Issue 162 - SafetyNet Journal 162
Welcome to SafetyNet Journal 162 - Your source for the latest in OHS news from Australia and around the world. In this edition: OHS Reps meeting calls on govt to reject model OHS laws; Workers Memorial Day activities; ABCC to retain discriminatory powers after Wilcox Report; regional fatalities take Vic toll to eleven for the year; and much more.Union News
Research
WorkSafe News
Worksafe Prosecutions
International News
Events
Union News
Activities for reps
OHS Reps and delegates meet on Model Laws
A meeting of Occupational Health and Safety Reps and delegates at Trades Hall has called on the Victorian Government to reject recommendations that would reduce the rights of Victorian workers. They heard a warning that the rights of Victorian workers and their OHS Representatives would be reduced if the full suite of recommendations for new National Model Laws were introduced. The meeting heard that the Model Laws Review Panel had gone beyond its job and that its gross mistakes now had to be fixed. Workplace meetings across Victoria over the last two weeks have been calling on the Victorian government to reject a number of recommendations made by the Report.
The Report, released in early February, recommends that employees not be able to talk to their OHS Representative until an issue becomes a ‘dispute’, a provision which unions say would just go towards making more disputes on health and safety matters. It also recommends that any individual worker or employer would be able to take an OHS Rep to a tribunal for “neglecting their functions” – a provision unions point out would put greater duties on a voluntary role than exists anywhere in the developed world. Unions are also concerned about threats to training rights for OHS Representatives and the proposed absence of ‘risk management’ from any future OHS Act, as well as what important matters might end up relegated to regulations.
Read a full report on the meeting including the resolution passed and a summary of the major concerns unions have with the model laws report. You can also download a flyer detailing these major concerns to post up in your workplace.
Gillard announces model laws timeline and nominations for Safe Work Council at WRMC meeting
State and federal workplace relations ministers attended 80th meeting of the Workplace Relations Minister’s Council (WRMC) in Adelaide last Friday. Deputy PM and Federal Workplace Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that appointments to the Safe Work Australia Council would be confirmed soon and the council will meet for the first time before the end of April. She said the Council, the successor to the Australian Safety and Compensation Council, ASCC, will commence developing the model OHS Act in order to provide an exposure draft of the Act in August. Ministers agreed to resolve any outstanding policy issues by May.
WRMC Communiqué [
pdf
]
Workers Memorial Day 2009
Workers, their unions, and families and friends who’ve lost loved ones at work will come together on April 28 to Mourn the dead and fight for the living. This year the VTHC and IDSA (Industrial Deaths Support and Advocacy) will host a commemorative service at 10:20am at Argyle Place, Lygon St (two blocks north of Trades Hall).
Eleven Victorian workers have already died at work this year. More will die and many more will be injured before the year is through. Every year, globally, more people are killed at work than in wars. Most don't die of mystery ailments, or in tragic "accidents". They die because an employer decided their safety just wasn't that important a priority. Workers’ Memorial Day commemorates those workers. Worker’s Memorial Day is held on 28 April every year, all over the world workers and their representatives conduct events, demonstrations, vigils and a whole host of other activities to mark the day.
The global theme for the day is again “Good Occupational Health for All Workers” and the general Victorian union movement is focusing on the current National Review into Model OHS Laws.
Melbourne event:
Where: Argyle Place, Lygon St (two blocks north of Trades Hall)
When: 10:20am, with the ceremony starting at 10:30, and concluding with a one minute silence and wreath laying at 11:00am.Morning Tea will be provided afterwards by IDSA (Industrial Deaths Support and Advocacy). Contact: Margot Hoyte 9662 3511, 0413 482 973Gippsland event:
Where: Centenary Rose Garden, Commercial Road, Morwell
When: 11.00am Tuesday April 28th. After the ceremony there will be a free BBQ lunch with the compliments of the Gippsland Trades & Labour Council. Contact: Vicki Hamilton 0407 274 173
Read more on Workers Memorial Day 2009
ABCC to stay and retain discriminatory powers against building and construction workers
Building and construction workers will have fewer rights than other employees and will continue to be discriminated against if the recommendations of the Wilcox Inquiry are adopted, unions say. The report by former judge Murray Wilcox is based on flawed anecdotal evidence and its recommendations for a new specialist division of the Fair Work Ombudsman with coercive powers to interrogate construction workers would, if adopted, be a breach of workers’ rights.
Victorian construction workers have condemned the Wilcox Report for failing to support the rights of workers. A meeting of delegates this week called on the Rudd Government to immediately repeal the laws which govern the ABCC. The Report focuses on union conduct and does not address the single biggest issue of unlawful behaviour in the industry, namely the breach of health and safety laws by employers which results in needless deaths and injuries in our industry every week. The Report has failed to recognise the blatant anti-union political role played by the ABCC for the last 3½ years which has given the major corporate employers an unfair advantage in industrial disputes, at taxpayers’ expense. It has also ignored the findings of the International Labour Organisation which has condemned these unjust laws no less than six times.
