced plans to move its financial operations to Ireland, saying the global financial situation and changes to international taxation arrangements has made the Netherlands unsuitable for its business. The company claims the move will reduce its tax bill. The company has stressed that the move will ‘not change the overall commitment of James Hardie to make contributions to the Asbestos Injuries Compensation Fund.’ However, the company has already announced that it is unlikely to contribute any money to the fund in 2010 due to the collapse in the US building industry, and it says the costs of the move to Ireland will probably cut its payment to the fund in 2011. Asbestos disease campaigners are concerned the move will eat into the company’s profits and again reduce payments to the Asbestos Compensation Fund. The Asbestos Diseases Foundation of Australia's president, Barry Robson, is not surprised by the company's latest move, but is worried about its impact on compensation payments. ‘Hardies are always looking to find a safe tax haven, so this is nothing new. What we are very concerned about is, in all of this moving around the world, moving from country to country, it eats into the profits, and also makes it less likely that they can put money into the fund.’ he told the ABC.
ABC report 

CSR demerger prompts concerns over asbestos payments
At the same time as James Hardie is moving international operations, CSR Ltd has announced plans to demerge its two main divisions. The sugar refiner and building products manufacturer insists it has sufficient funds to meet asbestos-related compensation claims before it goes ahead with the proposed demerger. CSR has unveiled plans to split its core operations, one of which will focus on sugar and renewable energy and the other on building products and property. Slater & Gordon senior partner Peter Gordon wants CSR to declare it will be in a position to fully fund all asbestos-related compensation liabilities. He said CSR was responsible for one of the world's highest asbestos death tolls from its blue asbestos mine at Wittenoom, WA, which operated from the 1940s until its closure in 1966.
Source: OHN 833

Asbestos dumped in rubbish bins
Local media reports that asbestos has been found dumped in household rubbish bins and left in a suburban street in Melbourne's northern suburbs. The rubbish bins, filled with asbestos tiles, were dumped in Youngman St. Preston, after the bins had been stolen from the street a week earlier, according to the Preston Leader. It is illegal to dispose of asbestos waste in household rubbish bins.
See the following pages on OHS Reps for information on the recognition and safe disposal of asbestos:
Where can I dispose of asbestos waste?  Asbestos removalists - how can I find a suitable one?    Asbestos in the home 



Nanotechnology

Australia Risks Repeat Of Asbestos Tragedy – article in New Matilda
Friends of the Earth Nanotechnology campaigner, Georgie Miller, has written an article in New Matilda on the risks posed by carbon nanotubes and the need for regulators to take the issue seriously now lest we repeat the asbestos tragedy of the past 40 years. She argues that whilst the potential risks are clear, particularly for mesothelioma caused by carbon nanotubes, the political will in Australia to deal with the issue is lacking. The article is an important contribution to the nanotechnology debate in Australia and makes a salient case for a precautionary approach to the technology.
New Matilda    ACTU calls for Nanotech regulation     OHS Reps page on Nanotechnology 

You may never know its nano
You may never know a product contains nanomaterials, because any mention is fast disappearing from product labels. Top experts addressing a meeting last week of consumer groups from the EU and US said some products containing nanoparticles do not mention this on their labels, while other firms are falsely claiming to have enhanced their products by using nanotechnology. Dr Andrew Maynard, chief science adviser to the US Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies at the Woodrow Wilson Center, has collated an inventory of products currently on the market that manufacturers claim contain nanotechnology.
Risks 411    TACD conference presentations  



International Union News

South African union reps sacked over safety strike
At the Enstra paper mill in South Africa 19 shop stewards were suspended from work and now await discipline. They are charged with inciting workers to strike after a worker refused to do unsafe work. That worker is one of 23 other workers who remain on the job, but also face discipline for their roles in 3 short safety strikes. Campaigners are calling for international solidarity to help the workers.
Take a minute to send an email to the company.
LabourStart  

