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Howard Threatens Building Safety06 February 2004The Labor Council of NSW has warned that the safety of building workers would be compromised and building projects could be held up indefinitely if Prime Minister John Howard's Building and Construction Industry Improvement Bill is passed. The Labor Council of NSW's submission to the Senate Inquiry into the controversial legislation highlighted the dangers Mr Howard's adversarial Bill poses to the building industry. Labor Council of NSW secretary John Robertson said Mr Howard's wish-list Bill would throw the industry into chaos. It would make it easier for bosses to pay cash in hand; overwork and underpay employees; limit the rights of unions to enter building sites to address workers and put a stop to current award processes which allow the IRC to work efficiently. "The building industry in NSW is operating extremely efficiently thanks to the co-operative model adopted during the 2000 Olympic Games,' says Robertson. "The success of the Olympic Games, delivered on time and within budget by Aussie building workers, is a testimony to the efficiency of current laws and any move to undermine it does a great injustice to workers, building companies and clients alike. "Mr Howard is seeking to compromise building safety, hold up jobs and destroy the wins already gained by creating disparity of pay, stripping back protections already in place for workers and destroying the ability of the IRC to intervene successfully when disputes to arise," says Robertson. New cross-agency protocol to investigate workplace fatalities The news comes as the Minister for Commerce, John Della Bosca, announced that a protocol setting out clear guidelines for the investigation and prosecution of workplace fatalities is now in place in NSW. "The Government set up a Ministerial taskforce to drive the establishment of the protocol in October last year," said Mr Della Bosca. "The taskforce was chaired by George Thompson, the former member for Rockdale, and was charged with developing a cross-agency protocol between WorkCover, Police and the Director of Public Prosecutions. "The protocol sets out clear investigative guidelines between these agencies in the event of a workplace fatality or serious injury. "The Coroner was also involved in the development of the protocol," he said "The protocol sets out the significant role WorkCover, Police, the DPP and Coroner will play in the investigation, evidence gathering and prosecution of offences arising out of a workplace fatality or incidents of serious injury," said Mr Della Bosca. The NSW Government has been under pressure from unions to act following the death of 16 year old Joel Exner on a building site last year. There have been no prosecutions for workplace fatalities since the introduction of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations in 2001. The secretary of the NSW CFMEU, Andrew Ferguson has called for the introduction of an industrial manslaughter law to prosecute individuals held accountable for workplace fatalities. Mr Della-Bosca said the Government would continue to look at ways of strengthening occupational health and safety laws in NSW. To discuss this and many other interesting OH & S topics visit our discussion boards at http://unionsafe.labor.net.au/shoptalk/ | |
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