Read more on the
VTHC campaign against the ABCC
Paid Maternity Leave, campaign to include it in this year’s Budget
Have you signed a postcard yet? The VTHC Postcard, "
Support the campaign to put Paid Maternity Leave in the 2009 Federal Budget", endorsed by the VTHC Women's Committee, has been circulating for a few weeks now. Help us collect as many signed Postcards to send to the Finance Minister MP Lindsay Tanner calling on the Government to finally implement a Government Paid Maternity Leave scheme and adhere to the Productivity Commission's recommendation in full of 18 Weeks Paid Maternity Leave in the 2009 Federal Budget. Please contact the VTHC Women's Officer Jennifer O'Donnell-Pirisi, jo'donnell-pirisi@vthc.org.au or 03 9659 3511, to show your support for the Paid Maternity Leave campaign.
VTHC media release
ACTU media release
Have you been to VCAT? Make a submission to its 10-year Review
The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary. To mark this milestone, the Attorney-General, the Hon Rob Hulls MP, asked the president of VCAT, Justice Kevin Bell, to carry out an extensive review of VCAT. The purpose of the president's review is to ensure that VCAT remains accessible to all Victorians and continues to resolve disputes in a low cost and flexible manner. VCAT is the largest dispute resolution tribunal in Australia, resolving 90,000 cases annually and making decisions that affect the lives of more than one million individuals, families and businesses.
Details of the Review and how to make a submission are available online - VCAT Review. Submissions can either be from organisations or individuals. If you’ve been to VCAT, either in your role as an OHS Rep or organiser, or as a citizen, this is an opportunity to contribute to this important democratic tool. Submissions are due by 8 June 2009.
Teenage poultry worker sucked into processing machine
A poultry worker is in a stable condition after being sucked into a processing machine at a factory in Melbourne's north on Friday morning. The 19 year-old man, believed to be from Lalor, was cleaning a neck-trimming machine at the Thomastown plant when his hand became caught and he was pulled in. It took police and emergency service workers more than an hour to free the man following the incident which occurred about 1.25am. WorkSafe spokesman Michael Birt, said investigators and engineers had been at the plant all night and were in the process of determining whether the machine adhered to safety regulations.
The Age report
Regional work fatalities take toll to eleven
A spate of fatalities in regional Victoria has seen the number of work-related deaths soar to 11 since January 1st. Six of those deaths have been in regional areas and five of them were on farms. Two recent deaths involved elderly farmers injured on their farms. Another man died recently after falling from a tree on a property in Tyabb.
VWA media release –
legs crushed
VWA media release –
Regional fatality spike warning
BHP suspends operations at iron ore rail facility following yet another safety failing
BHP Billiton has suspended rail services at one of its two loading areas in Port Hedland after another safety failing at its iron ore operations in Western Australia. In the space of eight months, five workers have died on BHP iron ore sites, prompting the WA Government to last week take the extraordinary step of immediately forcing BHP to discontinue activities when a safety breach has been discovered. The ABC reported a worker was hit by a train at BHP's Nelson Point stockyard this morning.
"We can confirm there has been a safety incident on site in the South Yard at Nelson Point this morning," said a BHP spokesman, Peter Ogden. "The individual was treated at site and has been taken to hospital for observation. At this stage his injuries appear minor."
WA Today
Asbestos News
Visit exposes asbestos threat in some NT communities
At least one of a number of asbestos dumps in Central Australian Aboriginal Communities will have an environmental assessment done to determine exposure threats to local residents. Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin made the promise after concerns were raised by residents of the community of Areyonga, about 200 kilometres south-west of Alice Springs. They said that partially demolished buildings in the community contained asbestos and that children used to play in the rubble, using the deadly substance as chalk, before it was discovered to be asbestos.
ABC news
Geelong Trades Hall calls on govt to intervene in asbestos dispute
A Geelong business is refusing to foot the $400,000 bill to clean up asbestos contamination at a site at Point Henry. The EPA ordered Geelong Demolition to clean up the site in March but the owners have yet to act. Geelong Trades Hall is demanding urgent action from Geelong Demolition and wants the State Government to intervene. Occupational health and environment consultant Hygienics audited the Point Henry Rd site on February 26 and found cement sheeting with 70 tonnes of asbestos. Geelong Demolition owner Patrick McCormick Is refusing to cleanup the site, saying it happened under someone else’s time at the company and that it wasn’t his problem. Geelong Trades Hall president Tim Gooden said the site needed to be cleaned up immediately because it was a public health risk.
