Poor safety record adds to case for increased worker protection

A progress report issued by Safe Work Australia has revealed that self-imposed targets for reducing serious injury claims have not been met. The report shows the injury rates in key industries of manufacturing, agriculture, forestry and fishing, as well as in health and community services, are failing to reach international benchmarks.

ACTU Secretary Jeff Lawrence said the report added weight to union concerns that standards and rights for workers could be compromised by proposed new national occupational health and safety laws.

According to the interim report on the National OHS Strategy 2002-2012, Australia failed to meet the target of a 20% reduction in the incidence of serious injury and musculoskeletal claims.

And in a comparison with seven other OECD nations, Australia has only slightly improved its work-related injury fatality rate since the start of the decade to two deaths per 100,000 workers.

The situation is more grim for several industry sectors, particularly manufacturing. The industry’s serious injury incidence rate has fallen by only 6% and has risen in sectors such as prefabricated building materials, furniture, petroleum, coal and chemicals and non-metallic mineral products.

“Australia has a long way to go before success can be claimed on achieving national targets for workplace death, injury and disease,” Lawrence said. “With proposed uniform national OHS laws we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to lift protections for workers by achieving the world’s best safety standards for the entire country.

“But working Australians will not support the proposed new OHS laws if it means compromising standards. The new laws must make employers clearly responsible for ensuring workplaces are safe, give workers’ health and safety representatives the power they need to do their job, respect the role of unions and enable workers and unions to take court action.

“With an estimated 7000 Australians dying each year as a result of injuries or diseases from work, it is essential the proposed new OHS laws do not undermine standards and put more Australian workers and their families at risk.”