Europe: Social dialogue improves working conditions
Unions play a big role in making work better and safer, a European Foundation report has concluded. It says its research found social partners and social dialogue play a key role in helping to create better jobs and improve the quality of work and working conditions through influencing policy decisions, negotiating social pacts and collective agreements as well as through participating in particular programmes and policies. The draft report noted: 'Based on EU wide regulation social partners, ie. employers, employee interest representations and specific joint bodies play an important role on implementing the respective national framework of working conditions and occupational health and safety standards on the ground.' It added 'social dialogue aiming at improvements in working conditions has to be closely connected to the shop floor level. Here, trade unions seem to play a very important role as well as sectoral employer organisations since they organise and articulate interests of company based actors and vice-versa.'
European Foundation news release and draft report [pdf]. From Risks 412



Research

New research journal on social security and workers compensation

The first edition of the International Journal of Social Security and Workers Compensation is now online for free downloading. The journal features research on Occupational disease in developing countries, minimising mental stress, and workplace initiatives for the management of various transmissible diseases. The journal will be published twice yearly.
International Journal of Social Security and Workers Compensation  

Paid sick leave benefits business
Paid sick leave is not the burden claimed by business and does not lead to higher unemployment, a major international review has found. The study by US-based think tank the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) examined the connection between government-mandated paid sick days and the national rate of unemployment in 22 highly developed countries. John Schmitt, a senior economist at CEPR and co-author of 'Paid sick days don't cause unemployment', said: 'Despite frequent claims to the contrary from some in the business community, we found no correlation between paid sick days and unemployment. Guaranteeing paid sick days does not put countries at a competitive disadvantage.' The report instead found sick leave policies could pay off economically by restricting the costly spread of contagious diseases. Supporters of paid sick leave point out that 19 of the 20 most competitive countries in the world guarantee paid sick days - and the United States is the odd one out. Numerous studies show 'presenteeism', turning into work when sick, is counterproductive because it hinders recovery and puts healthy workers at risk.
CEPR news release   Paid sick days don't cause unemployment, CEPR [pdf]   AFL-CIO Now  
Risks 411



Noise and hearing loss contribute to accident risk

A Canadian study traces links between occupational noise exposure, hearing loss and the risks of accidents. The study looked at the effects of both noise and hearing loss on work-related incidents. Of just over 88,300 male Quebec workers exposed to at least 80dBA and who had had audiometry and noise exposure levels individually measured, almost 53,300 met the trial criteria. The number of work-related incidents per worker over the five-year period from the date of last audiometry was then obtained from the Quebec central registry. For a single incident, the odds ratio increased from 1.12 for slight hearing loss to 1.40 for severe hearing loss. For two incidents, the corresponding figures are 1.25 and 1.69. For four or more incidents, the corresponding figures are 1.33 and 2.30. For all levels of hearing combined (including normal), exposure to noise above 90dBA increased the risk of accident - the odds ratio increasing from 1.1 for one incident in the five-year period to 1.3 for 4 or more. The study concludes that reducing noise should therefore improve safety as well as reducing hearing loss.
Girard SA, Picard M, Davis AC, et al. Multiple work-related accidents: tracing the role of hearing status and noise exposure. Occupational & Environmental Medicine 2009; 66: 319-324 

Cleaners with dermatitis more likely to develop asthma
Cleaners who develop dermatitis are more likely than those who don't to develop work-related asthma symptoms, according to researchers, suggesting employers should use safety and skin-care training as a preventative measure.  Researchers from the University of Toronto studied 1142 building workers, 549 of whom were cleaners. The participants were given a 56-question survey to assess their respiratory and skin-related symptoms. The researchers found that cleaners were more likely to develop rashes. Some 21 per cent of male cleaners and 15 per cent of female cleaners had developed a rash in the past year, compared with 11 per cent and five per cent of other building workers. They found rashes experienced by cleaners were worse when they worked more frequently or while they were at work, which could indicate, they said, that there were occupational factors exacerbating their condition. The research also found that cleaners with inadequate training were more likely to develop rashes.
Cutaneous and respiratory symptoms among professional cleaners. Lynde, Carrie et al, Canada. Occupational Medicine, Volume 59, Number 4, June 2009.
More information on the OHS Reps website: Asthma  and Dermatitis