Geelong Advertiser
GARDS WMD event details
The Gippsland Asbestos Related Diseases Support Inc. (GARDS) will hold its Annual Wreath Laying Ceremony on International Workers’ Memorial Day in memory of workers who die, are injured or fall ill as a result of their work. An ecumenical service will be conducted by Minister Steve Briggs from Moe Baptist Church . Singer/Musician Paddy O’Dowd and Commercial Road Primary School Choir will sing through out the ceremony and the GARDS Scottish bag pipers will be participating. Speakers include Raelene Billingsley from the State Emergency Service; Chris Ireland, a Sydney photographer; John Parker, Secretary of Gippsland Trades & Labour Council; and Vicki Hamilton Secretary of GARDS. For more information contact Vicki Hamilton on 0407274173. Centenary Rose Garden, Commercial Road, Morwell, 11.00am Tuesday April 28th. After the ceremony there will be a free BBQ lunch with the compliments of the Gippsland Trades & Labour Council
Nanotechnology News
OECD launches database on research into the safety of manufactured nanomaterials
The
OECD Database on Research into Safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials is a global resource which collects research projects that address environmental, human health and safety issues of manufactured nanomaterials. This database helps identify research gaps and assists researchers in future collaborative efforts. The database also assists the projects of the OECD’s Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials (WPMN) as a resource of research information.
As part of the OECD activities to promote international co-operation in addressing human health and environmental safety aspects of manufactured nanomaterials, the OECD has developed a global resource which collects research projects that address environmental, human health and safety issues of manufactured nanomaterials. This database holds details of completed, current and planned research projects on safety, which are to be updated (electronically) by delegations. This database is also intended to be an inventory of information on research programmes to help the other projects of the WPMN by identifying relevant research projects or storing information derived from the projects of the WPMN, including the sponsorship programme on the testing of manufactured nanomaterials.
Nanowerk News
Growth in China’s ‘nano’ investment anything but small
In an article that puts the spotlight on the significant economic, political and military implications of the new nano ‘revolution’, the
Guardian UK writes that China’s nanotechnology investment has already surpassed that of any other country after the US. Since 1999, China's spending on nano research and development has gone up by more than 20% each year, and will be further boosted by economic stimulus spending. The newspaper writes that China now produces more nanotechnology scientific papers than any other nation. It is making huge breakthroughs in ‘next generation’ nanotechnology fields such as carbon nanotube-coated clothes that can monitor health and a two-armed nanorobot that can create new DNA structures, which could be turned into a factory for assembling the building blocks of new materials. China is also assumed to be focusing much of its R&D investment on military applications, as the US does. Analysts observe that China’s dominance in nanotechnology could enable it to achieve unprecedented economic ‘leadership’.
Guardian report
Research
Study on depression in return to work
This study conducted focus groups with employers and questionnaires and interviews with employees in order to examine the interaction between depression and the psycho-social work environment. Poor adjustment to work and continuing exposure to work-related stress may lead to a ‘relapse’ in sickness absence, early retirement or unemployment. The report shows that almost half (45%) of those with a physical condition experienced mild to moderate depression, but were more worried about telling their employer about their mental health issues than their cancer or heart disease. Despite the fact that depression impacted on their well-being and ability to function at work, most felt unable to tell their line managers about the difficulties they were facing. The study also found that while most line managers were initially supportive when a person returned to work, they were not aware of the long-term effects of a serious physical illness or condition upon an employee’s ability to work and mental health.The role of depression following return to work
WorkSafe News
WorkSafe Awards – entries close soon
The awards recognise health and safety committees and health and safety representatives, workers, employers and organisations which are making an outstanding commitment to workplace health and safety in Victoria. The nomination period is open from now until 24 April so if you, or someone you know has made an outstanding contribution to health and safety in the workplace, now’s the time to speak up about it.
There are seven categories for the awards: Health and Safety Representative of the Year; Health and Safety Committee of the Year ; Best Design for Workplace Safety ; Best Health and Safety Initiative in a Small Business ; Best Solution for Preventing Musculoskeletal Disorders (formerly Sprains & Strains) ; Best Solution to a Health and Safety Risk ; Best Strategies for Health and Safety Management.
Entries for the WorkSafe Awards close on Friday, 24 April 2009.
To find out more about the
21st WorkSafe Victoria Awards
go to the awards website.
WorkSafe highlights legal consequences of safety failings
A number of cases involving significant workplace health and safety issues have gone before the courts this week. WorkSafe says this highlights that the message on OHS still needs to be heard by many employers. WorkSafe’s Legal Services and Investigations Division Director, Stan Krpan, said while penalties for serious breaches of safety laws now exceeded one-million dollars he was still concerned many people did not take their obligations seriously.
