Union News
Activities for Reps
Early notice of the VTHC’s Annual Conference for OHS Representatives
The conference this year will again be on the Wednesday of Victoria’s OHS Week. The date will be October 24 and we are holding it at the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre. Numbers are strictly limited this year, so make sure you register as soon as the registration form becomes available, which should be in the next week or so – so keep your eyes on the website. Registration forms will be able to emailed, faxed or posted in to either the VTHC OHS Unit or your union.
Fatalities in Victoria
'Hobbyfarmer' dies in country Victoria
A hobby farmer died after getting caught in the wheel of his tractor near Daylesford, northwest of Melbourne Tuesday August 22. The body of the 54-year-old man was found by his wife after he got caught in the tractor's rear wheel on a property near Daylesford. Apparently after crashing into a three-metre high water tank, the man climbed down, leaving the tractor in reverse gear with the wheels still turning. He either fell or was caught under the left rear wheel, suffering fatal injuries. While WorkSafe investigators attended the scene, because the man was not a worker, nor the farm a workplace, it will not figure in Victoria’s workplace fatalities.
Light truck driver killed in collision with passenger train
On the morning of Wednesday August 23 a man was killed at a level crossing in Somerville, about 70 kilometres southeast of Melbourne. The driver of a light truck was thrown from the vehicle and died at the scene at a level crossing on Bungower Rd about 10.45am. Reports are that the crossing was operating with bells and lights at the time. This fatality will not be counted as a workplace fatality however, as it took place on Victoria’s road, and be added to the road toll.
Confined spaces death – August 17
The tragic death of a 42-year-old Werribee man while working inside a steel tank at a business in McArthur’s Rd, Altona North reported in
SafetyNet121 (link) spurred Clayton Larkin, who was Victoria’s first OHS Rep of the Year, to contact us. As a 19 yr old, Clayton, who now works as an organiser with the NUW, once worked in a place just like the one where the fatality occurred… but he got out.
Read about Clayton's experience
New DVD – The Impact of Workplace Deaths
IDSA (Industrial Deaths Support and Advocacy Inc), an organisation established to assist people whose loved ones have died at work, this week launched a resource they hope will be used in colleges, schools and workplaces to bring home the impact of the death of a loved one at the workplace. Most of the people involved with IDSA have had first-hand experience of such a loss, and some of them share their experiences in the DVD. For more information, contact IDSA through their
website.
This week’s OHS Question
From an OHS rep: l am the OHS Rep in the warehouse at work for the workers. l spoke with my boss and he said he is. He is management. l tried to explain to him but it turned into a little argument. Could you please explain who is and what our respective roles are?
Under the OHS Act, there are TWO types of representatives. If you were elected by your fellow workers, then YOU are the elected rep. Your boss may very well be the employer representative.
1 - the Elected occupational health and safety representative, elected by the workers in a Designated Work Group, to represent them in any OHS related matters with the employer OR if the employer has appointed someone under Section 73 of the OHS Act, the employer's representative. (More information on the role and functions of an elected OHS Rep )
2 - The employer's representative, as per Section 73 of the Act: where an employer may appoint a representative to resolve OHS issues. The section specifies that this person cannot be a health and safety representative; and has an appropriate level of seniority, and is sufficiently competent, to act as the employer's representative.
If you have any questions or need help with any OHS related issue,
Ask Renata. You are guaranteed an answer, usually within a couple of working days.
Website Poll
Only one third of people who voted in our last poll said they had used the WorkSafe ‘Your Guide to…’ publications – two thirds had not. Go to
this page to access the guides, designed to assist reps and others with the new consolidated regulations.
Vote in our NEW POLL: How have you found the new consolidated regulations? Easier to use? Harder to use? Or just the same? Go to the homepage to vote
Asbestos news
Leading asbestos campaigner gravely ill
Last week, asbestos campaigner Bernie Banton announced that he has now been diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma, an aggressive asbestos-triggered cancer that attacks the lining of the abdomen. Mr Banton, who was at the forefront of the battle to make James Hardie set up a proper compensation fund for victims of asbestos, has long suffered from asbestosis, severe lung scarring brought about by exposure to the deadly fibres. In a bedside media conference, he announced that he plans to sue James Hardie for further compensation in light of the deterioration of his health. He is being treated at Sydney's Concord Hospital, which set up the Asbestos Research Institute Centre after he lobbied for one.
Read more: Hardie campaigner Banton's chances 'virtually zero' The Sydney Morning Herald
Government refuses to subsidise mesothelioma drug
Despite growing numbers of workers and others being diagnosed with the deadly asbestos disease mesothelioma, the Prime Minister John Howard has to refused to support efforts by asbestos disease sufferers to subsidise the only drug available to treat it.
