This week has seen the director of a Somerton business charged under our Workplace manslaughter laws. We'd of course prefer these laws didn't have to be used and that we all return home safely, but that's not the world in which we currently live.
Hopefully this prosecution will make directors take worker's safety seriously.
We hope you find this week's journal useful and interesting.
You may have noticed a slightly different look for SafetyNet lately - we're doing our best to keep your favourite OHS newsletter as user-friendly as possible! Just click on an article heading to read the full text.
There will be no SafetyNet next week. We look forward to bringing you more OHS news, in two weeks time.
For OHS news and helpful information visit We Are Union: OHS Reps Facebook page, or for advice, Ask Renata
MISSED OUT ON REGISTERING FOR HSR CONFERENCE 2022 - HSR LIFESAVERS?
You can still livestream sessions 1 and 2 through this link: https://kastio.com/hsr-2022
For those of you who have registered, a final reminder of the key information:
Date: 27 October 2022
Time: 8:30am – 2:30pm
Where:
Melbourne - Centrepiece Melbourne Park
Bendigo - Bendigo Trades Hall Council
Wodonga - La Trobe University
Portland - Portland Golf Club
Morwell - Italian Australian Sporting Club
ASK RENATA
Some months ago staff from the afternoon shift, for which I’m HSR, were all put temporarily on day shift. At the first subsequent OHS committee meeting I was informed I am longer an HSR.
The proposition that variations to shift patterns involve the obligation to consult under s.35 is straightforward. Part of these discussions should involve OHS representative structures. From your query it appears at least the second part did not occur.
On Wednesday 26th of October Victoria recorded:
1,549 new daily infections
6 COVID deaths
182 hospitalisations, and 6 are in ICU.
International News
KOREA: MAKE ROAD TRANSPORT ‘SAFE RATES’ LAWS PERMANENT
There is overwhelming evidence for the link between road safety and driver pay, international experts and global union leaders have told South Korean lawmakers.
41 DEAD IN TURKISH MINE EXPLOSION
An explosion in a coal mine in Amasra, Turkey, on 14 October, has killed 41 miners. 110 miners were underground in the mine, which belongs to the state-owned Turkish Hard Coal Corporation (TTK), when the explosion occurred.
Prosecutions
VICTORIA’S FIRST WORKPLACE MANSLAUGHTER CHARGE
WorkSafe has charged the director of a stonemasonry business accused of forklift-related negligence, with workplace manslaughter, after a sub-contractor was fatally crushed at a Somerton factory in October 2021.
LACK OF SUPERVISION COSTS WORKER HIS LIFE – PCBU FINED 300K
A labourer, employed by Empire Contracting Pty Ltd, fell to his death from a height of nearly three metres after his employer failed to properly supervise his work.
Regulator News
NEW SILICA IN ENGINEERED STONE COMPLIANCE CODE
Minister for Workplace Safety, Ingrid Stitt, has made the Managing Exposure to Crystalline Silica: Engineered Stone Compliance Code which will come into effect on Tuesday 15 November 2022.
Pandemic orders affecting most workplaces expired on 12 October.
As a result the obligation on how to provide a safe workplace has defaulted back to the employer, under Section 21 of the Act. Effectively we shouldn't see too much change - the orders required common sense controls, that employers are likely to maintain.
New guidance is now live on WorkSafe’s website.
HSR INITIAL & REFRESHER TRAINING
Trained HSRs are more effective HSRs - have you just been elected and haven't organised your training yet? Do it now! And if you completed your initial five-day training then organise your annual refresher now. There are things happening in the OHS space you need to be aware of.
OHS Team
http://www.weareunion.org.au/