Occupational Health and Safety

OHS rights slashed

By ACTU

The right of 250,000 employees working in Federal Government departments to help from unions on health and safety issues will be watered down by new Howard Government workplace changes introduced to Parliament late yesterday (Wednesday evening).

The 'Amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety (Commonwealth Employment) Bill' has previously been rejected by the Senate three times but now the Howard Govt has full control of Parliament it is set to be passed in the current session.

ACTU President Sharan Burrow said:

"The Government's changes to health and safety laws will allow employers to control the election of workplace health and safety representatives and make it harder for employees to be represented by unions in health and safety issues for their workplace.

Research shows workplaces where unions are active are safer workplaces. Surveys have shown that unionised workplaces are three times as likely to have a health and safety committee, and twice as likely to have undertaken a health and safety audit in the last 12 months.

Making it harder for Commonwealth employees to get union assistance on OHS issues could lead to lower health and safety standards for federal police, people working in the defence forces, scientists, researchers, technicians, employment advisers and other staff in Government departments and agencies.

The motivation for these changes is clearly ideological. There is no need to change the system. By any practical measure the current Commonwealth health and safety system has been effective in protecting employees and inexpensive compared to similar compensation schemes.

· The current Commonwealth OHS law has delivered the best safety record in Australia with almost 30% fewer injuries that result in a week or more compensation than NSW and 24% less than QLD. (Source WRMC August 2002 - figures per 1000 employees)

· In addition, workers' compensation premiums for the Commonwealth are much lower than those paid by the States -- NSW premiums are three times the cost of the Commonwealth and in WA, VIC, and SA they are more than twice the cost. (WRMC Nov 2004)

To top it all off, these unnecessary changes to OHS laws appear to violate Australia's ILO obligations including the Occupational Health and Safety Convention 1981 and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention 1949.

The Government should think again before it cuts the rights of working people to healthy and safe workplaces and withdraw the new legislation."

© 2001 Community & Public Sector Union - State Public Services Federation (CPSU-SPSF) - National Office

http://www.cpsu-spsf.asn.au/latest_news/general/20050818_federal.html
Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005