WorkSafe News

Returning to Work on WorkSafe website

A new section on the WorkSafe website provides tools and information to assist a safe and sustainable return to work for injured workers. Returning to Work features videos, fact sheets and links to other useful information and is a good resource for helping injured workers get back to work. WorkSafe also recently launched a media campaign on Returning to Work.
VWA – Returning to Work 

Country footy stars wanted for new VWA ads
WorkSafe and the Victorian Country Football League (VCFL) are searching for stars for next year’s WorkSafe – VCFL TV commercials and have launched a ‘country footy legends’ competition to find them. A monthly ‘country footy legend’ will be decided by a panel of experts. The winning entry will receive a signed football and Certificate of Recognition from AFL legend and Victorian of the Year, Ron Barassi. At the end of the 2009 WorkSafe Victoria VCFL season, up to five of the ‘country football legends’ nominated by the public will be  filmed for WorkSafe commercials to be shown across the state next year. The ads will be a continuation of the successful WorkSafe commercials currently being screened in regional Victoria which highlight footy heroes of yesteryear.
Learn more on the WorkSafe/VCFL website 

Comcare survey on HSR survey on training effectiveness
Health and safety representatives (HSRs) are encouraged to participate in an online survey that will assist Comcare to improve the training provided to HSRs. 
Complete the survey 

Useful Materials



Worksafe Prosecutions

Labour hire worker’s severe injury leads to fine

A man remains in a permanent vegetative state nearly three years after a 700 kg crate of glass fell on him as it was moved after being unloaded from a truck at Dandenong. Judge Chettle convicted and fined Asixa Pty Ltd $250,000 after the company pleaded guilty to two workplace health and safety charges laid as a result of the July 2006 incident. He said although safety improvements were made after the incident, they should have been made sooner. The injured man was an employee of a labour hire company, Black & White Recruitment Solutions, but was a deemed employee of Asixa. He was using a forklift to unload a crate of glass 1.5 meters high, by two meters wide and around 20 centimetres deep from a truck at Asixa’s warehouse. The worker did not have a certificate of competency to operate the machine and had not been given information, instruction or training on the forklift which was introduced to the workplace that same day. The tines of the new forklift would not fit under the crate properly but the man and two colleagues managed to lean the crate against the backrest of the forklift tines. The machine was then reversed into the warehouse because the load obscured the operator’s forward vision. At some point the forklift driver got off the machine to adjust the load, and it was then that it fell on him. He was found some time later.
VWA media release

Equipment manufacturer provided confusing information which lead to fatality
An equipment manufacturer has been convicted and fined $140,000 after a County Court jury was told maintenance instructions provided by it were hopelessly inadequate. Judge Philip Coish imposed the fine saying Extec Sales & Distribution Australia Pty Ltd failed to provide accurate. Before a jury, Extec pleaded not guilty to breaching a section of Health and Safety Act which covers the duties of manufacturers of plant. On 15 July 2005, a 39-year-old employee of Barro Group Pty Ltd died at a Donnybrook quarry while carrying out routine maintenance on a rock crusher supplied by Extec. Part of the crusher, a steel plate weighing 1.3 tonnes, fell from its mounts and hit the man who was in the crusher box.
It was alleged the manual supplied with the machine and the verbal instructions provided by Extec were ‘hopelessly inadequate’ and that the printed instructions were ‘confusing’, ‘unclear’ and ‘wrong’.
VWA media release 