Mr Howard, trying to shift the responsibility, has instead told the Asbestos Diseases Foundation that mesothelioma sufferers should go to their state governments for help to buy the drug, which costs $20,000 per treatment cycle. Health Minister Tony Abbott, who says that state governments have an obligation to treat patients in public hospitals free of charge, is also using this tactic. Abbott has consistently refused to support the push to have the drug, Alimta, listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme schedule.
It would cost between $5 million and $7 million a year to subsidise the drug. Last week, the 2006-07 budget surplus was revised upwards to more than $17 billion. Alimta is subsidised for the treatment of mesothelioma in most other OECD countries, such as France, Germany, Sweden, Japan and Britain,
Asbestos support groups including the Asbestos Diseases Foundation and the Asbestos Diseases Society of Victoria (ADSVIC) will continue to pursue this. ADSVIC executive director, Leigh Hubbard, said the inequities were outrageous. ADSVIC is urging concerned people to get active and send a letter to their members.
Read more: Access to Treatment for Mesothelioma in Australia Source: The Age
UK unions and asbestos support groups win their fight on Alimta
A campaign waged by UK unions, asbestos support groups and parliamentarians to convince the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) reverse its decision on Alimta. It had said the drug (pemetrexed disodium) should be used only in new or ongoing clinical trials. But it has now issued revised guidance, recommending Alimta for patients who are able to carry out day-to-day tasks but whose cancer is advanced and where surgery is inappropriate. If there are no appeals against the new guidance, it will be issued to the NHS in the next few months. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: 'This is a victory for all the victim support groups, parliamentarians and trade unions who have campaigned for a change of heart from NICE - but more importantly it is a victory for the patients themselves, who will now have national access to the one drug that has been shown to both extend their lives and also relieve their pain.'
TUC media release
Cancer increase highlights work risks
Renewed calls have been made in the UK for further funding from the government for the treatment of mesothelioma after a new study has found mesothelioma was the country’s third fastest increasing cancer. The study by Cancer Research UK (CRUK) and the UK Association of Cancer Registries (UKACR) looked at cancer figures over the 10 years to 2004. If found that cases of mesothelioma, caused by exposure to asbestos, have risen by 31 per cent in men and by 38 per cent in women between 1995 and 2004.
The study found the two most rapidly increasing cancer incidence rates were for malignant melanoma and prostate cancer. Both of these cancers have strong occupational links, with malignant melanoma related particularly to sunlight exposure in outdoor workers and prostate cancer linked to workplace cadmium, arsenic, pesticide and other chemical exposures, with higher rates reported in occupational groups including farmers and pesticide applicators.
Cancer Research UK cancer statistics Source: Risks 319 Information on Cancer on the website
Asbestos dumper in UK gets gaol and his assets frozen
A UK man jailed in March for illegally dumping asbestos and excavation waste has now had his assets frozen in the first case of its kind. The Assets Recovery Agency (ARA), working with the Environment Agency (EA), obtained restraint orders to freeze properties belonging to 60-year-old William Reidy. The prosecution against Mr Reidy was brought by the EA following the illegal activities of his demolition business Space Making Development: a total of 200 truck loads of waste had been illegally dumped, and there was an unlicensed skip containing asbestos sheeting. Mr Reidy was sentenced to 16 months' imprisonment on each of four charges relating to the keeping and depositing of waste, including asbestos and three months for nine further waste charges (all to run concurrently). His foreman was also jailed for four months. A third man was given 100 hours community service after he pleaded guilty to two offences of falsifying documents. This man had an earlier conviction for safety and child labour offences, after employing schoolchildren to remove asbestos.
Source: Risks 320
Cleaners’ increasing work rates causing crisis
A national survey of CBD office cleaners reveals cleaners are having their hours cut but are still expected to complete the same amount of work – and sometimes expected to do extra work in the shorter hours. This is the single biggest complaint of these low-paid workers, new national secretary of the LHMU Cleaners Union, Louise Tarrant, said. ‘Preliminary analysis of our survey shows that the majority of office cleaners are reporting that the increased workload means they just do not have enough time to complete the job. The July survey shows that 54 per cent of office cleaners are expected to complete their work in their own time.’ This increase in workload clearly has potential implications for the health and safety of these workers.
LHMU Media Release
In a speech to the Victorian Safety Institute of Australia conference last week, Deputy Opposition Leader and Shadow IR Minister Julia Gillard said that a Federal Labor Government will create a national independent and empowered OHS commission to further harmonisation and to tackle the ‘poor’ state of workplace safety. She also reiterated Labor’s pledge to harmonise key OHS laws and regulations within five years.
More evidence ‘WorkChoices’ is no good for workers
A recent survey of HR professionals commissioned by the Australian Human Resources Institute suggests there has been a decrease in workplace morale since the introduction of ‘WorkChoices’. It also found the legislation is unlikely to assist work/life balance – one of the claims made by the Howard government. Over 10000 responses from Institute members during June and July were analysed.