“With Victoria’s work-related death toll now standing at 11 for the year and serious injuries occurring daily, WorkSafe is taking a rigorous approach to enforcement, particularly in cases where the failings were obvious and easily fixable. We are not backing down from our core responsibility to the community to administer and enforce Victoria’s safety laws”, he said.
Three of the seven cases in court this week involve fatalities, another resulted in a man suffering brain damage and in another, a man lost all the toes on one foot. Two men are charged with intimidating a WorkSafe inspector and a company has been charged with having inadequate guarding on a machine even though no one was hurt. All the matters involve serious allegations that will now be tested in the courts.
SafetyNet will report on the outcomes of these cases as they come to hand.
VWA media release
Merritt delivers Safety in Action keynote address
WorkSafe is warning employers and workers to ensure safety standards were maintained in tough economic times or face a return to the horrors of dozens of preventable workplace deaths each year. Delivering the keynote address at the Safety in Action conference in Melbourne last week, WorkSafe’s Executive Director, John Merritt said the shift in attitudes to workplace health and safety over the past decade could be threatened in the quest to cut costs.
VWA media release
Inspectors target Maryborough
WorkSafe inspectors will soon return to Maryborough to follow-up on 115 safety Improvement Notices and two Prohibition Notices issued during last week’s Safe Towns campaign. WorkSafe inspectors visited 98 Maryborough businesses and work sites during the program.
VWA media release
Useful Materials
- Preventing and addressing bullying at work
- Safety Solution: Food industry - Dough roller entrapment
- Safety Solution: Cleaning - Floor cleaning machine guards
- Safety Solution: Forklifts - Developing a traffic management plan
Worksafe Prosecutions
Seafood distributor fined $15K over use of forklift as elevated work platform
A seafood distributor and its director have been fined in the Magistrates Court over the unsafe use of a forklift in a high-risk environment. A WorkSafe inspector observed a worker painting from a fully extended forklift, which was fixed with a standard timber pallet on the tynes, about 4.5 metres high. The forklift was operated by the director and the painter was a former employee.
WorkSafe directed the painting to stop and issued the employer with a prohibition notice, noting the risk of falling from height and sustaining an electric shock (as there were a number of electrical wires close to the area).
Magistrate Hugh Barrow fined the employer $12,000 for breaching s23(1) of the OHS Act, and the director $3,000.
VWA media release
Company fined after worker struck by forklift
A Victorian transport and logistics company has been convicted fined $15,000 in the Magistrates Court after a forklift incident that left a sub-contractor with serious neck injuries. The subcontractor was checking palletised goods at the warehouse floor of Border Express Pty Ltd when he was struck by a forklift, which resulted in the removal of two vertebrae. Magistrate Angela Bolger heard the company had no traffic management system at the warehouse. There were no barriers, bollards, signage, marked walkways, or other control measures for separating pedestrians from vehicles. It also failed to induct employees and contractors.
VWA media release
International News
Global unions respond to G20
The ITUC and the Trade Union
Events
Conferences and Seminars:
HazMat 2009 29 & 30 April
According to the organisers, HazMat is Australia’s leading conference on chemical management, hazardous substances and dangerous goods. Presentations cover current issues and future topics, such as Risk Assessment & Management; Major Hazards; Dangerous Goods; Security & Training and Chemical Management. Special registration arrangements can be made for unions and elected health and safety reps. More information
Ergonomic Professional Development Seminars
The Human Factors Ergonomic Society of Victoria is organising a number of professional development sessions on a regular basis. The next session will be held on Wednesday 06 May on Providing expert opinion in court with Mr Mark Dohrmann. All the sessions will be held in 222 Exhibition St. Room 24-BCD. Arrive at 6.30. Call Glen Smith, Ergonomist, WorkSafe Victoria on 9641 1881 for more details.
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. Check out the training scheduled for 2009
Return to Work Unit forum on “Back Injury”.
Where: Dandenong Community Arts Centre, on the corner of Walker and Robinson Streets, Dandenong (Robinson Street entrance)
When: Monday April 20th 9:30 to 12:30 am.
VTHC OHS Training Centre
Initial 5-Day Metropolitan (for Elected OHS Reps under the Victorian OHS Act - this course is approved by the VWA under Section 67)
May 4 – 8 Initial Werribee
May 18 – 22 DEECD (Education) Carlton
May 18 – 22 Initial Carlton
Course hours: 9am - 5pm. Course fee $670.00
Initial 5-Day Country
May 4 – 8 Initial Bendigo
Course hours: 9am - 5pm. Course fee $690.00
Comcare 5-Day OHS Reps Course (for Elected OHS Reps under the Comcare Act)
April 27 - May 1 Carlton
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.
June 18 and 19 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.
May 11 Legislative Update Bendigo
May 13 Legislative Update – DEECD Carlton
May 14 Legislative Update Carlton
May 15 Legislative Update Frankston
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