Adventure camp operator fined over flying fox incident

WorkSafe has called on the operators of school camps and adventure activities to ensure high safety standards are in place and maintained. It comes after a recent prosecution which arose from a February 2007 incident in which a boy was badly hurt while riding a flying fox at a school camp in the Yarra Valley. He crashed into a scissor lift used as the retrieval point for students who had come down the flying fox at the Lyrebird Park camp.
The student who was 11 at the time was knocked unconscious, suffered a fractured skull and brain injuries and was taken to hospital and placed into a medically induced coma. He is reported to be making a full recovery. Warren Maxwell Williams (as trustee of the Williams Family Trust) recently faced the Ringwood Magistrates Court pleading guilty to two Occupational Health and Safety charges. He was placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond and ordered to pay $10,000 to the Magistrates Court Fund and $4,500 in WorkSafe’s legal costs.
VWA media release
 
SA: Employer guilty despite worker 'defying' admin controls
A South Australian employer has been found guilty of an OHS breach after a worker was injured while defying her instructions. In September 2006 the Caroma Industries Ltd worker was operating a machine that produced and packaged toilet seats when a seat became jammed on a conveyor belt. She attempted to push it clear and burned her fingers on a heat sealing bar. A subsequent investigation found that the heat sealing bar was inadequately guarded and had been attended to by a technician approximately 15 times on the day of the incident. The employer was charged with breaching s19(1) of the State Occupational Health, Safety and Welfare Act 1986 for failing to maintain plant in a safe condition.
SAWA media release

SA: Court awards massive payout for worker who fell off chair
A South Australian court awarded more than $500,000 in damages to a woman injured when she fell off a wheeled chair onto a tiled floor. The court found Chevalier Pty Ltd negligent over the November 2000 incident. The worker was performing administrative functions when she bent over to pick up papers and the chair slipped on the tiled floor. She injured her elbow and has suffered intense pain in her arm since the incident.
Source: OHN 833



International News

Report: Bush’s Voluntary Program Didn’t Help Job Safety and Health
An investigation by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) confirms what union and other workplace safety advocates have charged for years—the Bush administration’s reliance on voluntary policing by employers of their safety and health actions did not improve worker safety. The GAO report concludes that under the Bush administration the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Voluntary Protection Program lacked proper oversight, did not improve worker safety and diverted scarce resources from other enforcement duties. US Health and Safety advocates are hoping to see significant changes to the administration of OHS under the Obama administration.
AFL CIO blog

Events

At Trades Hall (Cnr Victoria and Lygon St, Carlton Sth)

Return to Work Unit
The Victorian Trades Hall Council Return to Work Unit challenges the barriers that stop injured workers returning to full and meaningful employment. A big part of the VTHC initiative is to provide training to workers and their representatives.
There are three upcoming training courses at Trades Hall on:
Thursday 16 July, Thursday 23 July and Wednesday 29 July.
Check out the training scheduled for 2009  
 
VTHC OHS Training Initial 5-Day Metropolitan (for Elected OHS Reps under the Victorian OHS Act - this course is approved by the VWA under Section 67)
July 20 – 24 Initial Frankston
July 20 – 24 DEECD Carlton
Course hours: 9am - 5pm.  Course fee $670.00

Initial 5-Day Country
August  3 – 7  Initial Bendigo
Course hours: 9am - 5pm.  Course fee  $690.00

Comcare 5-Day OHS Reps Course (for Elected OHS Reps under the Comcare Act)
Course hours: 9am - 5pm.  Course fee $650.00

2-Day Metropolitan
This 2-day course is an overview designed for managers, supervisors and committee members.  It is NOT a replacement for the VWA approved 5-day training for elected reps.
September 17 and 18 Carlton
Course hours: 9.30am - 4.30pm.  Course fee $350.00

1-Day Refresher
The Refresher course is approved by the VWA under Section 67 of the Victorian OHS Act 2004 for elected reps and deputies.
July 27  Psychological Hazards        Carlton
July 28  Legislative Update Morwell
Course hours: 9am - 4.30pm.  Course fee $180.00

Go to the 2009 Training program page of the website for all the dates of upcoming courses, and to download an application form.



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