Source: Workplace OHS
And more evidence of extreme worker exploitation under s475 visas
The Fairfax press has this week exposed how some employers are misusing the 457 visas to ‘enslave’ workers and that it had found widespread breaches of the scheme. The 457 visas were designed for professionals, but are now being used by a wide range of employers to bring in skilled workers to fill positions not able to be filled by workers already here. There are now over 100,000 457 visa holders.
Over the past several years, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) has found many examples of employers exploiting 457 workers: put at high risk, being underpaid, and so on. In July it revealed that three foreign workers had recently been killed on the job. The union’s national secretary, John Sutton, said the recent were the latest in a long list of abuses under the scheme and described their working conditions as ‘modern-day slavery’. ‘These deaths are the tip of the iceberg,’ Sutton said. ‘Only a serious judicial inquiry that shines a spotlight on these deaths and other examples of the exploitation we know is occurring will bring these abuses into the open.’ The latest news is that the Philippines Government has joined Labor in calling for modifications to the 457 visa scheme. Over the past year, the government cancelled the right of 95 employers to access these visas.
Unsurprisingly, Kevin Andrews, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, has defended the way he and his department have been running the 457 guest worker scheme. The Minister must be either incredibly naïve or particularly insensitive saying, “Claims that 457 workers are vulnerable if they complain about their employer or conditions of employment are incorrect. Every 457 worker has the same rights and protections as any other Australian worker.”
(Minister's media release: Beware – Another Sutton 457 Scare Campaign Stunt)
Source: The Age Foreign workers ‘enslaved’ and
Death in the Outback
A review of the Northern Territory OHS legislation has called for elected health and safety reps, union right of entry, new enforcement options and for fines to increase to a maximum of $1 million. It has also recommended combining mining regulation under the Work Health Act, but also amending it to separate occupational health and safety from compensation.
Full Report of the review of the NT Work Health Act [pdf]
Site deaths head for six-year high
Deaths on UK construction sites this year could top last year's five year high, new figures suggest. Construction union UCATT said so far this year 29 site deaths have been reported. At the current rate, moving into the more dangerous winter months, the final death count risks topping last year's figure of 77. The union said five construction workers have been killed at work in the last three weeks alone. Alan Ritchie, general secretary of UCATT, said: 'Many companies remain blasé about health and safety. The whole industry must make the safety of workers a key issue. If we don't then workers will continue to be killed at this alarming rate.'
Tony O'Brien, secretary of the Construction Safety Campaign, criticised the government and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). 'They're going into reverse, It's very distressing because if you look at some of these individual events, they are totally preventable.' Unions and campaigners have called for an increase in HSE enforcement, backed up by more resources for the beleaguered safety watchdog.
Source: Risks 320
Canadian Autoworkers Union endorses a new environmental policy
The CAW Joint Council has adopted the discussion paper
'Climate Change and Our Jobs: Finding the Right Balance' [
pdf]. The paper commits the CAW to the fight against climate change, while also strengthening Canada's auto industry and other crucial domestic sectors.
Find out more: Video Update
WorkSafe News
Activities - WorkSafe Victoria
Year in Review - 2006-07
WorkSafe has issued its
Year in Review covering activities in the construction and utilities industries and related industries for the last financial year. It covers industry claims, visits by construction and utilities inspectors, results of projects and development of new guidance.
Construction and Utilities Year in Review 2006-07 [
pdf]
Improving Safety for Taxi Drivers
The Minister for Public Transport, Lynne Kosky, has released a strategy to boost safety for Victoria’s taxi drivers as part of the Brumby Government’s commitment to improving the state’s taxi services. Following a number of incidents, a Taxi Industry Safety Taskforce was established in August last year to determine ways to help improve the safety of drivers. The strategy plans eight actions over the next 18 months, including: improved driver education; safer city taxi ranks; new security cameras; research into protection screens; taxi driver safety pack; and ongoing taxi driver support and representation.
Minister’s Media Release
National News
Workplace safety authorities focus on nationally consistent injury prevention campaigns
The Heads of Workplace Safety Authorities (HWSA), which brings together senior executives from Australian Commonwealth, State and Territories and New Zealand workplace safety authorities to progress national consistency, harmonisation and best practice in occupational health and safety, met in Brisbane on August 9.
Initiatives focus on identified high risk areas including preventing injuries from falls, guarding of machinery used in manufacturing, promoting strategies for improving safety with amusement rides, and preventing injuries from manual handling.
Source: HWSA Media Release
ASCC Meeting August 22
The Australian Safety and Compensation Council (ASCC) held its sixth meeting in Canberra last week. It declared the National Standard for Manual Handling Tasks and the National Code of Practice for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders from Performing Manual Tasks at Work.
The ASCC also supported the Victorian Waterfront Safety Project as a first step to developing national guidance materials, and to undertake a ‘comprehensive needs assessment’ in relation to occupational diving. It approved for publication the
OHS Business Case – trainers guide and learning materials and
Guidance on preparing a simple, effective OHS Business Case.
ASCC Media Release and Communiqué [pdf]
Productivity Commission to report on regulation of chemicals
The Federal Government has told the Productivity Commission to report within twelve months on the current arrangements for the regulation of chemicals and plastics in Australia. The Commission is to identify measures that could be introduced to achieve a streamlined and harmonised system of national chemicals and plastics regulation and any alternatives to regulation. While unions agree the current system is complex, any changes proposed out of the review cannot result in a lowering of protection for workers, the general public or the environment for the sake of ‘reducing regulatory burden’.
Joint Media Release: Treasurer & Minister For Industry, Tourism And Resources - Productivity Commission Study Of Chemicals And Plastics Regulation
Senate committee says better pay would improve safety in transport
The Senate standing committee on employment, workplace relations and education reporting on issues in the transport industry, has found that long distances and the lack of enough or adequate rest stops make it difficult to recruit and retain drivers. According to submissions, so-called 'business imperatives' led drivers to go long distances in short periods of time, of course resulting in 'dangerous levels of fatigue'. In addition, the 'rest stops' are so crowded with other vehicles that they usually stop somewhere else, possibly exposing them to other hazards. The Senate committee recommended better enforcement of the chain of responsibility model legislation - designed to ensure legal responsibility for unsafe practices is borne by all parties with control over the vehicle operations, not only the drivers.
The committee also recommended that employers offer operators/drivers 'safe' rates of pay – rather than expanding the s457 visa to the transport industry. The Senate committee expressed concerns regarding overseas drivers' English language skills and familiarity with left-hand drive rules.
Unions have uncovered many problems with the use of s457 visas in a number of industries, including construction and manufacturing. These problems included exploitation of workers, and workers who were being exposed to high levels of risk not speaking out due to fear and/or lack of knowledge.
Source: OHNews
Useful new materials
-
From WorkSafe Victoria:
Summary of prosecutions - 2006. WorkSafe has published a
Summary of Prosecutions finalised during 2006. The publication covers health and safety prosecutions, accident compensation prosecutions, committal proceedings, appeals and a summary of legislation.
The cases involve employers, employees and other duty holders, such as suppliers of plant, who have breached OHS laws. It also outlines cases where employers and workers have failed to comply with their obligations under the WorkCover Scheme.
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From WorkCover NSW: a new
Fact sheet and
Guide on alcohol and drugs in the workplace.
Worksafe Prosecutions
Company ignoring Improvement Notices to donate to charity
A Dandenong food flavourings manufacturer International Flavours & Fragrances has been ordered to donate $10,000 to a local charity after failing to implement two improvement notices.
During a July 2005 visit, inspectors found inadequate measures to prevent pedestrians being hit by forklifts, and issued an Improvement Notice. However, on returning several months later, the inspector found improvements had not been made, and issued another notice, which the company neither appealed against nor implemented. The company pleaded guilty in the Magistrates Court.
Young country workers maimed
Warrnambool: Meat processing company, Midfield Meat Processing P/L has been fined $40,000 after a trainee worker had three fingers amputated while using pressurised gas cutters. The 17 year-old Sudanese refugee was employed during the school holidays in December 2005 - January 2006. The teenager was using a single-handed pneumatic hock cutter - a device like a pair of shears - to remove the legs from slaughtered sheep when his thumb was severed and three fingers were amputated from his left hand.
Porepunkah: Wilko Cabinets P/L, a cabinet making business, has been fined $12,000 following an incident in June 2006 when a 26 year old cabinet maker lost three fingers while using a panel saw to cut thin lengths of board to be used in the manufacture of snow boards. The director of the company had given the worker a demonstration and verbal instructions before he commenced the task. However, the plant had been modified and a hood guard had been raised above the material being cut, to prevent the thin strips being sucked into the dust extractor. When the worker put his left hand behind the blade to hold the material down, his hand was drawn onto the blade.
Company ordered to donate to charity donation for ignoring Improvement Notice
A Dandenong food flavourings manufacturer International Flavours & Fragrances has been ordered to donate $10,000 to a local charity after failing to implement two improvement notices.
During a July 2005 visit, inspectors found inadequate measures to prevent pedestrians being hit by forklifts, and issued an Improvement Notice. However, on returning several months later, the inspector found improvements had not been made, and issued another notice, which the company neither appealed against nor implemented. The company pleaded guilty in the Magistrates Court.
